>>>> I've never really liked this. I think it's way too hard on a horse to get up w/ a rider on it's back like that. I don't think I'd ever do it.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I find it awesomely inspiring that a person can overcome such an serious injury to ride again. And that a horse will allow her to mount that way...that's totally cool, and I imagine the therapy benefits could be enormous. But I also see your point, Robyn, and I totally agree it's not an ideal thing to do, because of the stress on the horse. I guess at minimum, I'd only want to see this done in extreme circumstances, but maybe this is one of those where the risks are worth the potential benefit...? I'd certainly hate to see a small-medium-ish Icelandic asked to do this EVER, even once, for someone Cary's size, 235 pounds, but I'm not sure where I'd draw the line, regarding how often and what size horse/rider ratio. At least in this case, the rider looks fairly small in relation to the horse. It's hard to say from a video, but I do see both points of views. Karen Thomas, NC
