I ride
because my mother rode with grace and my father with his courage. I ride
because my grandparents rode and their parents also. It is a grand
heritage of a ranching family, handed down from a time when riding was the
expectation of life. Always there have been the horses.
I ride because
I rode as a child when life was simpler and somehow more complete. Only the
whiff of a clean horse is needed to remind of days gone by. For always
there have been the horses.
I ride because of all the great horse souls
who have shared their lives with me and taught me more than I can say. Their
names and faces flash before me as old friends. I ride because of all the
horses I shall never ride. Those I have watched and marveled at from afar for
all their grace and beauty. Tis the stuff of a children's dream, the kind that
dies not with time. Always there are the horses.
I ride because the
seasons call to me. Each unique in its appeal and all quite frequently best
viewed from the back of a favorite horse. I ride because of all things,
save my family, horses are my passion. They inspire and encourage, energize,
and challenge in ways I cannot explain to the un-initiated. I ride because of
the rush of stretching one's self just a bit farther today than before both
mind and body. Always there are the horses.
I ride because of my
children ... that they may have these special memories to take with them for a
lifetime. I ride because of those briefest of spans when the partnership
comes to full promise. When the path twists and barriers rise, each footfall
is measured and balanced between the two as a dance. There are no others
....only this moment and this single step to ride. The memories of those times
stand vivid in my mind to be recalled with all the freshness of the day at
will and in times less grand.
But if I must choose, I ride because I
have dreams yet to live. I ride because I have dreams yet to have and what
exactly they will be tomorrow I cannot say ... but always there will be the
horses.
