How I Came To Learn the Love of a Horse

First off let me introduce myself. My real name is Debbie. Alexus is actually my poodle ;;;smiles;;;; I'm  53 and live in the southern United States. I work as a flight attendant part time and my off time is usually spent in Denmark. A few years ago I lost both my parents and my life suddenly changed very drastically. I became very lonely and very depressed. My son is grown and off living his own very full and productive life (which makes me both proud and happy). My marriage went down the tubes years ago. Yes, we still live together but to say we are roommates at best (and very bad ones) is an understatement. But thats another story for another day. I guess where I am going with this is pretty much that my life just was less than fulfilling. I found that my days were spent alone in my room glued to my computer playing online card games for fun. My social life was spent in Second Life in virtual worlds with virtual friends. At night I went to bed alone and dreamed of another life. Sound familiar?? I'm sure I am not alone and share this same scenario with hundreds of others. None the less, it's not a good life. I knew that I did not want to continue down this path nor was it healthy.
One day in preparing for a weekend outing with my son and his girlfriend I was searching for trail rides on horseback. My sons girlfriend is an avid rider and I thought it would be something fun to do for our weekend together. I ran across an ad for a local stable in my area. It mentioned "horses for lease". Curious and thinking this may be something realistic for me, I called the owner. She explained to me how leasing works and said that they did have some horses there that fit my needs. Immediately I threw on my jeans, tennis shoes, and t shirt and drove out to meet these animals :) (Little did I know or think that those tennis shoes just were NOT good for trodding around horse manure LOL)
Upon arriving at this barn I was met by one of the most warm and caring people I have ever known. Immediately I felt a strong bond with this lady. Her kind smile and warm personality let me know that I had found a place of comfort! even before meeting the horses :)
I explained to her it had been years since I rode a horse, and I was looking for one slow and gentle, kind of like me. She took me to the first stall, as she had several that fit my description she said. Immediately this big brown nose poked out at me, curious as to who this new person was. I looked into those big brown eyes and it was love at first sight. (yes I do believe in soulmates) As I looked at this big brown beauty (I later learned the "proper" term for her is Bay Mare) my heart just swelled and she had me hook line and sinker. That was it, no need to look further, she was THE ONE. Of course she encouraged me to look at the others, which I did, but none could even touch the love I felt for that "big brown horse". I asked her could I try to ride her. "Of course" she said. So off we go to saddle this beauty up and let me have a go at what turned out to be a "Kodak moment" for sure!
Now keep in mind, this was a 53 yr old woman who had not even been on a horse in at least 8 years. I did not remember how hard it is to pull all your weight up into that saddle from the ground level...especially on a horse that stands 16.2 HH! Soooooo....after much groaning, grunting, and heave ho'ing....I managed to land on the horses back BEHIND the saddle :) Oh well....I was close. So I shifted my weight into the proper place,  in, not behind, the saddle and off we went. I was in heaven! This was fun!
I rode her for all of about 30 minutes and then came the dismount. Digging deep in my brain I searched my memory for the "proper" way to get off this beauty. Ah yes... I remembered and much to my surprise I dismounted much prettier than I mounted her :) Of course muscles I hadn't used in years were screaming at me by this point, but hey no pain no gain right? RIGHT.
After this little trial run I knew I had found my niche, so immediately I grabbed for the checkbook and said "done deal, how much?" Little did I know, this was the start of a HUGE love affair between me and  a big brown horse!