In the beginning

Hi all

Let me begin by saying that I am in no way shape or form a writer/author. So there will be spelling, grammar, and all sorts of mistakes throughout my journal. :)

I would say that my love for horses began many years ago with my red rocking horse Joe Joe. I guess that I was around 5 years old. I would strap on my chaps and six shooters and of course my cowboy hat. (I will look for a pic of that and post it).
Then I would mount my trusty steed and ride off to capture the villains But of course that daydream only lasted a little while due to the fact that my sister Roseann was standing nearby begging for a ride. Oh well, so much for the life of a young Sheriff. 

When I was 9 years old, almost 10, my family and I moved up to Pine City NY. Near Elmira and Horseheads NY (Irony?)
There I learned to swim, raise rabbits, work on a farm picking strawberries and cucumbers, and work with cows.
I even learned how to hunt with my Uncle's step sons from Tennessee. But I didn't care for that.

But the greatest thing that I got to do was ride a horse...a real life horse!!! The father of a girl in my class raised and sold horses. She and I were head over heals for each other in Puppy Love. 
One day she told me to come to her house because she had a surprise for me. 
So again, I mounted my steed, a Black 26" English racer bike, and rode as fast as I could peddle. 

When I arrived she and her Dad took me to the fence that bordered this gigantic field that had so many horses in it.  Beth's Dad told me to pick two horses and that I could ride them whenever I wanted to. I had to groom them, water and feed them, and of course, muck their stalls when they were kept in the barn. 

I learned what I thought was so much about horses. I would realize how easy he was being on me once I started volunteering at the North Shore Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. (NSHRS), in Baiting Hollow, NY.

Over the next year I learned how to ride with a saddle and bare back. My Mom was so worried that I would fall or be thrown. My friends and I would go camping down by Seeley with our horses and our BB Guns and pretend that we were cowboys on the open range. It was awesome.
Eventually my Dad moved us back to Brooklyn due work and I left my horses behind. 

For years I dreamed of riding them. I could feel the oneness with them that I felt when I was physically riding them. And sure I had my stints of going to a dude ranch, and also riding herd bound rentals. But there was NOTHING that could compare to my two. 

Fast forward many years and I became a Civil War Reenactor. I was consistently around either Staff horses or Cavalry horses. Needless the to say that the spark to ride was rekindled.

As I moved up in rank I was at a point where it was historically correct to ride a horse.....more to come.