It all seems so long ago when I first shared with my husband Mike my childhood dream of having my own horse.  I don't know when I fell in love with horses but I suspect it was when I was first placed on my Uncle Don's mare Rosie.  I must of been 3.  I don't remember much other then the wind in my face, the rhythm of their movement, and the love in her eyes. 

The reason owning a horse was a childhood dream was that it could never be in reality.  You see, my mom was highly allergic to any type of animal.  Which, of course, included horses.  Horse hair and dander as we all know will get into everything.  There would be no way that I could possibly pursue this dream.

However, my mom sacrificed a lot for me because when I was in girl scouts she would encourage me to ride at the day camps or when the troop would schedule a trail ride she would be right there telling me to do it.  This often meant that I had to strip down outside of the car and change into clean clothing before riding home with her. 

When I shared my dream with Mike he asked why I had never tried to pursue this dream as an adult.  Well, I had a list of whys.  It started something like this, 1. it cost money to buy a horse, 2. it cost money to maintain a horse, 3. it cost money to board a horse, 4. it cost money!  He followed up with, "How much money?"  Of course, I had no clue.  At this point he encouraged me to start looking into owning a horse and how much it would cost.  In the end, he made my dream come true.  We bought a horse.  That was 5 years and four months ago.  Not that long in retrospect but in how much I've learned since that day seems like a lifetime. 

The Search
We started looking in the classifieds because we didn't know where else to start.  The first ad we responded to said that the horse was 17 hands and gentle ready for a good home.  We checked it out.  Now, I knew enough that 4 inches equals a hand and that the measurement is taken from the highest point of the withers.  According to the ad this horse should of been 68 inches or 5 feet 8 inches at the withers.  I'm 5'7" which meant I should not of been able to look over her withers.  Well, lets just say the horse was more like 14.2 hands and maybe gentle but in terrible shape.  NEXT.

A few weeks later we found another ad that might work out.  We drove to Waimanalo and met with the owner of the horse.  I wanted to make sure that I could ride this horse so being the green person I was.  I took my Parelli halter and lead rope and walked the mare to the round pen with husband and current owner.  She explained to me that this horse needed a good home.  She had been mistreated int he past by previous owners and that she had some issues. 

Of course I heard it but it didn't register.  I was walking a horse that had the most loving eyes to a round pen where I was going to see if she would accept me on her back and respond to my requests.  I tied the halter so that they were now reins.  My husband give me a leg up and I sat on her bareback for bit to make sure she was willing.  She seemed very happy to have me there.  We started walking, I asked her to move over in both directions.  I asked her to stop.  I said SOLD.  I had bought my first horse.  Her name was Shiloh. 

For all you experienced riders I bet you were cringing.. or maybe laughing.. or both.  I look back and I think how lucky I was.  She could of bucked me off.  She could of really hurt me.  But she didn't and this is why I say horses are smart.  They know a sucker when they see one. 

Over the next year I felt like the biggest sucker out there and I was.  I own up to it today. However, sucker I may have been but better learned today because of it too.  A couple of broken bones later... I have learned so much about myself, about horses, and most of all about Shiloh....