In his recent article, “People of the Horse,” writer David Quammen asks Toni Minthorn, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and lifelong equestrienne, where she got her riding skills.

Her answer?

“I was born with ‘em.”

Not so for me. From the age of 5 when I began taking horseback riding lessons until I was at least 11 or 12 (after I’d had my own pony for a couple of years), I fell off nearly every time I rode. Clearly, I was not a natural horsewoman.

What I was born with, or at least goes back as long as I can remember, is a true love of horses. Not just riding them, but simply being in