My Boy Sam

This pretty boy right here is Sam.  He has been with me for over half of my life and I honestly cannot imagine him not being around.  We have had so many incredible adventures together and he has taught me so much about life.  When I was interviewing for different job positions, I would frequently be asked who I looked up to in life, or who my mentor was.  I figured mentioning my horse was probably an unacceptable answer (so I definitely did not mention it), but the more I think about it, Sam has really shaped me into the person I am today.  I know that may sound crazy, but he has been with me through middle school, high school, college, finding a job, and getting married.  He has been there for every major event in my life and he has helped to keep me on the right track in my life.

I met this beautiful horse when I was eleven years old, and he was seventeen.  My middle school volleyball coach gave him to me because she was looking for a good home for him.  It’s a very cliché saying, but as soon as I saw him and rode him for the first time, I was hopelessly in love with him.  My dad asked me multiple times if I liked Sam and if he was the one I wanted and I just couldn’t say ‘Yes!’ enough times.  Needless to say, I impatiently waited a few weeks for Sam to arrive to a boarding barn near my house.  Lesson learned: the absolute best things in life cost nothing (well, initially), but the payback is priceless.

Our adventures began right away, I would spend hours after school and every weekend at the barn, riding, brushing, and just hanging out with my horse.  We tried lessons for a little while, but Sam is a Paso Fino, which means he’s gaited, and the trainers at the barn were trying to make him move like a Quarter Horse.  We didn’t enjoy that, so we rode the trails and loved every minute of it.  However, it was hard being the only kid owning a ‘different’ horse in a barn full of Quarter Horses.  I wanted to show so badly, and somehow convinced my Dad to buy a horse trailer and take me to my first 4-H show.  We had no idea what we were doing, and when we went to unload Sam, he turned around in our slant load trailer and got himself stuck.  I was trying to help him get himself out of this predicament when he suddenly broke free and trampled me on his way out of the trailer.  He ended up with a cut on his leg, and I ended up with some torn clothing and bruises I was pretty proud of.  We both got patched up and went on to show in our Western Pleasure class that night, placing 5^th out of more than 20 horses.  Lesson learned: Starting out is hard, and often painful, but being both mentally and physically tough will pay off in the end.

After that show, my dad sold my trailer and we didn’t show again for about 6 years.  I really missed showing, but we spent that time riding through the woods and enjoying each other’s company.  Whenever something catastrophic (or so it seemed at the time) happened in my life, the first place I went was to the barn, to be around Sam.  I always thought he would let me cry in his mane and make me feel better, but he often nudged me away and went back to eating hay (I was devastated because that was NOT how it happened in the movies!).  However, now I can appreciate Sam’s less than sympathetic attitude.  He taught me to be strong when I thought my world was crashing down around me.  Lesson learned: Tears are ok for a very few minutes, but then it’s time to move on and fix whatever the problem is.  If it can’t be fixed, then tears certainly won’t fix it and it’s probably past time to move on.

When I was finally allowed to start showing Sam, there were not many gaited horses being shown at local open shows.  Judges didn’t like that he was different, and some wouldn’t place us at all.  However, we had fun and that’s all that really matters.  We got many, many compliments from people who could see that Sam is beautiful and unique.  And the more we went to shows, the more we would place and work our way up the placings.  I took Sam to the local county fair the last year that I was able to show there, and we brought home Grand and Reserve Champion ribbons.  Our hard work and persistence paid off!  Lesson learned:  Being unique, being different, is a beautiful thing.  If people can’t accept you for being quirky or different from the norm, then they don’t matter.  I have learned to let the negative comments and dirty looks roll right off.  If I am happy, if I am accomplishing what I set out to do, then I am successful and no one else’s opinion matters.  I am confident in the person that I have become, and this is where it started, with Sam teaching me that being different is something to be appreciated.

I have always been very active in sports, and I played volleyball, basketball, soccer, and softball throughout middle school and high school.  I still had Sam, so my schedule was pretty packed.  School, practice, games, cleaning stalls, and taking care of Sam filled every single minute of my time.  When I went to college, I stayed close, about 1.5 hours away, and I came home every single weekend (ok, I think I stayed at school 3 weekends) so I could be around Sam.  It was hard, it was stressful, and it was draining, but it was so worth it.  I wouldn’t have done it any other way.  Keeping my schedule packed may seem to be a little too much, but it kept me out of so much trouble in high school (and, actually through college).  I didn’t have free time to lounge around and find different ways to get into trouble with my friends.  I wasn’t at college on the weekends with nothing to do but party.  But mostly, I knew what my goals were, and I knew if I made one mistake, that would affect my goals.  That honestly scared me enough to keep me at the barn and on the right track.  When I set a goal, I work until I have achieved it.  Lesson learned:  Hard work pays off.  It may be hard, sleep may be lost, the stress may pile up, but it will be worth it when those seemingly out of reach goals are attained.

Sam is now 28 and I have two other horses, but he will always be my rock, the one I keep coming back to.  He has shaped the way I think, my work ethic, the limits I push myself to, and the way I go through life on a daily basis.  He is now thoroughly enjoying his retirement of sunbathing and moseying around his large pasture.  He eats way too many peppermints these days, and gets away with his grumpy old man attitude simply because I could never begin to repay him for the life lessons he has taught me.