The only thing that normally holds a person on a horse is thigh strength. It's possible to ride without the use of your legs, but it would much harder.

ETA: What Aimee said.

I imagine that transferring from wheelchair to specialized orthopedic saddle is quite a production, particularly if performed without assistance. Maybe if the horse kneels?

I don't think a quad could ride. I understand that the lack of muscle control = no balance = specialized 4-point restraint seat belts needed for safety during car trips.

I bet she could, but I don't think she could pass that way...you know? After time passes, even if you're not born to it, it shows.

Katerina -- that is just so ridiculous!

I'll let you know if she comes up with a good reason as to how this could be.

There is already the disconnect between what the story is about (a former three-day eventer) and what is on the cover (a gaited horse), but that is to be expected.

Yes, please fill me in about the red and white striped horse. I can't wait.

The color is liver chestnut brindle - here is an example of a brindled chestut. The page describes her sire as liver chestnut but he looks lighter than I expect a liver chestnut to look.

Ooh, here are the actual horses that Sara Gruen (the author) based the color of the horse in her book on.

I'm enjoying the book so much more than I expected to.

Finished Pattern Recognition.

Despite not being a writer at ALL, I have no problem saying that my biggest problem with it was that it seemed to be almost trivially easy to plot out, for the author. That aside, it was pretty good.

I liked the detail of her going off to the Pilates studio to work out regularly. (Another detail that resounded the same way for me was the Holly Hunter character taking the phone off the hook and crying every morning in Broadcast News. )

Harking back a couple of posts -- my sister has volunteered for a theraputic riding class for many years, and says that people who are parapalegic can ride (well enough that she can't see a difference) as long as they have a good sense of balance. There's even a method of mounting, using a ramp and a calm horse, which a person in a wheelchair can technically manage unassisted (although my sister says it would be foolishly reckless to not have helpers/spotters). She thinks someone with good upper body strength could mount without the ramp, providing that they were stupid enough to try it.

this is for deb mostly. I talked with my mom yesterday - she read Weaver and she lent it to her friend - they really liked it. they want the next one now. My mom - with out any prompting from me - said the same thing as I did -- if we were driving in england - and drove by the cottage - we would recognize right away.