This past weekend I attended the third annual Harvest Moon barn dance in Waterford, VA. It was put on by the Ruritan club as a fundraiser to benefit local community schools. Part of the fun included a mechanical bull, which at first glance, with its flashing red eyes made you think twice before hopping on! They had a timer to let you know how long you stayed on. One thing that everyone said after they got slung from the bull was, man my legs hurt, thats hard! Not only was the slippery seat and moving rope that you held on to for dear life, a test of balance, but of shear will power as well! I was surprised that I could hold on as long as I did, probably thanks to all of the young squirrelly horses that I have ridden. One of my students Tina who was a huge part of putting this entire dance on, told me that it was her lessons with me that helped her to ride the bull for 25 seconds. I think that she has a point, the balance from riding horses correctly from using your core strength and body first will improve your balance for other activities. Saturday night we were practicing our balance on a raging bull with red eyes just for the fun of it looking forward to trying it again next year.
