Sam loaded this video to his own YouTube channel. Michael shot it, and you can hear him at one point chiding the horse, Trevor, who didn’t appear to cooperate at the gate.

Tonight Sam talked about this ride in a way that he hadn’t shared before. I had walked by him sitting in the recliner on my way to my own chair in the living room and gave his knee a pat.

This is something that typically makes him recoil from my touch, so I rarely do it, but I try from time to time. He recoiled, of course.

But after doing so, he told me that he had strong reflexes and that it can be a problem when riding horse. He said that he has to try to control them, otherwise his body sends the horse the wrong signal of what he wants to do.

“Like when we were at the gate,” he said.