Today I cleaned out the hay shed on the right side of the horse shelter. What was left in it – ten bales, had gone bad. Pete went and got fresh bales. Both Raudi and Tinni had started coughing, so the timing of this project was good.

In the afternoon I first loaded manure into the truck so that Pete could take it to our friend Gene’s place. Then, in his absence, I rode all four horses. All the rides were without incident. All the horses were well behaved and I think had a good time.

All day, I have been running a book idea through my head, and now that I think of it, I made a lot of progress. I want to

write a book called “The Gift of a Good Ride.” It would begin with an account of yesterday’s trail ride, going into some detail about the four riders various levels of ability and how the horses responded to this. I’d also talk about my later revelation, which is that horses, when they are well cared for and educated, give their riders the gift of a good ride.

The gift of a good ride isn’t happenstance. Rather, the horse or horses, who are physically and mentally fit, opt to give the ride their all. This is because they can.

I might then follow this chapter with one about me – starting by talking about what it was that sparked the horse gene. This (coincidently) came about when during a cross country bicycle trip, I stopped and visited my friend Jacki and her daughter, who were then taking lessons. I got on a horse and was fearful.

The next few chapters will be entitled Raudi, Tinni, Hrimmi, Tyra, and finally, Two Ghost Horses (Signy and Siggi). In each chapter, I’ll write about how it came to be that on the above-mentioned day, they were finally able to give their riders the gift of a good ride. The riders were my friend Jacki, her daughter Eva, and Eva’s partner Sean.

I am going to have to write this book while finishing up my recycling book, perhaps budgeting time for work on both, simultaneously. If I put off writing this book for any length of time, it will not get written. At the same time, if I put off working on the recycling book, it will not get finished.

I think that I will write this book fairly quickly. My subconscious maybe has been working on this one for some time, and yesterday’s group ride was the catalyst. It will help that now the days are again growing shorter. I can no longer be outside at 11 p.m.

I am going to ask Jacki to illustrate this. This will be ideal since she’s now been here and knows all the characters and the horses. When she was here, I imagined her taking it all in, and loading images into her subconscious.

Tomorrow I am going to get going on this. I would work on it tonight, but it is now past my bedtime.

Next: 230. 8/19/18: Barefoot and Fancy Free