I am currently seeing a physical therapist for my ankle. I sprained it at the end of my trip to Beijing (luckily it was after the swimming competition was over and the sprain was not severe). I found out that Megan, my therapist, has five horses and plays polo. I have a real interest in horses and talked to her about it. She could tell that I was super excited and said, “you need to come riding with me sometime.” I jumped at the offer!!!

Today during my session she asked me if I wanted to go riding. Her boyfriend was training the horses about 25 minutes away. I jumped at the chance and said, ABSOLUTELY!

I drove to the stable and went riding with Tom. We spent about an hour and a half in this enormous indoor riding arena. Tom was a professional polo player so he is an expert rider. He taught me how to position my body better, what to do with my hands and feet. It was great. We were trotting and cantering all over the arena.

After our session in the arena, we took the horses outside and rode on this huge ridge that overlooked the Wisconsin countryside. Few things are more beautiful than my home state during the summer. Riding was absolutely wonderful. I was so happy I got the opportunity to go and to learn so much from Tom.