Heart of Texas Therapeutic Riding Center

We took a little outing (Tuesday, 30 January, 2020) today to West, Texas, and made an appearance at The Heart of Texas Therapeutic Riding Center. I drew a real bucker named Luke. I knew he was a real brute, or as Marty Robbins lyrically put it,

Shore is a broad walker he heaves a big sigh
He only lacks wings for to be on the fly
He's the worse buckin' bronco I've seen on the range
Turn on a nickle and give you some change
Oh that strawberry roan oh that strawberry roan
That sunfishin' critter's worth leavin' alone
There's nary a buster from Texas to Nome
Can ride that strawberry roan

After careful appraisal of one another, horse and rider were prepared right out of the chute for what expectation neither knew. Because neither were not quite sure ’how you gonna sit,’ Luke was not to be faulted faulted here, for his apprehension was warranted. To shorten my yarn, however; it is sufficient to say, after a couple of circuits of the arena, we came to a favorable, though tentative, opinion of one another. Now, mind you with all that said, this is only my second time in the saddle in nigh on to forty-five years, so I can’t say I cut the ideal figure of a horsemanship.

I do have to add commentary as a way of explanation on the unseen factor in play that the viewer may not be aware of. Not apparent, from the standpoint of the casual visitor, these pictures cannot adequately represent what is required of yours-truly to just stay upright in the saddle. Honestly, I don’t want the gullible in my audience to believe that I am merely spinning idle tales of my daring-do.

But to put it in my own words, due to the nature of my injury, I have a great deal of difficulty recognizing the environment around me, and how best to interact with it. It’s probably kinda like getting a DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.20+ – Lethargic. Confused. Dizzy. Requires help to stand or walk. If injured, they may not feel the pain. All mental, physical, and sensory functions are severely impaired. Near-total loss of motor function control. – (I took this information off of www.insure.com/car-insurance/blood-alcohol-calculator.html .) It’s not an exact interpretation, but that might come close to describing my confusion. Simply put, I find it extremely challenging, and an extreme degree of difficulty is added to my jaunt around the arena. But y’all have to take my word for it because I’m not offering any clever excuses for my less than perfect performance, or provide further embellishments to mislead you.

I will provide this, however, a comparison between my equestrian skills on Luke, and the rider on the white horse, Mr. Porell, a 93-year-old veteran from Brownsville, Texas. You be the judge!

There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye, so take the following images with that in mind.