Horses!

So yeah, I don't like horses. You should know that ahead of time. I don't HATE horses, I just feel really uneasy around anything that's bigger than me (one of the many reasons why I like to keep myself rotund). Well the other day one of the older volunteers Hannah asked me if I could skip out on a few hours of work and help her with riding therapy for the special needs kids. Hannah is one of the nicest people I've ever met so I wouldn't dream of saying no to her when she's asking for help, nor would I say no to helping out my section (though I did silently curse my misfortune).

It was cool to see where the kids go every week for their therapy. I knew it was in the neighboring town of Parramos (only 1/2 mile away) but I didn't really know where. Turns out Parramos is a lot bigger than I realized, especially when you're pushing a wheelchair up hills. The walk wasn't the easiest, but I liked it a lot because we passed a ton of folks in town who stared at us. I love it when people are curious about folks with special needs. I made sure to say hello to every single one of them with a smile and a wave, which naturally led them to interact more appropriately and smile and wave back to us. Oh Willowglen, you prepared me for so much.

We finally got to the stables and four little horses where saddled up and waiting for us. I was surprised by how hands-off the dudes who were working there were. It was basically up to us to walk up to a horse and get our kids on them. Granted, I was the one who was new to this, the kids and other staff do this every week, so maybe I was just nervous by the lack of instruction. Anyway, I'm telling myself not to let the horse know I'm afraid because I'm pretty sure they can smell fear. I'm coming to terms with the fact that the horse is going to bite my face, I'm just hoping it doesn't buck the kid off at the same time. I get the kid on and then the other staff tells me to grab the reins and lead the horse. Now I'm literally ass to muzzle (do horses have muzzles?) with the horse and I'm more concerned with the embarrassment factor of getting bit in the butt then the actual pain issue. I lead the horse through a nice wooded path for ten minutes or so without incident, then switch kids. By the third or forth kid I'm feeling much more at ease. I'm sensing that the horse and I came to some kind of truce, or maybe she decided that biting me wasn't worth the subsequent punishment that would arise from that. Whatever the reason, I managed to escape without any injuries.