Hips Don't Lie

It can easily be said that the most important aspect for a rider is their seat and how strong and flexible it is. For those non-riders, the 'seat' is the part of your body which includes the parts of your body which are seated on the horse's back. On the surface, the seat is your butt and your thighs but beyond that, it is also the weight of your body which you control, through the "seat". Unfortunately for adult riders like myself, starting out later in life could be a disadvantage if you have particularly high aspirations and not a lot of time both for riding daily and for committing to improving fitness. That said, I'm by no means in that boat and I'm perfectly fine with it.

While I understand I'll never get to an A-circuit (or even Trillium) level, I am the nerd who gets super into something and then gets borderline OCD about and do my best to attempt to absorb as much as the universe is willing to bestow upon me. I didn't have a lesson this Sunday due to the buckets of snow dumped on the Hillsburgh/Erin area over the weekend so I decided to catch-up on sleep, deal with the house and of course, read about horseback riding.

The internet is a huge database of information ready to be plundered and this time, I decided to look into something that has been affecting me of late: my right hip. It has been bothering me for the last several weeks by feeling tight or just plain stiff. As a result, there was at least one less than stellar time where it was rather evident that things haven't been going well. I found a very simple article that outlines the situations well:

Lack of flexibility and stability in the hips is especially common in riders over 30, because hip mobility often diminishes with age. Whereas someone in the general population might not be inconvenienced by their gradually diminishing hip mobility, a rider is. Unlike other sports, your primary contact with "ground" as a rider is your seat and thighs. In other sports, it is your feet, and all motion is relative to the body's ability to transfer force from the ground, through the body. In riding, you are balancing on your seat, using your thighs for further balance and to communicate aids, and your feet must remain "soft" to allow for the stirrup irons to rise up and down with the horse's stride.

--Heather Sansom (Dressage Today) 

Regardless of where I read or take information from, about riding, it's stressed that the seat (and thighs) are the most important communication tool with the horse when riding. Keep in mind that the way in which riders 'communicate' with their horses is a language that is significantly physical and few words or even sounds are exchanged. A simple shift in weight or placement of a leg is all it takes to "tell your horse" what you want. Riding looks easy enough to the average spectator and that's what riders are supposed to look like but the anatomy involved is quite extensive particularly in the seat. Horseback riding is a demanding sport, regardless of what onlookers might think and so requires the appropriate stretching that any other physical activity would require.

Interestingly enough, hip flexibility and strength is an important component for yogis too. One of my favourite yoga instructors never rides yet always stressed the importance of hip flexibility and strength. This explains why yoga is such a helpful activity to supplement riders in their 'off time'. Going back to my research over the weekend, in order to improve on my riding, it is imperative that I supplement normal physical activity with deliberate stretching, strengthening and overall care. As it stands, I'm already,

1. an adult student starting late;
2. over 30 so my hip flexibility and strength is on the decline; and
3. I have an office job that keeps me chained at my desk for the better part of the day and it's super easy to get sucked into something I'm working on and end up eating my lunch at my desk and never getting up except for bathroom breaks.

I'm not sure exactly what's tight or sore or broken or whatever in my hips, but I do know that I have to make a regular effort to focus on addressing my issues through strengthening, warming up and stretching in my non-riding times as well as before and after lessons.

Treehouse of Horrors

I have a thing for toys... and the Simpsons and all things bizarre. Kidrobot a line of Simpsons figures that I got hooked on, over the weekend while visiting Silver Snail. Fittingly, it's also close to Halloween and it's the Treehouse of Horrors series! After buying 3 random figures, I've decided enough guessing: I want to get the full set (minus the gremlin b/c he's a "rare").

Kidrobot: Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

If you've watched the Halloween editions of the Simpsons, you'll probably recognize each character above and chuckle a little bit to yourself. Well, I chuckled a bit when I got a response on a forum that a guy had some of the ones I was looking for but only after I bought from someone else. He called me "bro"... which reminds me again that this tends to be a guy's hobby.... *sigh*

Never Late, Always Remember

When I started this blog, I was on the verge of turning 30 and I wanted to reflect and focus on me. After all, that's the single most important relationship I will ever have in my life. I spent the previous years entrenched in things that I thought I needed to do and at the time, enjoyed but what started as desire became obligation. More than a year later, some things have come full circle but none, more than my return to FanExpo.

I started working FanExpo in 2000 when it was still in its infancy. To me, this was a time when the idea of a girl admitting that she enjoys the Star Trek franchise (most notably TNG), wasn't popular. It was one fateful afternoon when things changed. I left for various reasons and as I've gotten older, I've started to realize what's important to me and what I like. Maybe it was this mental growth but I'm not all too sure what made me decide to return and "work the con"; but, old friends (and new) quickly accepted me back into the fold.

Things have changed a lot: the show now spans the entire MTCC complex and there was a record attendance of over 100,000 patrons. What a weekend! I was assigned to the Premium Lounge where we oversaw the Premium ticket holders' swag bag give-away and helped maintain the state of the space. I don't usually talk to strangers and find that when put into social situations, I keep mostly to myself. However, I felt very comfortable among the crowds and was able to spend most of the weekend chattering away. I know... me, chatting with strangers like we're old friends! In fact, I would safely say I made some new friends this weekend.

Now to get to the fun stuff! What did I do while at the expo? I worked mostly. But I had the opportunity to walk the show floor when it was virtually empty and to see all the neat stuff that the different vendors brought with them after the show closed one of the evenings. It reminded me of an episode of "Today's Special" when they run around the mall at night. One of the highlights is when I met Tony Moore of the Walking Dead comic series. He is both the creator and artist (first 20 issues) of the story. In both instances, I "geeked out" and felt like a kid in a candy store again!

Although there is over 750,000 sqft of space designated for corporate vendors, independent artists, celebrities, workshops, seminars and many other events, any patron who goes will tell you that they go, for more than the cool toys and the opportunity to meet their heroes. This weekend is a chance to make friends and to be yourself among others who are doing the exact same thing. Since I started, the attendance has grown 9x what it used to be. That's incredible! It's encouraging to see the wide range of demographics and entire families dressed up together, to enjoy the weekend. Sure, you can think it's a cash grab but the expo is literally a chance for all the geeks and nerds to congregate in one place and socialize and do business. For us big kids, it's a chance to continue reliving and enjoying the stories, characters and themes of our yester-years.

Prodigal Geek

I never got into science fiction, horror and fantasy... I was just always drawn to those genres--be it television, cinema or literature. It's part of who I am. So, it was no surprise that I got really excited when a marketing piece came on The New VR. Anyone remember? It's a Barrie television station that has affiliation with CityTV. The commercial featured a series of sci-fi and action stars that I followed on my weekends. One of them, was the amazing Hudson Leick of Xena: Warrior Princess. I am pretty sure that I wet myself from excitement like a miniature Chihuahua. In addition to advertising for the expo, they were seeking volunteers... volunteers LIKE ME!

I contacted them and said I was EXTREMELY interested and that I could be a critical asset to the team of volunteers they were assembling for the weekend. I got a call to attend their orientation meeting. There I met Philip, Matt, Little Joel, Big Joel, Asian Joel, Toni and Aman; partners in crime for the years that I continued to help out.

At one point, I sort of went on a hiatus to pursue other personal interests... much like a young senior would consider doing before going off to university; I thought I had to find myself so I stopped going. I say 'sort of' because I continued to watch many of these shows--new and old. Behind closed doors, I was watching Star Trek Voyager, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek The Next Generation... Regardless, I thought I was growing out of this phase of my life.

Years later, while watching tv with AW, an evolved version of the same ad about the expo played. This time, it wasn't me who got excited... it was AW, "wowow! Edward James Olmos! Damn that's expensive...". I looked up and replied, "We can go if you want. I've friends I can visit". I think AW crapped himself when I said that. We didn't get the date right and missed Edward James Olmos that year.

This year, we flew out to Calgary for the ST: TNG 25th anniversary fanexpo. This is the first time in over 2 decades that a cast who played together for nearly a decade, came together. I stood in line again. I waited for ~2 hours. I saw patrons in cosplay. I smelled the UW math nerds. I blow dried AW's hair to look like Lore and painted GM's ears for his Data costume. And you know what? I missed it. It felt really good to be back--so to speak. To make things come full circle, I bumped into Aman in Calgary of all places.

A lot of things have changed since I first went into this bright eyed and bushy tailed. But, when I reflect upon this weekend's events I realize that I can't wait until I can return to the Toronto fanexpo.