Although 'Horse Fever' infected me early on, I rode only occasionally as a young girl. I was twenty-six and mom to a toddler when I finally got my first horse. That was so exciting! Skipper was a bay gelding of uncertain origins, and most rides began with a reluctant walk away from the stable followed by a whirl and gallop back home with me clinging on for dear life. We somehow managed a one-day NATRC (North American Train Ride Conference) twenty-mile competitive trailside, but Skipper and I weren't a good match. More riding lessons followed until Babe came into my life, and everything changed. A three-year-old drop-dead gorgeous chestnut Half Arab with four white sock, a blaze face and the sweetest floating trot ever. Only problem was she'd never been ridden! Yikes! But with riding lessons from a strict British horsewoman and an even stricter instructor with a thick German accent, I mostly stayed in the saddle while Babe taught me about riding and about life. We dabbled in jumping and dressage, but then came many wonderful years of long-distance competitive trail riding where we really got to know and appreciate one another as a team.