[RC] choosing a horse instead of psychiatry; Renegades - alexis_mills
This excerpt from Dr. Kay Jamison's autobiography,
An Unquiet Mind, made me laugh out loud, startling the dogs and cat.
Thought some of you might like it.
"I decided early in graduate school that I needed
to do something about my moods. It quickly came down to a choice between seeing
a psychiatrist or buying a horse. Since almost everyone I knew was seeing a
psychiatrist ..., I naturally bought a horse. Not just any horse, but an
unrelentingly stubborn and blindingly neurotic one, a sort of equine Woody
Allen, but without the entertainment value. I had imagined, of course, a My
Friend Flicka scenario. . . . What I got instead was a wildly anxious,
frequently lame, and not terribly bright creature who was terrified of snakes,
people, lizards, dogs, and other horses--in short, terrified of anything that he
might reasonably be expected to encounter in life--thus causing him to rear up .
. . and bolt madly about in completely random directions. In the
clouds-and-silver-linings department, however, whenever I rode him I was
generally too terrified to be depressed, and when I was manic I had no judgment
anyway, so maniacal riding was well suited to the mood."
Sounds much like my early experiences with Samurai,
but after three years he's turned into a great trail horse and sweet
companion, although still prone to a little spook now and then.
btw- for anyone considering Renegades: it took five
weeks to get them, but they're wonderfully easy to get on/off and they seem to
be working really well for Sami. I did get the 5/8" cutback option for a better
fit on his very round, always barefoot Size 2 hooves. No interference problems
like he's had with other boots.
