I have loved horses as long as I can remember.  My earliest memory having to do with horses is being a very young girl, riding the ponies at Broad Ripple Park in Indianapolis.  It was not until after three years of pestering my parents that I finally talked them into getting a horse.  I believe I was maybe 9 or 10 at that time.  When we finally did get a horse (Domino, a pinto) I shared it with my sister and brother.  I do not remember much about him except that he would stop instantly if the rider fell off.  Eventually, when I was maybe 12 or 13, my parents bought me an Arabian weanling named Sultan.  We never did geld Sultan (do not ask my why not), but the young stallion and I got along just fine.  When I went away to college, and my parents donated him to a college.

I did not have a horse again until I was about 27 at which time I bought an Arabian gelding named Riffraff.  Riffraff had just turned 2 and was green broke.  He and I both had a lot to learn. Fortunately for both of us, I soon joined the Battle Ground Saddle Club where there were many old-timers willing to teach the two of us a lot about trail riding, loading in trailers, etc.  I have been a member ever since, eventually serving as secretary for 19 years and currently serving as president.  I had Riffraff until he died two weeks before he would have been 25.  He was well known to many.  I figure he probably had at 50, or more, different riders, mostly beginners, on him during his lifetime.  I love to ride and really enjoy helping other people discover the experience.

A few years after I bought Raffraff, I bought an Andalusian/Arabian cross named Taco, whom I still have.  He will be 22 this summer.  He has probably had as many different riders as Riffraff.  Several other equines have come and gone.  Over the years I have had Quarter Horses, mules, Belgians, and a Percheron. 

My husband had not ridden before I met him about 13 years ago, but he is a quick learner and a good rider (although he prefers much shorter rides than I).  Currently, we still have Taco as well as Annie, a BLM mustang that we adopted as a yearling.  The mustang’s daughter is Kate, out of a Rocky Mountain stud, and Shawnee, a Rocky Mountain/Spotted Saddle cross.  Kate is about to turn three years old.  I am hoping to find time to turn her into a good trail horse.

Most of my riding is done at home.  I usually try to hop on bareback and ride for twenty or thirty minutes at least once a week.  My husband and I have spent hours and hours cutting horse trails in the woods on our property and our neighbors’ so it is possible to ride for two or three hours at home.