English Original
Sometimes he would come on Thursday and not even be able to get out of the car because of the seizures. Still he came, week after week.
His caretakers said he knew when it was Thursday, even though he knew little else and could not communicate how he knew. He could see, but not speak, could not even sit up unassisted. Yet, he knew when it was his day to go ride. He was only ten, and he didn't live to his teens.
Nevertheless, his story, which includes horses and horsepeople who made him smile and gave him something to look forward to one day a week, must be told.
Many years have passed and many children have benefited from various therapeutic riding programs. But none touched me as much as this one boy. He required a steady horse, one with patience with his rider's inability to balance and an understanding of the boy's need to occasionally lay his face on the mane and just breathe in horse smells. We had several wonderful horses that filled the bill.
One volunteer would walk beside this youngster on the right and help hold him in the saddle, one would control the horse and another would walk on his left to steady him and be his instructor for the day. Any breakthroughs, no matter how small, were recognized and rewarded. A smile, an attempt to move a hand or leg in the right direction, even attention focused on the instructor or the horse were considered achievements.
One week, he was in very good spirits. This followed several weeks when he was either too ill to come or he had suffered seizures in the car and was forced to miss his lesson with the horses. But that day, he smiled. He seemed alert and willing.
We were stopped and waiting for another rider to be helped when my young student reached out and touched my hair. My hand was on his leg, so I knew he was steady, even though my eyes weren't on him. I looked around and knew he was trying to tell me something. The horse stood motionless, as if he knew his movement could distract or confuse his rider.
"What?" I asked. It was unusual for him to reach out and touch, to even control his hands enough to do so. He reached out again and stroked my hair, as he sometimes did to the horse's mane on good days.
I realized that my waist-length hair was back in a ponytail, and that he wanted it to hang down. Perhaps he wanted to see it, like the horse's tail in front of us, free and swinging. Or perhaps I had worn it down in other classes with him and it wasn't the same today. For whatever reason, I knew he wanted me to free that ponytail, so I did. He looked at me, managed to touch his hands together a couple of times in what he used as clapping, and he smiled at me.
Approval.
Our lesson continued and he seemed to have a better time that day than I could remember him having in any other class. He reached toward me and I put my head so he could touch my hair several times while we were walking along.
I didn't know as his attendant carried him back to the car that it would be the last time I saw him. He missed several weeks, then I went back to college. I found out months later that he died not too long after that.
But instead of mourning, I thought of him in heaven, running out to his favorite horse, not having to wait until Thursday or for his attendants to help him. He and his horse would gallop across clouds, with him laughing and the horse's tail streaming freely behind as the wind sang through their hair.
There is a heaven for horses and for little boys who know what day they ride, even when they don't know much else. I'm grateful for having seen that desire, and for understanding that God gave us horses and little boys and that they all aren't the same, nor should they be.
中文翻译
有时，他会在星期四来，却因为癫痫发作甚至无法下车。但他仍然坚持每周都来。
他的看护人说，他知道什么时候是星期四，尽管他几乎不知道其他事情，也无法表达他是如何知道的。他能看见，但不能说话，甚至无法在没有帮助的情况下坐起来。然而，他知道什么时候是他去骑马的日子。他只有十岁，没能活到十几岁。
尽管如此，他的故事必须被讲述。这个故事里有马和马术工作者，他们让他微笑，给了他一星期中一天的期待。
许多年过去了，许多孩子从各种治疗性骑马项目中受益。但没有一个像这个男孩那样触动我。他需要一匹稳健的马，一匹能耐心对待骑手无法保持平衡的马，一匹能理解男孩偶尔需要把脸贴在鬃毛上、仅仅呼吸马匹气味的需求的马。我们有好几匹出色的马符合要求。
一名志愿者会走在这位少年的右侧，帮助他坐在马鞍上；另一名志愿者会控制马匹；还有一名志愿者会走在他的左侧，扶稳他，并担任他那天的指导员。任何突破，无论多么微小，都会被认可和奖励。一个微笑，一次试图朝正确方向移动手或腿的尝试，甚至是将注意力集中在指导员或马匹上，都被视为成就。
有一周，他情绪非常好。在此之前，他连续几周要么病得太重无法前来，要么在车里癫痫发作，被迫错过了与马匹的课程。但那天，他笑了。他看起来机敏而乐意。
我们停下来等待帮助另一位骑手时，我的年轻学生伸出手，摸了摸我的头发。我的手放在他的腿上，所以我知道他很稳，尽管我的眼睛没有看着他。我环顾四周，知道他正试图告诉我什么。马一动不动地站着，仿佛知道它的移动可能会分散或迷惑它的骑手。
“怎么了？”我问。他伸出手触摸是不同寻常的，他甚至能如此控制自己的手。他又伸出手，抚摸我的头发，就像他在状态好的日子里有时会抚摸马的鬃毛一样。
我意识到我齐腰的长发扎成了马尾辫，而他希望它披散下来。也许他想看到它像我们面前马尾一样，自由摆动。或者也许我在其他和他一起的课上曾披着头发，而今天不一样了。无论什么原因，我知道他希望我解开那个马尾辫，于是我照做了。他看着我，努力将双手碰在一起几次，这是他用来表示鼓掌的方式，然后对我笑了。
赞许。
我们的课程继续，那天他似乎比我能记起的任何其他课上都要开心。他朝我伸出手，我低下头，这样在我们行走时，他可以多次触摸我的头发。
当他的护理员把他抱回车上时，我并不知道那将是我最后一次见到他。他缺席了几周，然后我回到了大学。几个月后，我发现他在那之后不久就去世了。
但我没有哀悼，而是想象他在天堂，跑向他最喜欢的马，不必等到星期四，也不必等待护理员的帮助。他和他的马会在云间驰骋，他笑着，马尾在身后自由飘扬，风儿在他们的发间歌唱。
有一个天堂，属于马，也属于那些知道自己哪天骑马的男孩们，即使他们不知道太多其他事情。我很感激看到了那种渴望，也很感激理解了上帝赐予我们马和小男孩，他们各不相同，也本应如此。