Page 64 of Doing Life

“Yeah, but I don’t know. It seems…dangerous.”

“Shit, man. Life is dangerous. You can’t let fear stop you. That’s no way to live.”

Luke had a point. It really wasn’t.

“So…okay. I’ll try it. Why not?” Someone would be with him, they’d be in an enclosed space, and these were therapy horses for guys in wheelchairs and with traumatic brain injuries. He could do this.

“Good, come on.”

“What? Now?”

“Yep. You have jeans on. You’ll be fine. Boone’s out here. He’ll help you mount.”

“Don’t I have to meet the horse first? What aboutAbby?”

“I’ll put her in the dog run and we’ll let her be a dog for an hour, fair? She’s not used to horses, at least not yet.” Luke was laughing at him. He could tell.

“Fine.” He could cowboy up. Totally.

Probably.

Maybe.

Hell, he didn’t know. He was a soldier, a medic, not a cowboy.

“Good deal. Boone, take Lance here. Put him on Sarge. He’s a good old man, solid as a rock, and happy to walk in a circle.”

His hand was put on a wiry, hard arm. “On it, boss.”

“Hey. I’m Lance.”

“Boone. You ever ridden before?”

“Um, I rode a camel once. Does that count?”

Boone chuckled. “Oh, that’s way harder. So, you’re totally mobile, which means you should be okay with a regular saddle.”

Wow. He guessed he was really doing this.

“I’ll let you meet Sarge first,” Boone went on. “Then I’ll saddle him.” ‘

“Sure. Do you have a snack?”

“I do.” Boone chuckled. “Good man.”

“Well, the dog trainers here all say that you never show up for a meet and greet with no snacks. I figured horses had to be the same.”

“Pretty much. Now, Sarge is a calm old boy, but some horses will react differently to your physical challenges, so just be aware at all times. You can’t see laid-back ears or bared teeth like a sighted guy, so you gotta listen to their feet move, feel the way they move their heads. At signs of agitation, you might need to be hyperaware of where you can move or how to soothe them.”

“Fair enough.” He liked that Boone was up-front and instructional. “You just don’t wander off to begin with, huh?”

“Never. I’m not about to lose this job,” Boone said, the laughter plain in his voice.

“Is it tough, finding cowboying jobs?”

“Not as tough in Texas as it is in other places, but I’m also a certified horse therapy guy, and a lot of times that ends up a volunteer position.”

“Ah. I get you.”

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