I don’t remember the first time I ever rode a horse. I think I was two. It was a trail ride with my family and I fell asleep. Talk about being comfortable on horseback! I guess that first ride awakened something inside of me because ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with equines. As a little girl,  I dreamed of living on a farm rather than in a fairy tale castle (I had a bit of an obsession with Little House on the Prairie); and I always knew that I would one day have horses.

My first riding lessons were Western when I was five or six. All I really remember is that one day my horse “took off” trotting (when he was supposed to be walking), and the instructor chased after us to stop him. I was amused by the ordeal; the instructor did not really seem to be though. Those first lessons didn’t last long.

Actually, for most of my childhood, I was a  little ballerina. I loved to dance, but somehow I never felt that I had a future with it. I was good, but I wasn’t passionate about it. And the one year I danced  in pointe shoes did some pretty good damage to my feet and ankles. So, I supposed it wasn’t really worth it. When I finally quit at age twelve, my parents broke down and let me take riding lessons (I had been begging for about a year). And I have been hooked ever since! I cannot imagine what my life would be now if I had never started riding. It’s a part of me. Simply being in the presence of horses just calms me, and can erase any problem or stress in my life. I really do not know what I would do with myself if I was not an equestrian!