Horses: Heroes and Horses

My memory is like the contents of a grab bag... bits and pieces strewn about all over the place. Sometimes I can find a certain food or a song,  even a book, but rarely is there a complete event that I can access.  Last month I wrote a piece called "An Irishman and a horse..." and once again a recurring theme has arisen... horses. I remember little things like reading a book called "Misty of Chincoteague". I don't remember the story at all, just that it was about a horse, that I enjoyed the story immensely and that I read it several times. I remember playing with the Jane West and West family dolls and horses, with their cool detachable saddles and bridles. I remember at the place where my dad worked there were horses, which I may or may not have ridden. (There might even have been a helicopter there one time, which I may or may not have had a ride in.) One would think that things like this would be worthy of remembering, which is why I tend to lean towards the "not" happened, but you never know with the way my mind retains or doesn't retain things. I know that I had been around horses a few times, but I don't recall any details. The only thing that I do remember is how soft and velvety the horses' noses (muzzle?) were. I know that when I was even younger I got to see Shetland ponies at one time or another, and when I was older I may have gone on a short trail ride of some sort. Years later all else I can recall are just movies that I remember watching, some clearly, some vaguely, The Black Stallion, Phar Lap, The Man From Snowy River, The Lighthorsemen...  What I know for certain is that throughout my life, I liked horses, even if they weren't within my realm of everday existence.

So... last week I wrote a little bit called "Sunfall" which linked over to a story called "108 Hours". When I read that piece, I had linked over to Soldier's Angels and found one of their new projects, "Heroes and Horses". I had been trying to figure out a way to link to that project, and ... today, bolstered by another blog, I knew that it boiled down to this little girl's childhood affection for horses... and that was good enough. Other than that, this really has nothing whatsoever to do with me, but I urge you to link over to "Heroes and Horses", read about the project, and help out if you can. I don't get excited about many things, but this one made my heart pitter patter, and that's a pretty big deal. I was just thinking.. that would be a cool job...  to be a part of something worthwhile like that.