There is a tweet doing the rounds again in regards to what it costs to own a horse. And the answer to that question: It’s everything. Horses cost everything.

I don’t think it matters how old you are, you still want your parents to be proud of you. While my parents are not “horsey” people at all, they have been truly supportive of my love for the sport from the get-go, putting me in lessons as a child and driving me to and from the barn countless times over the years.

I have never been a small person. When I used to run races I would joke that I was not built to run, but rather to carry heavy things and bear children. I’m sure my humour was in part to cover up my insecurities about my own body, its shape, and its size. I would like to think that I have come to terms with it, but in all honesty I know that this will likely be a lifelong battle.

The thing about letting go of a dream is that it never truly goes away. Looking back on that day in September, 2015, I was a total bundle of nerves and for good reason. I had just traveled across my home province of BC to “see a man about a horse.” Actually, it was to see a woman about a filly – a filly I had dreamed about long before she even existed