What are "thoughts from the saddle"?

For Anyone that has ever spent very much time on the back of a horse or in the seat of a tractor you know what I'm talking about. For those of you that have been deprived (and i mean that very sincerely that you are missing out on one of life's greatest opportunities) of such an experience let me explain.

There are two misconceptions that need to be confronted before one can understand "thoughts from the saddle". The first is that music or other distractions blaring in your ears is necessary when driving or operating machinery or anything else. It simply is not true. Silence is the greatest noise I've ever come to know. I find that often those who are afraid of silence are afraid of their own imagination or thinking for themselves. The second is that the people that ride horses or tractors or other equipment for a living are not smart people and simply have that job because there is nothing else they are capable of doing. Some of the smartest, most talented people I know do these things for a living. I'd like to see any of you take a 74 ton bulldozer and be able to make a pad that is perfectly level or make a slope 200 feet tall that is exactly 3:1 sloped just by sight. It is a talent and some of the best ideas for life come from such people.

Now that those two misconceptions have been addressed let me explain the process. When one spends hours and hours each day sitting on the back of a horse or in the seat of equipment they have a great amount of time to think. President Hinckly once said that a man's virtue is best measured by the thoughts he entertains when he is alone. I agree. As one having the opportunity from as far back as i can remember up to the present of spending many hours in such situations I can say that while I haven't solved all of the world's problems I have sure solved a lot of them :). I encourage you all to take the time to have some "thoughts from the saddle" come into your mind. Maybe in your car or maybe on a bench in a park, or the top of the mountain, or anyplace else that you can turn off the music and tune out the world for a little bit and just let your mind wonder. At first you may think its a big waste of time as you will only think about school or work or that 'special someone'. It takes time to develop and once you get over your fear of your own thoughts you will be amazed and what solutions come to you from the seat of your proverbial saddle that have evaded you for so long.