It is a button I never thought I would push... I am going to get on my friend's horse. I don't know how far we will get. I might just get into the saddle with my daughter holding him until I stop shaking and get off. I might be able to be led around for a few minutes. I doubt that I will be able to go for a short ride down the road.. but even just sitting on him would be more than I ever thought I would do.

March 3rd, '05 I crushed part of my spine by being tossed off a horse I was training. It took me nine months to be able to sit on my horse for one minute. Another month of almost daily attempts before I could be led about for 5 minutes. To this day there are days I still shake or cry when I first swing up.

A year ago I managed to be led around on my daughter's horse. I had known the horse for 2 years and put over 100 hours of ground work into her before that first time I was led around on her. It was May of this year when we had to step things up and hurry me into being able to ride the mare on trails as my daughter was leaving the state. Since then I can ride her all the time, though like my horse, I still sometimes shake or cry when I first get on.

I figured that the only way I would be able to replace my horse, who is getting older, would be to breed my daughter's mare and raise the baby. That way I would have four years of interaction before the baby would be started under saddle - which I figured I would get my daughter to do.

But I am going to try to push the boundaries. Wakan is 8 years old and pretty much what I consider a dead head. He has no real training (though my daughter is working on formalizing that), he just knows how to be pointed down a trail or road and go the direction pointed. He has taken 8 year olds on trail rides and is one of those horses who understands it is his job to keep his rider in place.

I think I can do this.