Kathy Sierra says, Animals love exercise… why don’t we?:
Obviously my lifestyle is quite different from my dog and my horses. But of all the differences, two come to mind first:
- Dogs don’t do television.
- Horses don’t run for cardio health, weight loss, brain fitness, blood pressure, or anything else but the love of moving.
An interesting aside on Icelandic horses:
One of these days, remind me to tell you all about how cool and special Icelandic horses are. OK, if you insist…Iceland has no natural predators for horses, so they’re far less afraid than virtually every other breed (this is the same bloodline the Vikings brought to Iceland 1,000 years ago, and no horse has ever been allowed into Iceland since then). This lets them use their brains for thinking, so they’re shockingly smart and fascinating to be with. It was Tim O’Reilly who got me into these marvelous creatures; he and his family live on a hill overlooking an Icelandic farm, and over time they found themselves falling in love with these horses and getting several of their own. He introduced me to his horses, and it was love at first sight. I spent the entire year after that learning about them and searching for one of my own. They’re also the most comfortable horses to ride — they have a special gait called a “tolt” that you could ride carrying a full glass of wine and not spill a drop.[My horses] remind me every day that I should get off my ass and run and leap and cause trouble.