Letting Go (in August issue of EQUUS)

I climb into the saddle from the mounting platform usually used by children in wheelchairs. I settle in, pick up the reins, set my cast on my left arm straight, and ask for forward. The motion of the horse starts a splash of hormones and chemicals and vibrations. My hands become stiff and ungiving. My legs tighten despite my brain ordering them to relax. Adrenaline heightens my senses, and I feel my horse underneath me, a coiled spring wound tight, dangerously close to expanding. I want get off this horse, to run away, to do anything to save myself. I fear him like I’d fear a man pointing a gun in my face.


You'll be able to read the rest of this story in a the August 2011 issue of EQUUS.