This piece is about using video games as educational tools and (hopefully) leading to job creation and talent retention around Lansing.

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In other news, I rode a horse last Monday.

This was my first time riding a horse that wasn’t attached to a rope on a pole and walked in a circle (best guess, that happened when I was under the age of ten).

A friend rides weekly (but not weakly…Ugh.  Sorry) at C.H.U.M. (Children and Horses United in Movement) Therapy near Lansing (not to be confused with C.H.U.D.).

My friend (nor I) does not ride for therapy reasons, she just attends weekly riding lessons.  She asked if I wished to attend, and always looking for real-life experiences to enrich my writing and self, I said yes.

It was quite the experience.

I certainly used a few muscles I never knew I had (which I was told is part of the idea behind riding as physical therapy).  The next couple days after I rode had me hurtin’, but I enjoyed myself.

I gotta say–horses are BIG up close.  Being on top of my mount, Gunny, was equally thrilling and terrifying (at first).

He was standing still when I took this, relax.

But, Gunny was a friendly horse — and he certainly liked it when I fed him a few carrots after he was done carting my bony butt around for a couple hours.

What did I take away from this experience? Aside from realizing how big these animals are (‘specially when you are only average height like me), I was glad to experience what it is like to ride something that is very much alive and has a personality of its own.  If Gunny wanted to slow down–he slowed down.  If he wanted to ignore my “go faster” commands, he did.  That’s a world of difference from a bike or a car.

Learning how to steer was a good education too–not that I plan on writing volumes of fantasy involving tribes of horse riding people any time soon, but it was a nice addition to the ol’ writing tool box.

Would I go riding again? Certainly.  They run a tight ship over at C.H.U.M., and while I was nervous at first, I felt very safe and eventually learned to just enjoy the ride.