Wanted: Miniature Horse (must be very very short)

I fell off my horse this week. I knew my days were numbered; there were just too many close calls in the last nearly two years to make me think I could escape the inevitable much longer, but I'd managed to cling on thus far during the bucking fits and sideways spooks if only out of sheer terror of dropping the stomach-churning twenty feet to the ground from his back.

Willie is a big horse, part Clydesdale, part mountain, and this spring I've been using my western saddle during those early haven't-been-ridden-all-winter-and-might-spook-at-just-about-anything outings, thinking that extra handle at the front would save me. When I hoist that thing onto his back, do up the cinch, strap on all my protective gear, and clamber up from my largest upturned bucket, I feel as though I'm sitting on top of the world's largest circus elephant in one of those little tassle trimmed booths the Rajas use. Looking down, the last thing I want to see is the earth coming up to meet me at great speed.

At least my husband was out walking the fields with me that day, taking photos of us with his long lens...there we are cantering lovely circles on the hill..snap...oh, there's Willie deciding he's had enough of me making him go on the correct lead..tail swish..snap..Willie's ears going back...snap, and the wild west show begins...snap snap. After that, he thought he'd better put down the camera and make haste to where I was laid out on the ground. I don't even think I made nine seconds, but like a good cowgirl, I tried.

Later in emerg. the doctor was wonderful and kind, and I explained I had suffered a bit of amnesia directly afterwards, not remembering catching the horse and going back to the barn, untacking, etc. I mentioned the "Natasha Richardson" debacle and immediately sensed an internal eye-roll on his part, but he patiently explained to me why he was pretty sure I wasn't going to end up like she did. I was pretty sure too, since my burning left butt cheek told me where the point of impact had been (I should go back and look for the crater). I'm not really speaking to Willie at the moment; I wonder if horses understand the cold shoulder, but I'm not afraid to get back up there and keep working - Hi Ho Silver...Away!!

Has anyone seen a very large horse hiding behind a very small tree....

No treats for you today buddy boy