Notes

Imagine you've loved horses all your life. You move into a new house a week before sixth grade. There's a massive barn across the street, so you and your mom decide to go have a peak inside. You walk through the door and fifteen horses are looking back at you. That was me, four years ago. I immediately fell in love with a black mare, she was so beautiful and I loved her. She just happened to be one of the sweetest and easy-going horses over there. Camii, the owner and now my trainer, boss, and great friend, let me start working with her. I took it slow at first, just brushing her and such, until I was riding her regularly. She was a perfect beginner horse, being patient with me and my amateur mistakes.
This is the halter she wore when I first began going over there, until I started spoiling her with new things. Her name was Akuna Matata and it fit her so well. Aku was genuinely no worries, you could have no worries around her. She was amazing and was one of the best horses I have ever met in my life. I've never connected with any animal like that and I'm so thankful for every moment I got to spend with her. She passed away in November 20th, 2017 at 22 years old.
This is a picture of Amber, my second horse. She was something else to say the least and even though she was shorter than Aku, she was a big step up. Her previous owners let her get away with a lot of bad habits and to say the least, she was a little fireball. Her previous owner would ride her down the road and then if Amber got bored or mildly tired or just didn't want to do anything anymore because she was being lazy, she'd jump up a bit and the rider would just get off and walk her straight back home. I'm sure you can believe the surprise for me, I went from a super mellow twenty year old to a stubborn little pony. One day, I went over to ride and she just wasn't having it. She wanted to be in her stall eating like the bum she is. She put up a fight with me the whole time and then, when I finally got on her, she decided to rear up, lifting her front feet off the ground, and turning. My back ended up smacking the wall, luckily it wasn't very hard because I could've really gotten hurt. I truly learned a lot from riding Amber though, she taught me to be patient but persistent, clear with what I wanted, and she taught me how to handle and avoid dangerous situations.
These rings on my necklace have Amber and Aku's name on them and the ring on my hand has Ricco's name on it, the new horse I've been working with. He's so good and he's massively tall. He's very gentle and laid back and I love him to bits. I wear these everyday, I guess just as a reminder to myself of how I came from a little girl that played with toy horses, dreamed of having my own some day, and now it's actually my reality. So, imagine that.