Let 'er buck

I have been mad at my father for years. But events in the past week may have rendered him off the hook. I have always loved horses, almost as much as I loved rocks, but that's another story. My dad was a cowboy back in the day, the real kind that ride the range and herd cattle. He grew up on a ranch and to this day sits spellbound in front of any movie or show where a horse is involved. (He may or may not have a posthumous man-crush on John Wayne) I could point out just about every kind of horse there is and have always dreamed of having one of my own. It would be a 16-hand palomino with a white blaze and socks on the two front feet. He would be a gelding and I would somehow shorten his long registered name to Sox. In my earlier years - pre-high school - I lived in the suburbs of Nevada that would not be conducive to any beast of burden. But when my parents high-tailed it to Idaho in my teens I thought that my consolation prize would somehow be a horse. No dice. To add insult to injury of the three houses that I lived in during my stint in Idaho each of them had a pasture fitting for multiple equine. Well I am 27 and I have resigned to the fact that I will never own a horse. And after Courtney's accident last week I am finally OK with it. She grew up In Bear Lake with horses in her backyard but never really rode them. (If I was her I would be in a white dress riding bareback on the beaches of Bear Lake on a daily basis -- at least that was how my adolescent day dreams played out with Sox). Well she hopped on a horse named Earl last week and after getting spooked he ran full speed towards two parked trucks and then came to an abrupt stop. Courtney didn't stop but flew face first into one of the trucks, breaking bones around her eye socket along with a couple ribs. Though her pictures would indicate otherwise, it could have been much worse. In talking to the doctor in Evanston WY hospital where she was taken, he said horse accidents are more than common. He claimed that statistically every five minutes someone is admitted to the hospital due to a horse accident. And every 5 hours there is a fatality due to a horse related accident. Now call me cautious but under those stats ummmm why do people have horses? I get that they are great for recreation but I mean if that's the case then buy an ATV, get a jet ski, invest in some dirt bikes. They may be equally as dangerous but you don't have to feed them all year, give them shots and take them to the vet. Plus ATVs don't get moody and decide to throw your ass off because they see a snake. So Carl, I ain't mad at ya anymore. Thanks for helping me keep my bones in tact.