When I look back on my life, I know, without a doubt, that some of the most lasting friendships I’ve made have been because of horses.
There’s just something about these wondrous animals that not only bonds us with them but other horse-loving individuals as well.
The summer before fifth grade, my parents leased an older mare for me who became my first
heart horse: Lady Be Good. Perhaps it’s no surprise that I met my lifelong best friend that same
year when we ended up in the same class at school. The daughter of a veterinarian, Summer
had a passion for all animals, but especially horses. However, unlike me, she didn’t have one.
She’d taken lessons though, and had her heart set on buying one of her own someday. I invited
her over to ride and that was it—we’ve been best friends ever since (now for over 35 years).
Not long after we became friends, Summer began saving money for a horse, and a couple of
years later, my mom so happened to have a friend who was willing to sell a middle-aged mare for the exact amount that Summer had saved up. She was over the moon the day she brought Lacey home. Or to my house, to be exact. We ended up trading out boarding for bargain veterinary care from Summer’s father.
Our teenage years were filled with trail riding, horse shows, play days, and parades, almost
always done together. They were the best kind of teen years to have.
*Pictured: Summer and me circa 1991, preparing for a parade with Lacey and Lady
We went through difficult times together, too. Summer’s younger sister was diagnosed with
leukemia which eventually required a bone marrow transplant. When boyfriends didn’t work out,
we always had each other and, of course, our horses. When I had to retire Lady, I moved on to
Dee, my first barrel horse, and when Lacey became injured, Summer rode my mom’s horse,
Chulo. In our mostly suburban school, we were known as “the cowgirls”, often donning our
colorful Rockies, belt buckles, and boots (this was the 90s after all!). When I took the rodeo
queen crown for our local round-up club junior year, Summer followed in my footsteps the next
year.
We became college roommates, bringing our horses with us to school and boarding them at a
local barn until we found a rented house on a small acreage. After classes, our afternoons still
consisted of everything horses. By this time, I had a new mare, P.K., and Summer got her
second horse, Cowboy.
*Pictured: At one of the last few barrel races I ever competed in, Summer on Cowboy, me on a borrowed horse, Sister
Though we would graduate from college, get married, and move to different states, our
friendship has remained steady and strong all these years. Any time we talk on the phone or get
together for a visit, horses are always a topic of conversation. And though they’ve become more
my muse than my mounts these days, Summer is still very much active in the riding world as a
fiercely competitive barrel racer who also coaches young people just getting into the sport.
Our love of horses continues to bond us, but when the topic of conversation strays to children or
jobs, or other life events, that’s okay too. There’s always plenty for lifelong best friends to talk
about. These are the kinds of friendships that horses can forge, after all. The close and lasting
ones.
*Pictured: At a barrel race Summer was competing in, circa 2019 (during a snowstorm!)
