footballtim, my brother is also a "chicken" when it comes to riding a horse! My dad used to take all of us horseback riding when I was really young - which I forgot up until seeing your post. I remember sitting on a horse in front of my dad while he rode it, along with the rest of the family, my mom & older brothers, on their rented horses. The horseback riding excursions stopped though when one of my brothers was thrown from a horse & trampled upon. My brother Gary has hated/feared horses ever since!
One of the part-time managers at the place I now work at owns a ranch nearby. He is always talking about taking his horses out riding. He's invited my hubby & I over, but I know I cannot ride a horse with all the back/neck/hip pain I suffer from! It would be nice to just hang out at his ranch though, looking at the horses, maybe feeding them. One of his favorite mares injured herself last week on his fence. He was complaining about the $300 vet bill to stitch her up. She was fussing with a gelding on the other side of the fence, he also got some scratches and marks, but she ripped her shoulder and neck open quite badly. Joe said he'd neglected turning the "heat" on that particular part of the fencing to keep the horses away from it. A costly mistake that turned out to be!
