Image from http://www.gotchalookinpaintstud.co.nz/

I have always loved horses. I love their beautiful eyes and how intelligent they are compared to most people I am in contact with. When I was younger I went to summer camp every year and the first thing I did when I got there and settled in, was go horseback riding. my summer camp had a farm and I would brush the manes of all the horses there. I would feed them apples and I would get dressed in my really cool horse riding apparel.

I remember when I was about 10, I got really attached to an American Paint Horse. He was brown and white, almost like the one in the picture but with more white. His name was Freestyle. I used to get dressed in my riding pants and riding boots and go for rides from one end of the farm to the other. The trainer would ride with me on her horse and she would tell me all about horses and how to train the, and feed them.

I begged my mother to buy me a horse- to buy me that horse. I hated that I would have to wait a home year to see Freestyle again. I didn’t understand that stables were expensive and living in an apartment meant that we would have to find somewhere board him all the time. I just wanted FreeStyle.  She said “no” and so, my love affair with Freestyle was limited to summer’s only.

When I was 17, Freestyle died. It was the first experience that I had with losing a pet. I was devastated, but for some reason, I knew that he was in a better place. And, despite the heartache that I felt when I went back to camp and Freestyle was not there, I am a firm believer that evey one should experience the love of a horse.