And my answer is always the same: I can't imagine my life without horses.
Sure, horses make life more complicated. They are expensive. They need a lot of maintenance. They require space and food in large quantities. But you can RIDE them. And there is nothing like that feeling in all the world.
They were the first things I wanted to draw from the time I could hold a pencil. I spent nearly all my birthday and Christmas money growing up on riding lessons. I worked at summer camps so I could earn extra horse time. My parents were generous enough to recognize how much I loved riding, and for years paid for my lessons twice a month, starting when I was just 11. I never grew out of the horse obsession.
And now that I'm an adult, I really appreciate how much happiness they bring to my life.
They give me something to do and something to take pride in. They taught me responsibility, compassion and patience to an extent I don't know I would have developed without my relationships with horses. I know for certain loving them kept me out of all kinds of trouble as a kid.
To this day, I can't drive by horses in a pasture without checking each one out. I still pretend I'm riding a horse galloping alongside the car when I'm a passenger on a long drive, just as I did as a child. I am drawn to them, all breeds and all ages. I am Horseii.
Every minute and every dollar is worth the sacrifice for all the wealth horses bring to my life.
So I want to thank all those who love me for sticking by me through all the years of horse-insanity: I love you for loving me, and all that I am.
And what I am is a horse girl.
It's funny, I was just thinking about this today and how I can't explain why I love horses, I just do. And I ALWAYS check out the window when we're somewhere rural to look at all the pretty ponies.
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