Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
Speaker 1: and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
Speaker 1: from the arts to sports, and from business to history
Speaker 1: and everything in between, including your story. Send them to
Speaker 1: our American Stories dot com. There's some of our favorites.
Speaker 1: And in the end, America is the star of this
Speaker 1: show and some of the American people. Up next, we're
Speaker 1: gonna hear from a regular contributor, Bill Brake, about this
Speaker 1: simple but important task of grooming your own horse.
Speaker 2: Two weeks ago, I went to the Cheshire Horse in Swansea,
Speaker 2: New Hampshire, to purchase riding boots, breeches and other paraphernalia.
Speaker 2: No spurs, I see no reason to spur horse, and
Speaker 2: Dorothy Crosby, my instructor, a practical woman, agrees with me.
Speaker 2: Bridges have leather patches on the inner thigh the saddle
Speaker 2: sides of the leg that help one post rise in
Speaker 2: the saddle at the trot to manage the horse. The
Speaker 2: bridges are a mixture of cotton and unnatural fibers that stretch,
Speaker 2: unlike the old army riding bridges of khaki twill that
Speaker 2: belled at the thighs and hips. They claim my wife
Speaker 2: claims she finds them, shall we say interesting? Having spent
Speaker 2: some time in my early life trying to have the
Speaker 2: municipal building at one Center Street in Manhattan rezone for
Speaker 2: natural fibers, I reserve judgment. Riding boots also help control
Speaker 2: the horse, while being much easier to place in or
Speaker 2: remove from the stirrups than my rubber Wellington's had been.
Speaker 2: So today, when I went to find Julio, the horse
Speaker 2: I have been riding at Miss Crosby's stable and started
Speaker 2: New Hampshire, I arrived in the kind of polished high
Speaker 2: boots one might expect from say, George S. Patten in
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty nine. I then plunged through three inches of
Speaker 2: mud to get and bring him in for grooming. With Julio,
Speaker 2: there's always some physical comedy before I get him to
Speaker 2: the stable, because there are other things he would rather
Speaker 2: do right then than go with me, and so he
Speaker 2: will walk about. Horses, unlike most humans, always live in
Speaker 2: the moment. Sooner or later, though I catch Julio and
Speaker 2: lead him in. A rider should groom the horse before
Speaker 2: riding to ensure comfort for both parties. Cleaning his back
Speaker 2: where the saddle will lie is only a part of it.
Speaker 2: Julio loves to roll in the field. At this time
Speaker 2: of year, from late March through early May, New Hampshire
Speaker 2: has mud season, so when I finally get him into
Speaker 2: the stable, he's pretty dirty. Even with some degree of efficiency,
Speaker 2: the use of several brushes, combs, picks and other devices
Speaker 2: takes about half an hour. That too, may have an
Speaker 2: element of physical comedy, particularly if, like Julio, the horse
Speaker 2: doesn't think much about where he places his hoofs Half
Speaker 2: a ton of horse can make his presence known, as
Speaker 2: I learned earlier today, when he places his hoof on
Speaker 2: my right foot. Thankfully I was no longer wearing my
Speaker 2: rubber Wellington's, which might not have taken this quite as
Speaker 2: well as my Irish maid riding boots. When Julio put
Speaker 2: his foot down, I took deep breath and exhaled, refraining
Speaker 2: from using a few consonant clusters that leapt into mind.
Speaker 2: It was my fault I should have turned him while
Speaker 2: leading from the front instead of remaining at his side.
Speaker 2: Having cleaned the horse, one saddles and bridles him, leads
Speaker 2: him out to the mountain block, climbs into the saddle
Speaker 2: and rides I'm slowly absorbing the discipline of riding at
Speaker 2: the trot, which requires one to rise in rhythm with
Speaker 2: a horse. It's working certain muscles that I may not
Speaker 2: use as often as I should. I'm vaguely reminded of
Speaker 2: an admission Graham Greene once made to Anthony Powell that
Speaker 2: he had not truly known physical love until he had
Speaker 2: known a horsewoman, due to the development of the muscles
Speaker 2: and the loins. Anyway, having done all that and returned
Speaker 2: to the stable, what happens next? First I groom Julio again,
Speaker 2: going through the entire process. He's allowed me to ride him.
Speaker 2: The least I can do is clean him up so
Speaker 2: he can relax. It's simply a matter of quid pro quo.
Speaker 2: At this time of year, he's shedding his winter coat.
Speaker 2: I removed nearly as much hair from him during the
Speaker 2: second grooming as I did during the first. Once I'm done,
Speaker 2: I place a waterproof sheetow him an exercise in straps
Speaker 2: and velcrow, lead him from the stable, remove his bridle
Speaker 2: and release him. Then back in the barn, I'd clean
Speaker 2: the hair and other detreatise that fell from him during
Speaker 2: his grooming, including any manure and sweep or shovelet out
Speaker 2: the door the other day. By power of association, I
Speaker 2: recalled the French cavalryman and politician who, opposing the adoption
Speaker 2: of tanks during the mid nineteen thirties, thundered during a
Speaker 2: debate in the Chamber of Deputies, what would you have
Speaker 2: the stench of gasoline or the noble scent of manure?
Speaker 2: That was after an obscure Colonel Charles de Gould had
Speaker 2: published the classic argument for the use of tanks in
Speaker 2: modern warfare, The Army of the Future. The book was
Speaker 2: ignored by France, but a bestseller in Germany. General Heinz Guderian,
Speaker 2: whose armored cavalry smashed through the French lines that's to
Speaker 2: Don in nineteen forty, particularly admired it.
Speaker 1: And you've been listening to Bill Bray his story about
Speaker 1: horse life, and particularly well the joy of grooming your
Speaker 1: horse and the joy of just getting to know your
Speaker 1: horse and getting closer to a horse. My daughter loves horses.
Speaker 1: We own a horse. His name is Levado, and let's
Speaker 1: just say he can make his presence known too, and
Speaker 1: quite a character and a joy of our life. Owning
Speaker 1: a horse, if you have one, if you have barns.
Speaker 1: If you ride, you know what I'm talking about and
Speaker 1: what it does for young people. My goodness, the lessons
Speaker 1: you'll learn about personal responsibility, about well control, about risk taking,
Speaker 1: about courage at certain points too. And if you have
Speaker 1: stories of your own horse stories, particularly, I'll send them
Speaker 1: to all Americanstories dot com. It's such a fundamental part
Speaker 1: of so many people's lives in this country, especially in
Speaker 1: the rural areas of this country and the exerbs. Again,
Speaker 1: send your horse stories to our Americans Life stories dot com.
Speaker 1: The beauty of the beast, the beauty of this animal.
Speaker 1: It's been a fascination for Americans, well, for as long
Speaker 1: as we've been Americans. Bill Brake's story, his horse riding
Speaker 1: story in the end, his horse grooming story, and it's
Speaker 1: a love story in the end. Here on our American
Speaker 1: Stories Folks. If you love the great American stories we
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