Dream Come True

As a horsewoman, having had a few horses in the past, it was always my dream to get an unbroken colt and make him my own. The colt would be gray and I would ride off into the sunset with him. You know, the kind of dream that 16 year-old-girls who are crazy for horses have...

In 2000, the opportunity to realize that dream came true. I was offered - for free- to take a mostly wild colt off some friends' hands who had too many horses. The result is Skipper Delight - I just call him Skipper or Skippy - now seven and a wonderful companion and trail horse.

He was a bit of a handful in the beginning. My friend Paul and I trained him to lunge - or work around in a circle on a rope - by first tying him to a tree, so he wouldn't drag us all over the property. I groomed him as often as I could, worked with his feet and slowly he bacame more accustomed to people working on and around him.

Worked him with me on the ground for the first year and ultimately put a saddle and bridle on him. Got on, for the first time, in his 3 year old summer and he didn't flinch a bit, only bumping his butt once, when he decided he'd rather stay under the apple tree than to move on.

Now, he lives right near a public recreation area with horse trails that can be ridden for hours and he has friends in his pasture and I have buddies to ride with.

What started as a dream at 16 became one l;ater in life. It's never too late for your dreams to become real.