My Girl Lady

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It was the first thing, and </I></div> <div> <I>almost always the only thing, on my Christmas list every year. Always top </I></div> <div> <I>priority for birthdays as well, just in case. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Well, every year that passed, my mother would always say to me, 'Some day you will have your horse, don't you worry. If you really want it bad enough and work hard for it, your dream will come true". </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Lets see, it only took 30 years, but here I am to say that my dream finally </I></div> <div> <I>came true. Got to buy my dream. Certainly not the dream I had in mind but a dream that I will never part with and one that I absolutely live and breathe for. I had always wanted that flashy paint, a golden palomino or to ride a horse like Black Beauty. For whatever reason, I never wanted either an appaloosa or a mare. Anyway, the search was on. I began my hunt at the local stables and continued with ads in the paper and kept on going to another local stable that was reputable and had absolutely gorgeous hack horses so I knew it would be easy to find my dream there.. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Every week I would make a visit to see what had arrived on the trailer that </I></div> <div> <I>particular Thursday. (Trips to the auctions were Wednesday Nights). I would eagerly show up, saddle in hand and ask what was new for the week. Of course, I always had mother with me, who in her own right loved horses and gave lessons with my father before they were married and always wanted a horse of her own. I tried countless horses, all beautiful, nice movers, great ground manners, etc....Just never what I was looking for. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>One particular day, after being disappointed one more time, the owner of the stable said, "Wait right here, there may be something in the barn that I am over looking and I want to check." Within 10 minutes, here came my saddle atop a sort of thin, overworked looking appaloosa. Well, I knew I didn't want THAT!!!! When they walked past me and the horse swished a tail at a fly and I saw that she was a mare I really didn't want her. Well, to make a long story short, the owner said, "Hop on, she is great and I think you will like her." After making up some excuses that she was too small for me, the owner told me that she put large men on her and she could handle them with no problem whatsoever. So, Here goes nothing', she's all tacked up, everyone's watching', may as well hop on for a quick trot around the arena. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I stayed on her about 15 minutes and when I got off, I walked away </I></div> <div> <I>disappointed one more time. I turned and looked at the mare, standing quietly with a stable hand holding her and waiting to be directed what he should do. She seemed to be very sweet, had a gentle eye and was looking at me with a look that to this day I cannot describe but it was that very moment that I knew I HAD TO HAVE HER. I bargained with the owner, asked several questions about her history, asked people who rode her what they thought about her and was she always so quiet and attentive and willing to do whatever it was you asked of her. All of my inquiries came back positive. Children were devastated that they were going to sell her to me. See, they used her for lessons, both beginner English and Western, jumping, team penning, trail riding and barrel racing....She could do it all, no questions asked and always willing to go. This was the horse for me. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Three days later I arrived at the stable to pick up my newly acquired </I></div> <div> <I>dream..Happy as a lark, she loaded onto the trailer to head to her new home. She seemed to settle in immediately and never gave anyone any trouble. Several months after purchase and many calls to the vet, Lady was diagnosed with Glaucoma and Uvietis. I was devastated. I had the top equine ophthalmologist come and check her out only to tell me she was totally blind in her right eye and she would never see out of it again but that she needed laser surgery to get the inflammation out and get he out of pain. How could I let her suffer???? The answer....I couldn't. I loaded her onto the trailer, took her to the surgical centre at the race track and had the ophthalmologist operate on her. Well, $2,000.00 later, I had a horse that had no more swelling, no more pain and I am happy to report that after 3 weeks of recuperating, got her vision back. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>At any rate, this year I will celebrate 6 years of owning my dream. She is </I></div> <div> <I>always happy to see me and never turns away from me when I need a shoulder to lean on or someone to talk to. She hears my car come up the drive and will scream the loudest whinny she can muster up and run to the gate of her paddock to greet me. Doesn't matter how bad things get....go and see my girl and get a greeting like that and all the problems melt away. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>She is my best friend, I love her more than anything in the world. A quick </I></div> <div> <I>grooming to me is at least 2-1/2 hours and we both love that quality time and of course they always say she is the cleanest horse in the barn. I hope with any luck that she will be with me for many years to come. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>All I can say is that dreams come true and I am proof. If you want it badly </I></div> <div> <I>enough, you can do it. Sometimes it may not be the dream you envisioned but what you have in the end is better than you could ever imagine. We have enjoyed many a trail ride cantering through the woods as well as quiet walks and talks on beautiful sunlit spring days....Like I said, I wouldn't change it for the world and judging by her reaction every time she sees me......I think the feeling is mutual.</I><I> </I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Readers Stories"><U><I> <img src="HTMLobj-763/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="67" height="35">  </I></U></A><I> to Readers Stories </I><A HREF="mailto:info@equiriders.co.uk" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@equiriders.co.uk"><U><I> <img src="HTMLobj-764/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="67" height="35">  </I></U></A><I> Your Story</I></div> <div> <I>!! </I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>