Proving my manhood

I was sitting and talking with our 75 year old security guard this morning. Somehow we got on the topic of him remembering his dad breaking in horses and I realized that breaking in a horse is a big fear of mine, but also something I would choose to do to prove that I was a man.

I think breaking in a horse has to be so scary, but would definitely prove that you have power to control something bigger and stronger than you.

I think breaking in a bear or an exotic cat would be stupid.

I remember growing up, we had 2 horses, one pony and one full-sized horse. I used to ride the pony a TON (I was about 9-10 years old) and I finally manned up to start riding our horse, which wasn't ridden as much. I had to use a stool just to get up on her. One day I was riding her and a dog spooked her and made her jump up, throw me, then roll over the top of my leg. I was scared to death and was hurt (mostly just ligament damage) and never rode a horse since then. I regret it now. It was about the time I was graduating from riding horses to riding bikes and motorcycles, so maybe that was a natural progression for a boy. I also remember one time Russ and my friend were jumping up onto our pony from behind (like the Lone Ranger) while she was eating. She finally got tired of it and bucked him off her and into the fence. I remember his back was all scratched up and he was bawling his head off.