In one of my earliest memories, my mother scoops me into her arms and sets me on the bare back of her favorite horse. I am about three years old, and from up there, it feels as though I am a mile off the ground.

I grab a fistful of the horse’s mane to steady myself.

I love the feeling immediately—the height, the warmth of the animal beneath me, the sense that I am somewhere I belong.

I don’t get to stay there long. My father is worried I’ll fall and scolds my mother for putting me in danger.

My first horseback ride is brief, but something about it stays with me. From then on, I am fascinated by […]