How We Met

I was in 7th grade, and as horse-crazy as ever. I was quite familiar with horses; I had been taking riding lessons for years. My mom took me to the fairgrounds to watch a horse auction one afternoon in early February. As I walked past the horses in the barn, a certain colt caught my eye. I walked over, and sat down beside him. He was nervous, and clearly did not want me to pet him. Despite my antsy preteen personality, I sat beside him until he allowed me to pet his neck. Later during the auction, my mom and I were sitting in the stands watching all of the horses be bidded on. When Drake was brought into the arena (after a great deal of rearing and kicking), I held up my number (my mom knowing nothing of it), and he became my first horse. I paid for him with my own money, and I boarded him at a local stables in exchange for my position as the official "stall mucker".