The first time I ever rode a horse I was probably about 8 years old. My dad had a little house on a big ranch with some horses. I wish I could remember their names. My father has pictures of my first excursion up in his house. Looking at those pictures I was small enough to walk completely under the horse without even touching a hair on my head to the horses belly. I thought at the time that they were giant horses but turns out I was just really small. Those pictures belong in a series of strange pictures of me. At this stage I only wanted to wear my dad's clothes so I wore his huge cowboy boots that went past my knees and his big shirts that covered most of the rest of me. I also wore all of his hats. I didn't have any belts for his pants (yes I wore his pants too) so my father would fashion a belt for me made out of rope. I would ride the horses around and people would watch me very confused, wondering what in the world that little person was on top of that horse. I had the time of my life though and when I think back on it now I realize how sweet my father was to arrange all of those fabulous life experiences for me and wear his clothes all the while.
What is it about horses that makes the world light up for little girls? The 12 and 13 year old girls in the youth group can't get enough of them. We arranged a ride for them last year and are doing the same this year. Its sweet, really. It brings me back to those first experiences my dad provided for me. What a wonderful thing to share.
I'm off now to the bookstore to buy a picture book of horses for one of the girl's birthdays. Fun!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
1 comment:
i have some sweet early memories of horses, too. they are enchanting!
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