Not with a bang but a whinny

A little T.S. Eliot, even though his poems do not always rhyme. He gets a pass.

I am taking a little break from horseback riding. I hope it is temporary and not as bleak as my title suggests.

I need to find a new place to ride. I don't want to say more yet, but I expect more horse news.

Ride 'em, cowboy

Maybe I won't ever be confused with a rootin', tootin' cowboy, but I did some real riding today. On Andy!

Andy is not a riding horse really. He is a good therapeutic riding horse, but that means he is good at walking with a leader.

But I got him walking today. Dada said it was the best Andy had ever been ridden. She also said she couldn't have done better. That, I know, is a lie. A nice lie, though.

Kate said how good I looked. She thought I felt bad about how my riding was going because I was laughing most of the time. Far from it, I just thought it was funny how hard I was working just to get Andy to walk. Andy takes frequent breaks, too, to relieve himself, which doesn't lend itself to serious riding.

Bella is still lame. Dada says she's improving, but there is no timetable for getting her back and under saddle. Charm remains ostracized. I actually offered to buy Charm with the money donated to the program for me. That didn't go over too well. We are still working on the best way to use that money.

So I may be riding Andy awhile. He will be my trainer. He improves my balance because his swagger keeps me rebalancing. He improves my leg strength because his stubbornness keeps my legs working overtime. He is a good guy.

Better late than never

At least I hope that is what Lynne Hansen, Mary Kiernan-Stern and Ham & Ellie Hamilton think. They all made some very generous donations to Keep Matt Trotting, but no one told me. To say I feel sick is an understatement.

We are figuring out now what the plan is for that money. But let me say again: THANKS.

The ride was good. I was on Andy, and instead of just walking down the road, we went into the woods a little. Andy liked it a lot better than the road. He seemed quite happy. Even being led on a horse is pretty great.