There are, at least, two things that my daughters mention that I never did for them. I never took them fishing (of course I have almost never fished) and I never took them horseback riding (I guess I did that a little bit myself but it violated my ‘feet-are-on-the-ground happy place’ approach.
The movie I just finished, Buck, deals with horses.
Buck Brannaman, is the prototypical what-we-think-a-cowboy-should-be cowboy (I guess I am overusing hyphens this morning). He travels around the country teaching people how to ride horses better. In fact he is really teaching them about how to treat horses better. As he says in the movie (paraphrased), “People do not have a horse problem, horses have a people problem.” And what he really is teaching is much about the riders themselves about themselves.
We learn about Buck’s difficult childhood during which he was repeatedly physically abused by his alcoholic father. After his mother died young he eventually was taken from his father, when school authorities learned about the beatings, and placed under the care of what seemed to be truly loving stepparents – we meet his step mother. Brannaman was evidently the inspiration for the book and then movie The Horse Whisperer. Thus we also get commentary from time to time from Roberrt Redford about Buck, who decides that if Redford cannot make it in films he might have a career working with horses.
A very nice film, Brannaman is a true inspiration. I enjoyed it a great deal.
As Buck tells us, “Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” Worth a look.