Riding horses more than adventure

I guess I started riding horses at the ripe young age of 6 years. My passion for horse began before that - as soon as I could draw something that resembled a horse.

I walked to school back then, even at age 6. But we did a lot of things when we were young back then, things parents wouldn't think of allowing children to do today.

I had about a 2-mile walk to school and on the way there was an old horse in a corral near the grocery store where my mom shopped for last minute purchases she forgot at the main store in downtown Redding.

We lived in Summit City, now part of Shasta Lake City.

On the way home from school one day, my girlfriend and I decided to take a little detour and visit the old sorrel behind the corral fence. I told my girlfriend I was going to ride that horse some day.

A few days later the courage had gathered inside me and the horse seemed to know it. He walked to the fence and sidled up to it as if beckoning me to climb aboard.

Okay, this was the moment I was waiting for.

I climbed up on the fence, and onto the big gelding's back. He took me around the corral one time and back to the fence as if to say, "That's enough for the first time kid."

Well, it wasn't enough for this kid, but that day I decided not to push my luck.

I made other short riding trips in the months that followed, without a soul other than my friend knowing about it.

By the time I was a teenager, I was ready for the whole kit and caboodle.

My friends and I rented horses at a stable in the Enterprise area.

It wasn't cheap. An hour cost $10 back then. I had to do a lot of babysitting to do that. We were not allowed to gallop the horses, which took some of the joy away.

A year or so later, I was riding my bicycle back and forth each week to the Buckeye area and a friends house. I noticed a couple horses in a pasture that seemed to never be ridden. What a waste, I thought. I went to the door and asked if I could pet the horses and the owner said yes and let me each time I came by.

One day the owners weren't home and I so wanted to ride. Well, this is not the thing to do without permission.

I tried and tried to figure a way to get on one of the horses I recognized from the riding stable. I had ridden this horse numerous times but without a saddle and sturdy wooden fence, it was going to be hopeless.

And, it was.

I finally got my dad to agree to let me have a horse as I had saved up $150 of my own money.

Rusty was my first horse. She was as gentle as can be and I learned to ride proficiently.

Three or four horses later, I was showing horses at the fair each year.

But through it all, I can attest that horses are inherently dangerous. I've pushed the limits a time or two and paid the price - broken collar bone, fractured skull, cracked ribs that all healed quickly and I was back in the saddle again.

My point here is that those who play the game might also have the opportunity to pay a price down the road.

My advice is - know your limits. Ride what is safe for your ability and don't' push your luck.

The horse that left me with 8 staples in my head has turned out to be a great horse. The mare that left me with 5 cracked ribs is the babysitter for the grandkids. It takes time - sometimes years - to break and train a horse beneath a ton of wet saddle blankets. When they are young, they see things that we riders don't pay attention to and need to carefully be introduced to world. Other critters - goats, llamas, buffalo, camels and creatures both domestic and wild - smell and look different to them. I suggest getting the horse acquainted with some of these obstacles that you know they will certainly encounter some day.

Wisdom comes with age and the life lessons we learn can save us in our senior years. I don't take chances anymore. When it comes to horses, I've pretty much accepted my limits. With horses, common sense goes a long, long way.