The outside of a horse, the inside of a man

When I lived in Germany my daughter and I rode western saddles on warm blood horses across the fields of farms outside Frankfurt. Kathy, a civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers, owned the horses. Her favorite expression was “there is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”

30 years after a back operation, I can no longer ride and my heart is strong. That means my plan to leave the earth in a long gallop on top of a quarter horse is but a dream. I’m probably going to live forever.

In Flintridge, California I owned a thoroughbred/warmblood  (Warmblut) that had been beaten by a prior owner.  I stayed on her when she did 360s so I could prove to my long-dead father that I could do it. Since he used to be a ringmaster at horse shows, I figured he was watching.

But if the saying is true about horses, it is even truer for dogs. The other day my daughter was having a bad day, but she said her puppy always gave her attention and picked up her spirits. You may never get the loyalty from a human being that comes close to that you feel from a dog. (I’ not anthropomorphising   a dog, just trying to describe how it feels from a human perspective)

So in animals we find a relationship that needs to be cultivated and can make our lives better.  When things get tough there is nothing like having a dog at your feel or jumping on a quarter horse to lessen the worries about problems that otherwise might be hard to bear.