I loved this posting; it reminded me of my jumping/dressage
instructor Max Von Bluecher. He was an ex-German cavalry officer,
and claimed everyone should be able to adjust their stirrups and tighten their
girths at a gallop. At the end of the lessons, he'd show up with his own
horse and say (with a gleam in his eye) "Oh, let's take them for a little walk
on the trail to cool them down!" After galloping for an hour, jumping
everything that came in our way, we'd return from "cooling the horses down."
He died this fall and is very much missed.
