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As I searched for my next horse, a vision of a bay with a thick, black forelock kept materializing in my imagination. One day I was scrolling through Facebook and saw Glory, a 4-year-old Belgian Draft/Paint/Friesian cross; she WAS the horse in my visions!

Upon our return to Montana, I was reunited with Mesa and met Boston, a yearling, for the first time. I knew it would be thrilling to have horses again, but what I didn’t expect was the treasure I received in Boston. Looking back, I know without a doubt that Boston found me. That wise filly taught me more about the horse-human relationship in the short time we were together than I had learned in years.

On a wintery January day, I drove out to a local Paint Horse breeder to see her foal crop. There were 11 newly weaned foals in a variety of colors. One darling filly captured my heart. I wasn’t even horse-shopping, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we belonged together. I let this feeling linger until I finally went back two months later and bought her. Clearly, I followed my heart when deciding to make Mesa my new equine partner. This decision came from a place of love and I felt elated when I finally said yes to my desires.

I decided to take a chance on the old guy and made arrangements to have Ernie imported from Canada. The night he arrived was cold and snowy. I went out to the barn where I would board him at about 10:00 pm to meet the transport truck. He stepped off the truck and I was struck by the big-ness of him. He was every bit of the 17.2 hands he had been advertised as, if not taller and his body was as long as a train. His head perched atop his giraffe-like neck as he took in his dark, windy surroundings. The barn owner, Sam, offered to lead him down the icy black driveway to his stall, but I declined and  in that moment decided to be the person Ernie could trust and count on.

The year I turned 45, I began shopping for my dream horse, a warmblood dressage partner. It didn’t take long to realize that the only warmblood dressage horse I could afford was either a weanling or one with health problems. I opted for a colt and had visions of the two of us growing old together.

I thought that mini-horses would be a great way to ease back into horse ownership. I could not have been more mistaken!

For about five years during my thirties, I endeavored to have a horse again. Unfortunately, none of my attempts lasted more than a few months.

Danny and Blitz were going to be my “dream team.” I would train and show them as a way to build my reputation in the horse business and attract more clients for lessons and training.

My love affair with Sherman began long before I ever rode him. In fact, if you had told me that I would one day ride that exuberant gray Andalusian stallion on a daily basis, I would have told you that it was just a dream of mine! Sherman had spent time traveling with The Royal Lipizzan Show as a solo act and I had seen Barbara ride an exhibition on him at my first horse show four years earlier before I had even met her. He knew all of the Grand Prix dressage maneuvers, as well as fun tricks like cantering-in-place, rearing and bowing.