I am Lani Zabor and here is my story…

I grew up with horses – I think I had my first horse when I was 8 years old and we lived in Australia.  My dad was with General Motors (Overseas Division), so I lived all over the world and moved to the US when I was 21 – many years ago now.  Anyway, my parents bought me a little bay pony named Tuppence and she was a great little pony.  We kept her about an hour from my home, I was taken out for lessons about 3 times a week and I would spend the weekends with the family that boarded my horse. I would ride and help with all the care.  I was a member of a pony club and would participate in all the different competitions.  We also had a house on a lake in the country (near where the movie, Man from Snowy River was filmed) and we had 4 horses up there.  In the country, I would ride my horse all day long – usually I would ride and lead another horse and go and pick up a friend. We would ride all day in the countryside surrounding the lake –jumping logs, chasing kangaroos and just exploring the area.  Eventually, I outgrew my pony and moved to Champ (a chestnut) and then Panda (a big grey mare).  My brother and my mother also rode and we would show together. 

My father was eventually transferred to England.  It was heartbreaking – we had such a wonderful life in Australia and had to move to the aloofness of the British and the cold damp weather of England.  But I was allowed to pursue my love of horses.  My parents purchased a wonderful horse for me named Rendezvous.  I’m not sure what type of horse he was – but he was great.  I would walk down to the barn which was in the heart of our home’s village and  I rode him, along with a great friend, all over the countryside.  I also showed him.  We won many events together and our favorite event was the one day event – dressage, cross country jumping and show jumping.  We, along with my parents, would also go fox hunting in the cold damp English winter mornings – meeting at the pubs with a flask of whiskey – well, I didn’t have the whiskey as I was too young, but my parents did. 

Around the time I hit 16 – boys took over from my horse.  Looking back, I can’t believe that I let this happen, but slowly I quit riding, although my mother took over and kept my horse until we moved from England.

When I was 18, my dad quit General Motors and my parents bought a 4,000 acre cattle ranch in Australia.  They moved there soon after I graduated from high school so I moved with them.  I spent my first year in Australia working on the ranch for $10.00 a week – but food and board was included and we had a pool at the house.  It was a wonderful lifestyle and there were a lot of other city farmers who lived nearby.  We were not in the outback but halfway between Melbourne and Sydney.  I would tack up my horse in the morning and go check cattle, tag calves or move cattle all day.  Most days I spent in the saddle wandering around this ranch, watching cattle and kangaroos – what a tough life – and to think I chose to leave it.  After a year of this, I decided that it was time to go to college and I moved to Arizona.

This is when I took a long break from horses.  I went to college, got married, was broke, and then had kids.  We were living paycheck to paycheck and, needless to say, horses took a back burner.  I actually never thought that I would own a horse again.  We would still go back and visit my parents ranch about once every 3 years and I would always ride when I was there.  I would also try to ride whenever I had the opportunity – whether it was with friends or on trips, heck I would even take care of little minis if given the opportunity. I always loved to stop and pet any horses I would see, just to smell that wonderful horsey smell.

Eventually, I divorced and then meet Tom – my present husband, and he dragged me to Indiana (actually, I came very willingly). I started up my own travel business and would ride whenever I got a chance. When my daughter went to college, I decided to volunteer at Agape, a therapeutic riding center.  While at Agape, I helped groom horses, lead them, play with them and exercise them – and I loved it.  It turned into a very therapeutic place for me.  Meanwhile, a good friend of mine with a 10 acre farm had purchased a horse and kept telling me to get one– to which I answered that I didn’t have the time.  Then one day at Agape, I found out that one of my favorite horses was looking for a home. He is a palomino appaloosa and I asked my husband if it would be okay to try him and see how it worked out.

That was 2 years ago… not only do we now own Lucky but we also have purchased Marti, a quarter horse, a truck, and a horse trailer. Our house is also up for sale so that we can buy a mini farm and keep the horses with us– I can’t wait.  So, if you know anyone who wants a house in Geist area, let me know.

My poor husband has gone from a plan to retire in Florida on the water - to having all this horse stuff and a new plan to retire in New Mexico, where we now own 10 acres in horse country.  But he tolerates horses and will even ride for about an hour when we go camping. My kids also enjoy going riding with me – they now have their wish come true as they always did want horses growing up. The only trouble is that they have already grown up and don’t have the time to ride with me. In fact, they may even be a little jealous of the horses.