What I don't get is that there are assumptions floating around that Susan isn't a good rider.

She's an older lady, but besides that, she's got a BROKEN FREAKIN BACK, FOLKS.

WHY would she still ride if the possibility existed that, if she WERE thrown, even lightly, she'd be completely paralyzed?

I love horses, and I know lots of folks that love them, but when that possiblity exists... what would you do? Knowing that, if your horse spooked and you came off and landed on your butt (the type of fall that happens all the time) that you could be in a wheelchair the rest of your life?

Now, I know there are some folks that will say 'that didn't stop me!', but I can tell you from FIRST HAND experience that not every break is the same, and the older you get, as a woman, your calcium levels change and the already-broken-but-healed spot will have a much higher chance of rebreaking.

Which is why my cranky old man does not ride - he has no desire to live the rest of his life like Christopher Reeves, which would be a GOOD POSSIBLITY if he WERE thrown because of the location of his previous break.

It goes back to the whole reason why I wouldn't post my 'resume'... because I don't currently own horses right now, because I'm a struggling full-time student and mommy and just can't financially or time-wise afford a horse, and that makes my opinion null and void to many people. Seen it happen all over the place... don't like my opinion, run me down for not having a horse myself. It's a go-to.

I've been about 3 years without a horse, give or take. Does that mean that my almost 2 decades of knowledge and abilities and practical experience that I've cultivated since childhood disappear?




A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Saul Bellow (1915 - 2005)