Horses and Humans: Old Horse, New Life

Horses and Humans: Old Horse, New Life

Having been a kung fu fitness nut for more than thirty years, I thought I knew

something about training, conditioning, and building muscle. Then my wife got a

horse, then another, and another, and suddenly we had five! It was too many for

home, so we boarded our horses at a Standardbred stable.

One day a beat up horse trailer pulled into the stables and began unloading a

kind of beauteous horse I'd never seen before. They were thoroughbreds, Well,

they looked beauteous from a distance, but up close they were a parade of sad

wrecks. The last off the trailer was an old stallion named Hoisty. According to the

stable hands, he'd been famous once, but I'd never seen anything that decrepit still

breathing.

A week later I got to the track when Hoisty was starting his morning workout.

He looked like he'd gained a little weight and there was even a trace of luster to his coat.

As he rounded the far turn near the mares' paddock, he lifted his tail and

shook out his mane.

Two months passed, and then one day Hoisty came out of the barn and the

sun seemed to light him up: his coat shined, his eyes gleamed, his muscles rippled,

his hooves seemed to spring up off the ground like he was not bound to gravity.

It was like his bones were floating in a sea of muscle!

I stood there awe-struck. I had been chasing that feeling my whole life. I

wondered if I could I get that kind of spring in my body.

Could I move like my bones were floating in a sea of muscle?

What if I trained myself like a horse?

If this old wreck of a stallion could be reborn; could't I?

Horses train by running, especially racehorses. The different speeds and

different gaits (walk, trot, canter, and gallop) give a chance to study in detail

exactly what the horse is doing with each foot. In racing they say, "No foot, no horse!"

Foot work is everything.

They study how the foot rises, how the foot falls, how the foot drives off the

ground, how the foot meets the ground, how the foot receives weight. They watch

how the feet track, observing whether the step is too long, too short, or if the legs

cross over. They observe the horse's composure: whether it is collected or strung

out. There are workouts for speed, endurance, and different track conditions, but

every workout contains the same undeniable fact: the horse runs. That's what

horses do!

I wondered if I could study my own feet like that.

Horse training is specific to what horses do:  Walk, Trot, Canter, and Gallop.

Maybe I needed training for what humans do:

Walk, Sit, and Stand.

Humans walk, stand and sit, but we don't train walking, standing, and sitting.   

We lift weights, run, do yoga, or practice martial arts and assume these exercises

will make us fit to walk, stand and sit. For over thirty years I practiced tai-chi and

kung fu, bit I hadn't developed specific strength for daily life. I could perform exotic

jumps, spins, and kicks, but what good was that when in everyday life

I didn't know how to stand, sit, or step with spring and grace?

If an old wreck of a racehorse could change, maybe I could?

I began to study walking, standing, and sitting as if they were races for which

I could train developing the strength and endurance needed to overcome injury,

age, stress, and fatigue. My injuries healed. My body became younger and

stronger.

For a racehorse, training is essential for optimum performance and freedom

from injury. Our bodies also need training. Once we train our muscles to spring,

they volunteer to keep springing; they overcome the limitations of ignorance and

habit, repairing old injuries and bestowing new strength. Training our muscles to

spring takes us beyond what we thought we could't do, couldn't change, or couldn't heal; it takes us into a life of abundant strength.

Walking, standing, and sitting can train us for spring.

Like a racehorse our bones can float in a sea of springy muscle.

Revive-A-Back is spring training for life.