This sign makes me proud of the state I live in:It’s cute and it makes me laugh, in part because I don’t know any horses that have feedbags.

It also makes me smile, as it reminds me of happy memories.  The first week I moved to my farm, I was unpacking boxes in the dining room when I heard “clip, clop, clip, clop.”  It sounded like a horse-drawn carriage.  And it was!  A matching pair of Belgians and a woman with a long blond braid who waved as she past the house.

From time to time, trail riders walk along our road, and they always take a look up the hill behind our house as they pass — spying the horses, as the horses spy them.  They wave, too.  And the kids on the hay rides scream in delight as they wave.

And I always wave back.  I wish I could wave back more…that more of us felt comfortable riding our horses along the road…that there were more suitable roads and drivers who knew what to do when they found a horse and rider in their path.

The Connecticut Horse Council put out a wonderful brochure on road safety for drivers and riders, with tips for both.  No matter what state you call home, this is worth reading.  Even if you never intend to ride your horse on the road, you never know when someone else will.