It all started one sunny day after school. I had just met a new girl, and being used to ridicule for something I did trying to gain my mother's approval, I was a laughing stock and wanted this friendship to work. So when the girl (We'll call her Shelly)invited me over, the first thing I did when I got home was run to saddle up our old Polish Arabian mare. I rode to Shelly's house, and as I am riding down her fence line, I see something I had only dreamed about.
She was wild looking. Everything about her screamed speed and fire. Her black coat seemed to glimmer in the sunlight as she swept threw her paddock. She came straight to Weda and got nose to nose with her. There was fire in her eyes, and a "My give a Damn's Busted" look to her. She tossed her head, showing me the only white that lit the obsidian of her hide. A white star with a black spot to the right.
Shelly met me at the gate, and let me in. We had fun talking and playing video games, but I kept glancing out the window at the black mare and Weda playing in the pasture.
"What is her name?" I asked.
"Oh, that's my horse, Lady Kay"
Uh Oh.
" She is beautiful. "
" You haven't seen Cookie yet. Lady is insane. You know she put two people in the hospital in critical condition? I Won't ride her. I didn't want her." Shelly happened to glance down the driveway and saw her mom riding in on Cookie.
" You gotta see this horse, she's my baby!"
I saw her. I didn't like her. Not one bit. She head was too dished for my taste. She was too tall and lanky. She was gray. She was spooky, and she was expensive and there was nothing I liked about her. But Lady... Lady was special. There was this spark between us that I just knew I would have her one day. So I told Shelly's mom, (We will call her Sandy) that I wanted to be the first notified if she ever decided to sell her.
That started my 3 years of servitude to Sandy and Shelly. Every time they wanted something, I dropped everything and did it. I worked Cookie, (She almost killed me jumping in front of a SEMI) I took care of the animals whenever they wanted to go out of town (Which was A LOT) And all the time, I spent hours talking to Lady.
I told her when I bought her, I would ride her every day. I would make sure she never wanted for anything. She would get a new tack item every year for her birthday. But what I think made her want me, was I promised her we would RUN.
You see, Lady was an ex dressage horse. Dressage horses do not Gallop. They walk, trot, canter. They never get to just run. This is why with her first family, She hospitalized the girl in the ring. That is why she hospitalized Sandy's sister on the trails, and why she never hurt me. I raced her, I rode her, I bought her a new horse item every year on my birthday. I showered her with love, and slowly won her over.
We easily rode upwards of 50 miles daily, just for fun. She loved to run the trails, and she was the only horse I ever trusted on the ravines. The ravines are 20 ft up sheer walls, a foot maximum and sometimes 6-7 inches in spots, with a 150 ft sheer drop. I hate heights.
When my mother made me feel worthless, Lady just shook her head and pawed the ground to ride. No one understood the bond we had. Offer me what you wanted, I said no.
I never looked at the fact that one day I would not have her support.

I got married. He is the only man she ever liked. Literally, six days later, mom called to say Lady couldn't get up. I went over, and I felt my heart shatter. She was going to die. I cried, I tried to help her up for six hours, until neither of us had any energy left. We had other horses, but She nickered to me, and we sat there, I was crying, and she was upset that I was. She lay her pretty black head in my lap and dozed. We both knew her time was almost up. Andrew called me to him, and she raised her head and neighed at me, calling me back. He knew I would die inside if I saw her dead. After all we had been thru, the only solace to a girl who had been raised by a sociopath mother, was going to die right before Christmas.

She died December 19th, 2012. She was 19 years old, and had died with dignity, in her sleep. When she was buried, I was told she lay as if galloping. For a week, I saw tons of shooting stars. I doodled a picture of her, and saw it in the stars. But what really made me cry was the dream I had. I dreamed I was walking with her thru the woods. At the edge, we were at the top of a hill, overlooking a huge herd of horses. I set her free, and she raced down the hill, but stopped half way. She looked back, reared up, and finished her way to the field.
Three weeks ago I read the rainbow bridge poem for the first time.