Anyone who grew up riding horses is bound to have their “once in a lifetime horse.” It is the horse that changes the way you look at any other horse, and the horse that defines the bond riders share with their majestic animals. These horses leave a permanent mark on our hearts, and the leave as better riders, better horsemen, and better people than we were prior to their entrance into our lives.

My “once in a lifetime” horse was given to me when I was eight and when I first received her, I never would have imagined that she would become such a large piece of my heart. “Mindy” was a 2 year old bay mare my mom bought to train and then sell. However, 10 years have passed since Mindy ended up in my backyard and if I know anything for sure, it is that she is there to stay. After a few months of training, a few buyers that fell through and my advancement in riding causing me to need a more advanced horse, Mindy became mine. However, Mindy and I didn’t automatically “click” and it wasn’t the instant horse and rider bond portrayed in all the great horse movies; I spent more hours on Mindy’s back crying because I was so afraid of the young and spirited horse she was, and more people told to my family we should sell her and that she was dangerous than I care to count. However, somewhere through the fear and the tears, I fell in love with that little bay horse and never looked back.

Mindy is not my once in a lifetime horse because she won me nine buckles, carried me to three high school rodeo finals and was nominated for pole bending horse of the year for three consecutive years. She is not my once in a lifetime horse because she has run me so many memorable and consistent barrel runs that are way faster than what her little body should be running, and not for all of the pole runs that were under 21 seconds that she carried me through. She is not my once in a lifetime horse because she beat so many odds to be the horse and teammate she is to me, nor is it because she is such an amazing athlete. She is so much more than that, and even with or without all of those things, she would still be my once in a lifetime horse.

Over the last nine years, Mindy has played so many roles in my life (performance horse and rodeo athlete, pain in the butt, teacher, inspiration, stress relief, and teammate to name a few) but through all of those roles, she has never once failed to play the role of my best friend. No matter what was going on in my life, she always put a smile on my face and made any day better. She taught me more valuable lessons than anyone else ever could have, from the typical “hard work pays off” and “never give up on your dreams,” to more difficult lessons to learn, such as self confidence and true love. Mindy has been there for me through every good and bad thing that has happened in my life since I was eight years old. Whether it was the growing pains of elementary school, the awkward middle school days, the eventful high school days, my first love, my first heartbreak, my parents’ divorce, college acceptance, and now the stressful days of college, Mindy has been there to go through every major and minor life event with me. Truth be told, I would not be anywhere close to the person I am today if I had not found my once in a lifetime horse. She has heard more secrets, and laughs, created more smiles, and witnessed more tears than anyone else in my life, both human or animal. She got me through the best and worst of things and made me a whole lot tougher along the way. Some people say she is the horse version of me, and I cannot argue that- we are both spastic lunatics with bad attitudes at times, but we also both passionate, determined and driven. I was once told that Mindy is lucky I found her because “anyone else would have sent her crazy ass to the kill pen” and even though I doubt that is entirely true, I truly believe Mindy is not lucky I found her, but instead I am lucky she found me.

Once in a lifetime horses are not just the horses that win the most money or perform the best or run the fastest. They are the horses that make us better just by being a part of our lives. They are horses that choose us, instead of us choosing them. Horses have a lot to teach us: they teach us to work hard and responsibility, and all of the other important life lessons we used to convince our parents to buy them for us when we were kids. However, once in a lifetime horses have more to teach us than just the simple, obvious lessons. Once in a lifetime horses are often the difficult horses that make us question why we are wasting our time, often on a daily basis. They are the horses that challenge us to become better horsemen and put up with too much as we struggle to get there. It is almost as if they see us for more than what we are and then use that vision to push us to become every ounce of what we are capable of being. Once in a lifetime horses are the horses that teach us to love unconditionally because that is how they love us. They are God’s greatest blessing to any horse person and they are the incentive that makes the sport of horseback riding worthwhile. As our journeys twist and turn, they are the piece of hearts that guide us through every step by shaping us into the people we are destined to become. Once in a lifetime horses are a part of who we are and a part of who we become because some horses are just so much more than just horses.