Horse Sense

Horses were a part of my early life because my Dad seemed to really like them.  Our house was on a lot that was too small for livestock, so Dad rented about five acres near us to grow some vegetables and board a horse.

Minniepearl was an old horse that was prone to ignore many of the distractions that would scare a younger horse.  She was also patient.  She would allow a seven year old to put a bridle on her in return for feed in a bucket and then stand still while the same kid parked her by something to climb on to reach her back.

Most of the time, the horseback ride was just a couple of laps around the pasture.  After the ride Minniepearl could go back to eating grass and doing the things that a horse does. This is the story if everything goes as usual.

Life seems to have those times when things refuse to be normal.  It is as if nature decides to present a test to see how a person will react to slightly different circumstances.  That morning the test number came up.

All was going well as I bridled Minniepearl and climbed on a feed bucket to ride her.  There were several trails in the pasture, so I chose one and rode off at a walk.  After a few minutes I noticed the trail I was riding went between a pine tree and a barbed wire fence.  Just to the right of the trail was an opening between two pine trees. As I was riding along I was estimating the width of the horse and my legs and wondering if I would fit between the fence and the tree or the two trees.  For some reason the calculation took longer than the trip to the problematic junction.

Minniepearl did not have the same problem making the decision of which route to choose.  She chose the path between the two trees,and in hindsight she made a good choice.  At the time it wasn't so obvious.  As she made her way between the trees my legs were caught on each side on the tree trunks. The fall was not unpleasant, but the contact with the ground caused a "thud" sound and a gasp for air as I attempted to draw another breath.

As I lay on my back, Minniepearl's head appeared above me.  It was if she came to see what had happened to me. My first reaction was to look around to see if anyone had seen me fall.This is the first time I have told this story, and I'm sure Minniepearl hasn't said a thing.