[LantzALot]

Yes, there are very good horsemen all over the world, many -- like your father -- in this country.

I have a son-in-law who tells of his Grandfather from the Ukraine who had the ability to get horses to do non-horse-like things. (e.g., balance a see-saw.)

I only pointed that out because the Lipizzaners have been performing exactly this kind of act around the world for many years.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Yeah, my father ALWAYS got tickets to see them perform when they came through town. Amazing animals!! Their size and the strength of their back legs are the key. I took my son to see them when he was little. He fell in love at first sight. I had to explain that times (for me) had changed, and there is no such thing as a “free” horse. I was having difficulty covering our “free” puppy. Eventually, he got it.

He still asks me what I’d be doing if I didn’t have to work so hard (just last month, in fact). I told him I’d be brushing down a mare in the sweet, smelling stable and saddling up again for a day cantering over the fields of green. He just looks at me like, “what planet did you fall from?” I want to say, “Heaven,” but I still don’t think he’d get it. ;-)