Recently I rewatched the movie The Black Stallion. It brought back a flood of very happy memories of my own Arabian named Cody as well as my great and good Thoroughbred named Traveler. Eventually Cody died of cancer and I gave Traveler to a homeschooling family of 10. The thought was, after 15 years of daily riding, I had to give up the sport. I was always a very fast rider and therefore always a little afraid I would not be able to handle the potential injuries that come from cross-country riding. There are few temptations in life more subtle than the temptation to go beyond one's physical strength. I once thought about buying an older horse for pleasant rides around the pastures, but being earthbound has given me more time for my new hobbies of running and weightlifting. It's also given me more time for blogging and other writing projects. I still sense that at the end of the tolerably long row of books that bear my name on their fading dust covers there exists room for maybe one or two more. At any rate, for 15 wonderful years I took great pains to be a rider and a good one at that. But to watch a beautiful movie and get my riding enjoyment vicariously is not all that bad. Not bad at all.