I love horses and the people that work with them. Thy are so graceful, even the nags are graceful to me. Although from an engineering point of view, it seems to me that their bodies are way too big for their slender legs. I also enjoy watching people ride horses. There is kind of a mutual feedback between the horse and the rider and subtle changes in a rider’s posture and how they hold the reins and how they respond with their bodies to the horse’s movement affects the movement of the horse. We have put Logan’s therapeutic horseback riding lessons on hold for a couple months because he has a lot going on at school including some Saturday rehearsals at the same time that his riding lessons were. I am already missing the long drive to Pioneer Woman country to take his lessons and occasional talks and walks with the director Bob.
Bob had a way of simplifying everything and when I asked him why riding was such a great therapy for people with autism he said basically that when you get on a horse and it starts moving that you need to adjust yourself so that horse doesn’t move out from underneath you. It is this responsiveness to an outside force and feedback that is so important to people who don’t have that response instinctively.
So Logan had those lessons for a few years and I took literally hundreds, if not thousands of photos of him riding the horses and I think the lessons “worked.” Just what they did, I don’t know exactly but I could tell that Logan loved riding the horses. People ask what the horses “do” exactly. I say, they make him better. How, I don’t know.
Well, I’ve kind of digressed a little bit. Now I have to feed my horse jones via the horses in the top photo. They are in a pasture next to Logan’s school and after I drop him off and the horses are close to the fence and there are no cars behind me I’ll stop and take a quick photo of them. It is a good way to start out the day, looking at horses I mean.
How do you feel about horses?
Linking with Saturday’s Critters
Hello Yogi, the therapeutic riding seems to have work well for Logan. I am glad he enjoyed riding the horses and the lessons. Wonderful photos and beautiful horses.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
Lovely colour in your first photo and it shows how fine and elegant horses are, as you say. Their slender legs do a great job of not only holding them up, but the rider too! That amazes me and they do seem to like to encourage us at least some of the ones I have had the pleasure of meeting!
I do love horses and miss the two I had for years!! I’m so glad Logan has been able to enjoy them and riding as well! The Fall colors in your first shot are gorgeous!! Hope all of you have a great weekend!!
Nice to have horses close by, Great shots 🙂
I have always enjoyed your photos of Logan on his horse, he always looks very comfortable and at ease. Interesting to learn of how the therapy helps too. I love horses but never got into learning how to ride properly. I admire them from over the fence but did get the opportunity to stand next to them when I was in North Dakota visiting family on the farm. One horse that had been blinded in one eye actually bumped into me because I was standing on his blind side, but not too hard to put me off standing next to him. He had such a lovely personality.
i think you’ve given your son a very wonderful gift. 🙂
I think horses are magical even if you don’t ride them, which I don’t. They are such graceful creatures!
This is such a beautiful post. We travelled 40 min. to see the work horses at a local fair. Much fun! Hubby grew up with Belgians.
Love to paint horses (and I did), but riding them makes me sea sick! Theyr’e a great subject to watch – so elegant!
When I was a girl, I loved horses and wanted one with all my heart. Of course, that was impossible, but my mom did scrape up some money so I could ride with my girlfriend a few times. My granddaughter, Amanda, has taken lessons since she was 5 – she’s 12 now and jumps horses which makes me really nervous if I go to watch her. I believe the communication between animals and humans is beyond understanding but very powerful. I like the horses you photographed near Logan’s school – the poses and lighting are picture-perfect.
I once owned horses and can identify with their gracefulness and ease. Always like seeing Logan looking comfortable on horseback. I suppose we’ll be hearing about a play that he’s in soon.