If you can ride a bike, can you ride a horse ?
10/12/03 11:49 AM
Did you ever ride a horse? I did once. I expect most everybody has. This wonderful man from Lower Brule (I think it was a LaRoche) had given my cousin, Billy Stallman, a horse. Palomino, I think it was. He was so proud of that horse and the rest of us were allowed to try her out. After three or four of the others took their turn (I was watching to make sure it was safe) I had my turn. Now, as we sauntered to the end of the lane I figured the ride wasn’t so bad, almost fun even. Heck, what had I been afraid of? Easy pickin’s. Then we turned around and faced the barn. Apparently, she had had all of the nonsense she was going to put up with, or maybe it’s a horse’s nature, but she took one look at that barn and was hell-bent for leather to get there. Needless to say, I had no idea what she was thinking so as she went to the barn I laid on the ground thanking God that I was still alive! And that old saying, "You have to get back on the horse and ride," was not even open for consideration. So, no second ride for me!
When I learned to ride my bicycle (on the farm south of Reliance) down the lane (it felt like a MOUNTAIN!) I was absolutely horrified. I was placed on the bike, given a little push down the hill and it was ride it, or don’t … my choice. I wobbled and jiggled, but by golly, I rode that thing. Now I could ride anywhere on my new wheels; to the Cosgrove’s, Wagner’s, to my Stallman and Fletcher cousins’ farms. Freedom! What the heck was I scared of anyway?
At the time we moved to Long Beach, CA our son Bill was at the bicycle age so we got him one, put him on it and gave him a shove just as we had the other two kids before him. He rode it alright … right into the telephone pole at the end of the alley! Needless to say, he wasn’t willing to give it another try right away; he would just play with the other kids for awhile. That night as we sat down for dinner there was no Bill. Ed asked where he was and Donn and Sindi looked at each other with a surprised look, yelled, "Oh no!", and jumped up and ran outside. We followed. They had buried him (standing up) in a sand pile. He was almost a gonner! Hypothermia was setting in big time. We got him out of there and into the house where we wrapped him in several blankets and Ed rubbed his hands and feet to get the circulation going. One more life lesson learned without a fatality. Thank you, guardian angels!