Get on The Horse

You can be a sad determinist or some variety of Calvinist and believe that everything is preordained. I chose to exercise my freewill and went for a ride. Don't be a fatalist, I muttered grimly to myself, get on the horse.

We started off slowly, trotting along in the clear air of a crisp, sunny Texan morning and posted off down a trail in the Mesquite. As I understand it, posting trot isn't very "Western" but so what, it's good for the horse's back and the rider's sense of rhythm, to say nothing of muscles. They got a good workout.

After a little while it seemed right to open up and off we galloped, not too furiously but plenty fast enough. It's a great feeling, moving at speed with a horse through the countryside.

We finished with some uphill galloping, Go on! Up that hill! followed by a brisk trot back to the barn. I say barn, but it's more of a walk-in with a trailer doing duty as a tack room, and what's wrong with that? Nothing at all.

Ride over, I drove the country route to Waco, down 933, cleverly avoiding the heinous I35, and visited the sick in hospital. One of them's made a pretty miraculous recovery. I thank God for that. And remember, God's knowledge is necessary but it's also eternal and simultaneous, or present tense. 

That doesn't contradict free will. Speaking of which, I'll clean some guns after Stations of the Cross. There's nothing, ahem, predictable about that, at all.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Don't be an Illuminati Stooge, Get Out And Ride

You can sit there reading the pathetically comsymp Guardian or the transsexual New York Times, whining about how gender is a construct, Islam is really peaceful and there aren't enough welcoming bathrooms, for all sexes. 

NWO Stooge Puppet

Sure, you can do that, as you sip your artisanal micro-brew; go right ahead. Or you can saddle up and go for a ride. I chose not to be an Illuminati stooge puppet of the New World Order and went for the latter option.

Typical Texas Street Scene

It was a beautiful evening, made all the better for heavy rain clouds, which appeared miraculously as I drove to my friend's ranch. It even started raining as I tacked up; God was surely smiling on this venture.

Mesquite Work-Out

We moved off briskly into the mesquites and I was curious to see how the horse would perform. Would she be willing and forward, or mutinous and backwards, balking and veering towards the comfort zone of the barn? She was a bit of both last time.

Good Horse

This time was different, she was very willing and a total pleasure to ride. We worked out around mesquites and trails and then moved to a big field and opened up. Walk, trot, canter, gallop, run! Then relax back down to a walk and do it all over again.

Horses Scorn Liberals

I took time to work on posting trot too; good for the horse's back, your stomach... and overall control. I know, posting is "English" but there's more than a few serious Western riders who advocate it. I texted one, a year or so back. Our conversation went like this:

"I'm going for a ride."
"You be careful."
"Don't worry, if it gets all tippy I'll hold on to the strange pommel thing."
"Saddle horn."
"Saddle horn?"
"Yes. Saddle horn. That's what we call it."
"Ah. I see."

Back to the Compound

My correspondent was a world champion bronc rider several years running and has forgotten more about riding than I will ever know. I respect that. A lot.

Ride on,

LSP