Want to work that inner thigh? Janie Terra Houston Press

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Want to work that inner thigh?

featured in :Houston Press Best of Houston 1999 "Best Hybrid Sport Worthy of a Miller Lite Commercial"

Want to really work that inner thigh? Sick of that certain Hollywood star with her Thigh Master? Ready for unusual?

Go on up to Michael Blair's stables in Tomball, where trainer Janice Terra has come up with her own high exercise concept: equestricize. You'll do all the standard toe touches, waist bends and arm circles- while sitting on a live horse.

Terra, a 30-yr riding veteran with a hypnotic manner and a fondness for quoting German philosopher, can talk a rider into nearly anything with her frequent entreaties to return to the more harmonious physical state, which will lead to a more harmonious mental one. In a caution-defying crescendo, you'll lean backward in the saddle to rest the back of your head on the horse's croup (backside) while the horse walks around.

At the end of the lesson, the custom of walking out a horse on the loose rein to cool it down is a little more exciting: In terra's class, you do this with your eyes closed and with no rein contact, your arms dangling by your sides.

This trainer, who teaches both Western and English, even has her hunt-seat riders find their balance by going over jumps with their jumps with their eyes closed, arms out to the side in the airplane position and no stirrups. Happily, her horses are gentle, and Equestricize doesn't start hurting till you dismount and discover muscles and pain pockets you never knew you had.

"The body knows how to ride a horse," Terra pronounces. "We just need to get the brain out of the way." Zen, and a thigh workout, on a horse. Wow.

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