This is not an optical illusion. It is a photo of me, in all of my water-proof finery, standing next to my ride for the day: Drum Major, known lovingly around Dart Stables as 'Drummy'. At the withers (horse talk for 'shoulder'), he stands about five inches taller than the top of my head. Yes, I had to parallel park him beside a small ladder in order climb on.

It was a hot day, but I wanted to wear my oiled long coat because it looks really cool in photos and it doesn't make my butt look big.

So what is it like to ride a horse that is built for pulling beer wagons? It is not unlike any other horse, really. Being used by Dart Stable Trail Guides for inexperienced and/or overweight riders, he is used to plodding along behind the leader in a trail-riding string. As soon as I had a fresh willow 'reminder' branch in hand, he put aside his stubborn ways, turned his ears my way and for the most part, respected me as the one in charge. He pooped along the way, just like all of the horses, and it sounded the same when it hit the ground, even from that height.

We rode along The Dart River in Glenorchy. (For those who do not worship Peter Jackson, it is the site of much of the filming of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.)