"Learning horse riding has been an overwhelming experience." - Narayani Shastri

Even as she waits for her Marathi film to release soon, the bold and beautiful actress Narayani Shastri was keen to learn a new skill and when she heard her good friend Manasi Scott talking about horse riding with a passion she decided to learn it too, "Manasi is a gold medalist and talks about horse riding with a passion so I decided to learn it too and she has been coming with me for the training sessions." Narayani Shastri who was last seen in Phir Subah Hogi clarifies that it has got nothing to do with her acting profession and she is not doing it for any role.

Today is just the third day of her training for horse riding sessions and Narayani Shastri is eager and excited about the latest skill that she is pursuing. Talking to TellyBuzz she shares her experience so far, "I just wanted to learn something new since I believe that one should keep on adding to their skills otherwise you get old. It was not a New Year resolution since I don't make any New Year resolutions and have no issues with will power. It was more of the timing which was right since I started it at the start of the New Year. I also want to learn a musical instrument next which I will start soon."

Getting up early morning to go for her training doesn't bother Narayani since she is loving the experience. "I and Manasi start at around 5:30 am but since I love it I don't feel tired. I started training with a white horse named Lucrative and she is a beauty but since she had a horse shoe problem today they changed my horse and I was training with Zara today. They are all basically old race horses who are used for training so that even they are kept in practice."

However, whichever the horse she is training with, Narayani doesn't take time to get friendly with them. Being an animal lover does help says Narayani, "I am used to having cats and dogs around so it was easy to get friendly with a horse too. However, initially I too was enamored by the horse since they are such big animals. You have seen them in movies but seeing them up, close and personal is a completely difference experience altogether. I took carrots for them since I knew that horses love carrots."

Narayani also used another trick when it came to getting comfortable with her new four legged friends, "I normally converse with all animals and did the same with my horses too. I believe that they understand you and your fears of riding them if you converse with them. If you have a connect with animals they help you do a better job. When it comes to horses you have to earn respect from them for them to allow you to sit and ride them. You have to be confident yourselves since they also come to know whether the person is worthy of sitting on you or not."

All in all Narayani is enjoying her training and says, "In couple of days itself I have moved ahead of trotting. I don't gallop but go fast and also give directions to the horse. It is a completely different experience riding an animal and it is very over whelming and exhilarating!"

Seema Khot Mattoo