I took a grant writing class a year or so ago and there were some ladies in the group who operated a riding school for handicapped or emotionally affected children or adults. Do you get involved with the public sector like that? It sounded very interesting. Evidently the horses and riding were very helpful to their clients.

I used to volunteer at a therapeutic riding center but it has since shut down. There are others now and they are well staffed with paid personell as well as volunteers.

Riding is very therapeutic both physically and mentally. Riding a horse at a walk gently manipulates all of the muscles in a person's body, keeps the circulation going and also makes most everyone smile - both riders and handlers - it is quite wonderful to watch a person with physical disabilities, someone that hasn't been able to walk on their own for many years or perhaps since birth, get up on a horse and all of a sudden realize that they still are able to do something. And of course most horses involved in such programs are true gentle giants and tolerate very well the attention lavished upon them by all of their riders.

I was away over the holidays and we visited a ranch for Christmas day. People were given the opportunity to ride horses. Some, who hadn't ridden in years seized the moment. It is something, as you say, that brings smiles.