Like most little girls, I had the occasional dream of having a horse. Not all little girls go through this phase, but enough of them do that horsey novels are favorites of the little girl set. Some girls in the country get ponies and even in the city there are ways to keep a horse, if the parental units attached to said girl have enough money. Even the most economically kitted-out horse and ride cost a tidy sum if you want your horsey cared for and fed properly.

I fell out of the horse dream quickly enough: Dad worked in a factory and we had a teeny back yard. Besides, while some of the little girls were simply dreaming about galloping through flowery meadows and winning rosettes at gymkhanas, I looked at it realistically: keeping a horse neat and clean was just too much darn work.

Besides, I really preferred dogs...

So I stuck with reading books about horses. One of my favorites when I got older was Don Stanford's marvelous The Horsemasters, which is unflinching at telling you, despite the joy of riding, that a horse is one big piece of responsibility.

However, in all my years reading about jumping, galloping, and grooming this beast, I never realized you had to do this to a gelding. (Um, warning, although this is written in humorous fashions with euphemisms and is quite funny, it's still a bit...graphic, depending on your taste.)

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:17:00 AM

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