As we enter the holiday season, I’m busy shopping for friends and family and though it’s stressful trying to find the perfect gift, I’m reminded of all the people and animals I hold dear. Thanksgiving is a time for us to remember how lucky we are and each day I know how lucky I am call myself a horse-owner. To call myself ‘Samurai’s Mom’.

Growing up, the idea of having my own horse seemed like an impossible dream. Sometimes the desire to have a horse to call my own was so strong it was almost a physical ache. I grew up in a non-horsey family and my hobby was outside of the budget, but once I was old enough to work and pay for my own lessons and equipment, the dream seemed like less of a fantasy and more of a goal. When I was sixteen I was determined and lucky enough to find a horse of my very own.

Samurai has been with me now for two graduations, two cars, three different states, and a handful of boyfriends. He’s family, he’s my friend, he’s a constant in my life I’ve come to rely on. Sammy was ten when we first met, he has always been the smarter of the two of us and he has watched me grow and taken care of me through all my first-time-horse-owner mishaps and the struggles of adolescent into young adulthood. I have also had the pleasure of watching him as he matures. He isn’t quite as sound as he used to be and he appreciates a pampering more and more, but he is still the same horse who carried me in more than just the physical sense.

He loves apples, but he prefers sweet red apples over sour green apples. He still weaves in his stall when he’s waiting for dinner, no matter what I do to discourage the behavior. He knows to turn and face me whenever he goes in and out of a paddock, but he still tries to be a brat and munch on grass instead, because he knows I let him get away with it. His favorite food is crumb cake that he gets as a birthday treat once a year and he hates walking from black pavement to white pavement when we trail ride. He’ll love whatever store bought treat I buy one month and then refuse to eat them the next, but never refuses an apple. He still stands with his front feet spread apart like he’s bracing for impact and he always has to have a good itch when I take his bridle off.

I’m so lucky to still have Samurai in my life and I hope we have many more wonderful years together. Your first horse always holds a special place in your heart long after your years of riding together end.