My sister barrel rides at age 50. If that activity doesnt ring a bell for you, it means that Nancy rides a fast horse at full speed through an obstacle course. The thought makes me shudder. I havent ridden a horse for more than two decades, and before that, only twice.

On a spring day this April, I vanquished old ghosts and arrived at Back Country Horse Rides on Sid Snyder Drive in Long Beach, Wash., just a stones throw from the Pacific Ocean. I was there to write a story about kids riding horses. The horses were waiting: Cheyenne, Dugan, Bennie, Cisco and Tank. But there was just one kid. His name was Chris, and the cowboy hat on his head all but hid his tiny body. Back Countrys brochure proclaims that children older than 5 can ride with their parents. Chris looks small, but his face says true grit. He was alone on the horse.

Chris belongs to the girlfriend of one of the guides, and he has ridden these horses many times. Our guide, Josh, told us to saddle up. Chris was already waiting, looking like a little Gene Autry in the oversized saddle. Luck was with us the day was lovely. A crystalline blue sky doubled for a Hollywood-like backdrop above the ocean, and the bright sun highlighted the combers, active today after a mild spring storm that arrived earlier in the week. The light was soft, spring-like, too cold to sunbathe, but pleasant on the face.

My horse was Cisco. He turned his sturdy head and eyeballed me like a film critic. He might as well have said: What the heck are you doing here? Youre no cowboy. I thought of doing one of those jump-on-the-horse-from-behind stunts. My wife, Laurie, looked at me with a sideways slant that was far more critical than the horses. Youre old, her eyes seemed to say. Dont be stupid. Common sense prevailed, at least for a while.

Chris was ready. So were the two young ladies who showed up from Spokane, Brenda and Suzy. Laurie asked them if they rode horses in Spokane. Sure, they said. But Spokane doesnt have an ocean.

Josh jumped in. People who ride horses on the Pacific laugh and hug and cry. There is just something magical about it. Nobody argued.

Riding at the surfs edge was invigorating, to say the least. Other than by foot, these horses seemed like the only legitimate form of beach travel that I had ever experienced. They plodded along in the soft sand, sometimes trotting, but generally moving together as if they were a team, as if they were old friends. They would hang together, no matter what, a band of brothers. And it went that way for several miles, the sun ricocheting off the breakers, a blue sky punctuated by cotton-like clouds, and me, lost in kind of a soft Zen meditation, thinking the world was near perfect.

The ocean never looked better. And then Chris bolted past me, his steed at full run and Chris hanging on like a true cow-puncher. His big hat flew off. He grasped the saddle horn, his little muscles wrangling for a firm hold. I got the bright idea that I should do something, and punched my animal into high gear. We both went flying down the beach. And then Josh sprinted past me. I dropped back and watched a horse master at work. He collared the wayward horse and its tiny rider faster then the Lone Ranger to the rescue. I was impressed and touched, all in one motion.

The other riders showed up, and as a unit we rode back to the corral, everyone happy and a bit relieved.

When he isnt chasing down wayward horses, Josh leads groups of hunters, fishermen and explorers into the Cascades on trail rides. His father, Rick Haug, offers carriage rides about the towns of Seaview and Long Beach.

The experience that Rick has created for his customers is as authentic as his west Kansas roots. Under fair skies, they offer a chuckwagon experience, a handsome mare driving a wagon into the cove at Beards Hollow, and Rick and family cooking a lovely campfire meal under painted Pacific skies. Kids love it. So do adults.

What does all this say about adventure, about a child learning the ins and outs of that cowboy heritage, that horse and rider experience that seems altogether rare and exhilarating, and yes, once and a while, unpredictable? Boys can still grow up to be cowboys. Bring your kids to Long Beach and experience a cowboy moment. Perhaps Chris will ride along. Who knows, in time he might be leading the trail ride.