At the beginning of Dec. 2012, Rachel called me.  One of her clients (I’ll call the client Gloria) had an offer to make.  Rachel had been training and showing Gloria’s horse (whom I’ll call Amore) for about a year; but things were changing in Gloria’s life, and she had decided she couldn’t keep Amore any more. Rachel knew my long-term plan to get a horse of my own, so she told Gloria about me.  That resulted in an offer for me to ride Amore to see if he would suit me.  I had admired him all along but never even thought about yearning for him, because I knew he wasn’t on the market and I probably wouldn’t be able to afford him even if he was. However, given the details of the offer that Rachel passed along, I jumped at the chance to try him out during my next lesson.  He had been trained far beyond my level* at that point, so it was a blast to ride him and feel some of the possibilities of what I could learn with him.

I thoroughly enjoyed riding him and told Rachel I would love to take Gloria up on her offer, if Gloria was sure she would be satisfied.  I then waited on tenterhooks to hear from Rachel.  Fortunately, she was kind enough to call me the moment she got Gloria’s answer, which was yes.  And that is when my miracle occurred, because Gloria’s full offer** was to GIVE me Amore and all his tack and gear!  It was so important to her that he go to a good home that she was willing to give him away to ensure he went to the “right” place.  Her first choice would have been to give him to Rachel, but Rachel already had two horses (one of whom was in foal at the time) and didn’t have room for a third.  So, Gloria’s next choice was to give him to someone who was training with Rachel and would be a good fit for Amore.  I was beyond delighted that Rachel thought highly enough of me to recommend me to Gloria and that Gloria agreed to it!

I rode him for the first time on a Monday, and on Thursday my family^ went to meet Gloria and get Amore’s paperwork from her.  It seemed almost too good to be true until I had his papers in hand and had thanked her effusively and finally had my very own horse.

So, let me introduce my horse.  He is a grey^^ 19-yr old Andalusian^^^ gelding+ who was born in Spain – but who wants words when we can have pictures?!

First Day He’s Mine!

Showing off his lovely new halter

First schooling show

Summer schooling show (see the pretty braided mane?!)

Riding in the front yard at home

I have had him for a bit over a year now.  He knows so much more than I do about dressage, and I am having a blast learning from him!  I’m also getting spoiled by all the compliments I get about him when I take him to a show or encounter people on trail rides.  He’s a very handsome guy, a lovely mover (as long as I don’t let his basically lazy nature take over), and laid-back enough for my family to hang out with.  I continue to be blown away by the blessing I’ve been given and hope to enjoy him for a long time to come.

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*  For anyone who knows dressage, I did some schooling shows at training level our first summer together (2013) and Rachel had been showing him at Second Level.

**  Which I knew from Rachel’s first phone call but withheld until now to give the story its full impact.

^  My (ecstatic) self, two horse-mad girls (who take lessons at my first stable) and a patient, very supportive husband.

^^  He looks white (when he’s clean), but the color designation in the horse world is grey, since he started life as a dark foal and gradually faded to white.

^^^  Officially a PRE Andalusian

+  The stallion part of the title only applies to the movie…I wouldn’t ever want to own a stallion.

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Afterword

If you would rather not read about my (Christian) faith, please stop here.  For anyone who does read on, there is another facet of this story that I only alluded to in the main portion.  My relationship with God has been a part of this whole horse journey for many years now, since I have been praying (in a rather tentative way) for a long time about getting my own horse some day and thanking God for giving me access to horses at the stables where I’ve been riding.  I know some people would count all this (barn horses & Amore) as luck or coincidence; but I see it as provision, because I have a lifetime’s worth (43 years and counting) of seeing how God provides for me.  There were times in college and as a young professional musician where I only had pennies to my name; but at that point, those pennies were enough to meet my needs, and more pennies came when the next needs arose.  It definitely wasn’t always easy to trust (not worry) about how my needs would be met; and even after all these years, I  still have to remind myself to trust instead of worrying.

Now, I would NEVER say that I “need” a horse — want yes, need no.  So, I never assumed that I was “guaranteed” a horse someday.  I hoped and did some long-range planning, but no more than that.  As a separate thing from all this horse stuff (or so I thought at the time!), I had been learning new things about my relationship with God in the past year and a half.  I have been an active Christian my whole life, and it is fascinating to me to look back over my life and see how my knowledge of and relationship with God have grown and changed.  Much like my other life-long endeavors (being a musician, a wife, a rider, a mom), progress comes in bursts & plateaus and obvious & creeping-up-on-me pieces.  So, part of what I was learning in the latest burst was that God’s love for me (and everyone else!) is more passionate and daily and detailed than I knew before.  I had learned as a kid to do my best to not want very much and to be hesitant about asking for “unimportant” things.  Hence my hesitation to be bold about asking God for a horse of my own.  However, God has been teaching me that it is completely okay to tell Him about my desires. That doesn’t mean, of course, that I will always get whatever I’m asking for; but the asking itself is a good thing for me to be doing, partly because that means I am talking to Him about what is going on in my life.

So, here I am, getting to know God and myself better, and all of a sudden (after 12 years, but still all of a sudden) here comes this big ‘ol white horse to show me that God can sometimes be really extravagant about taking care of me.  I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking God for a horse as fabulous as Amore, and I really think God knew that and gave me something I couldn’t have dared ask for to be a daily (eating, breathing, pooping) reminder of God’s love.  Amore’s registered name is actually “Beloved” (in another language), which is a fabulous bit of icing on this amazing cake of a story.