As a kid, I remember going to my grandparents’ farm. They didn't have any horses but that didn't mean I couldn't pretend. They had goats.  I thought: “close enough”.  I halter broke the goats.  Then I thought, “hey they are sort of shaped like horses” so I just hopped up there and used my imagination. The ride lasted just long enough for my goat to run toward the barn and knock me off.

When I was 12 we moved to the country adjacent to my Grandparents farm. I thought, finally land enough to have horses. A friend from church knew how bad I had the "horse sickness".  She told me she had a 5 year old Arabian cross that she would give me. The only problem was that the Arabian was only halter broke. My never-owned-a-horse-before –12-year-old-self” said,  "Sure no problem."  So, we went to get this horse and he is HUGE! And beautiful!! Thus it happened that the first horse I have ever owned turned out to be the only house I ever trained from start to finish -- and he was the best horse I ever had. Well, I thought he was lonely.  The next thing I know, my dad's friends were selling their 3 horses. I begged and begged my dad to let me have these horses.  Two day later, we go to pick them up. 1 Quarter mare (Fat Fanny),1 Quarter gelding (her son Johnny) and a 1/2 Arabian 1/2 Tennessee Walker (Alpo -- that's another story'). I had the mare bred and she produced another foal. About that time, I decided that boy's weren't so icky any more.  That decision, and the time involved, led me down-size the herd.  I went back to having just one horse: Navarre my original Arab cross. Unfortunately, Naviarre’s age (12) and a previous accident caused Naviarre to be getting sore after riding. So, after 12 years of happy time (and lots of stories) I sold him to a girl that has a day care business.  The kids love to ride and hang on him and he loves the attention.

Since I married in 1999 I have not been able to own a horse.  However, I have a friend with a farm and horses.  We have an agreement that I can board a horse at her place, which is just around the corner from me, in exchange for training and riding lessons for her and her daughter and their horses.

Now that I have found the RHPC, I hope to do a lot more horse related activities.  I am hoping to get a horse of my own soon so I can participate with the other women of Red Hats and Purple Chaps.