"I want my own horse."
My first recollection of mounting this beautiful beast of an animal was when I was roughly around the age of 5, when my mother and I visited a friend of her's up in Hokkaido (northern Japan). My mother's friend was the daughter of a thoroughbred farm owner who bred horses for the race track. I remember being hoisted up into my mother's arms as she straddled the gorgeous bay horse. I remember the ride being extremely bumpy and uncomfortable. I remember going around and around in a circle, atop this massive animal. I fell in love with the horse.
From then on began my obsession with horses. I made galloping noises with cups and bowls, turning them upside down on the table and clop-clopping them obnoxiously. I straddled my chair as if I were straddling a horse. I whinnied occasionally for no reason. My parents figured it was just another passing phase - every girl goes through that infamous "I want a pony" stage of development.
But not I. I kept charging on with my dream to ride, and to eventually buy my own horse. The next opportunity I got to ride came when I was in 5th grade - my mother's friend's husband rode dressage in college and was continuing this hobby of his in the suburbs of Tokyo. I jumped on this opportunity and tagged along every chance I got, which was 1 or 2 weekends a month at the most. My poor parents dished out 6000 yen for a 30 min lesson. Just as I got to the point where I could post in sync with my horse's trot, my parents suddenly "ran out of funds" and the invitations to drive me out to the stable stopped.
I truthfully have no idea where my love for horses came from. My parents are clearly NOT horse lovers, nor are they even really jazzed about the idea that I ride these creatures ("don't you see how dangerous it is? You could turn out like 'Super Man'!"). And yet, through high school and college I continued to ride every chance I got - I leased a horse at a local barn in high school, worked a summer mucking stalls from 7am-7pm in exchange for lessons, I went on solo riding trips in Southern France, Peru, Wales (solo only bc nobody else would do it with me), and found a hunter/humper stable in Conyers and started showing in a few local shows with them in the last several years.
All I can say is that riding is something I honestly enjoy doing. It doesn't matter whether it's 20 degrees and raining outside, whether I eat rice and beans daily because I spent the last bit of my pay check on lessons, or whether I fall off and roll around in the dirt like an earthworm writhing in pain. I like every bit of it, and I have no idea why.
And at age 28, I have finally come to the conclusion that I have to do this - I have to find MY horse. No more lesson horses, no more jealous looks at my stablemates who have that 'special bond' with their own horses. It's a bit like having a child, I suppose; if you keep waiting for the "right time" you'll never end up having one. And so now is my time! This is it!
And thus begins the quest for my very first horse.
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