"Frosty"

Sep 30, 2008 - 06:55 AM PST

I guess I should begin with my love of horses. Since I could remember, I've absolutely been in awe of horses. I started reading about them since I was 4, and my parents would always buy me amazingly detailed books about them. Before I had ever gotten on a horse, I taught myself how to groom them, how to mount and dismount, the ways the different gaits felt, etc. The first time I was able to ride a horse was when I was 9, and my father took me to go riding where his friend boarded her horses. She quickly figured out that I knew what I was doing, and asked if I had ever ridden before. After about an hour of riding, she let me ride in the arena alone while she made the rounds to check on her other horses. The freedom I felt being on that horse was exhilirating.

Now, the second part of the story: my grandparents live on nice piece of land where they have a great pasture, chickens, beautiful gardens, and an orchard. They used to keep cows and then pigs at one point, but for the past maybe 10 years, they've allowed their friend from down the road to keep his horses in their pasture and in their barn. For the first couple of years, he kept these two gorgeous chestnut horses, but when his daughter moved away, she took one with her. He replaced her horse with this gorgeous gray horse named Frosty. The day he brought her to my grandparents' farm for the first time, I was there. I immediately fell in love with her. Every time I would go to visit, she would come running up to the fence, and was incredibly friendly. I would spend hours in the barn sitting there, brushing her, and it made me really happy. Things changed when a new horse came. He was larger than her, more aggressive than her, and always pushed her away from the fence and she became very shy. I couldn't even ride her anymore, because even if we caught her and were able to saddle her up, she was stubborn, and wouldn't move. About 2 months ago, the aggressive horse was sold. And Frosty has been alone at my grandparents' barn since. This past weekend, I got to go visit them, and when I whistled, she came running back up to the fence, nuzzled my arm, and snorted hello. It was the friendliest greeting I had gotten from her in years. And it was like getting an old friend back. It was an awesome feeling. And it's made me smile every time I think about it.