This is kind of an old photo of me with my old horse, and beloved friend, Dale. I was probably about 20,and he was about 30 when this was taken almost 6 years ago. I met him over a decade ago at a rickety, fire hazard of a riding stable (run by people who were not the most scrupulous in the world) that ran a Special Olympics program, and from the moment we met something clicked, and we were best friends ever sense. I leased him for about a year from early 2004 to 2005 and then, to my surprise, he was gifted to me (albeit unrelated) on the day I graduated from middle school. We first competed in Equitation, and trail riding events for the first two years and then switched to barrel racing and pole bending before I retired him at the end of my third season of showing at the ripe old age of 26. We soon moved to the barn that still bears his name after some really shady dealings from the management forced us out where he lived out his remaining years before passing away in 2013 at the age of 33.

Before I met him, he had an amazing life, first as a Disney horse out at Fort Wilderness pulling stagecoaches alongside his partner Chip (Disney) and giving trail rides before he was sold and became a Special Olympics horse.

I am forever grateful to have had the pleasure to have known as fantastic a horse as he was for the eight years I had him, and that he came into my life when he did. At the time we met, I had a lot of turmoil in my life living with divorced parents who almost constantly fought over me, and no friends I could really talk to and he not only gave me an outlet to burn off the anxiety and stress I was under, but also kept me grounded, and gave me the friendship that I needed, I think that ultimately kept me from losing my mind. He was a one in a million horse who would do anything for you, go anywhere with you, and stand by your side when you needed it most, and had the most distinctive voice of any others that I have met, so much so that you could pinpoint him from the other end of the property! In the nearly three years since his passing, I have been caring for an amazing Friesian stallion who is as calm, kind and sweet as can be in his owner's stead when they cannot be there, and have added a Great Dane puppy into the mix.

Eventually, when the time is right, I will probably get another horse, and hopefully, I will get lucky and find another one in a million that I can have to ride, and as a companion that I can have around for many years to come.