By: Jenny

As a little kid, I always imagined myself owning a light silvery grey horse with a black mane and tail and black points. We would win all sorts of ribbons and awards, eyes would turn to look at us, the girl on her handsome grey steed. I never forgot that fantasy, keeping it in my heart.

I finished yet another Internet search for my second horse. There were a few grey horses mixed in with a whole lot of bays and chestnuts to inquire about. Knowing that colour isn’t the top priority, my coach, my mom and I selected a couple horses that seemed worthy of a visit. A grey Quarter Horse gelding was on that list of “maybes”. We had already seen a few horses prior to this, but with no luck. I found myself struggling not to imagine owning any of these horses from the new batch of printed out descriptions, as I found out the hard way it seemed to jinx the outcome of things.

I was beginning to doubt ever finding the right one as we turned our backs on yet another horse. And then we went to see the grey Quarter Horse gelding, Victory Dance Time, affectionately known as Kelsey. He was in his stall, nose to the ground in a pile of hay, and looked up when we walked into the barn. He was fuzzy with a winter coat, white with dapples and had tiny flecks of auburn throughout. His mane was a dark grey, highlighted with hints of brown, his tail smoke-coloured with an illuminating white underneath the chewed top layer. Overall, very good looking, my childhood vision come to life.

My coach, Sandy, unfortunately smelled of skunk and as she patted Kelsey, his upper lip shot up into the air, known as flehmen, something I have always found amusing to watch. We groomed him and tacked him up, with the help of his owner. Soon, he was ready to ride.

The winter day was cold and very windy as we watched Kelsey get ridden on the snow covered lawn. He was rushing around, slipping and charging, looking quite pleased with himself, while looking like a crazy horse to us bystanders. His owner, visibly upset, kept exclaiming, “He’s never like this!”

I only walked on him that day, for obvious reasons. As soon as I got off, Kelsey gave me a little nudge. I think that broke the ice. I fell in love with him, the colour and something else intangible drew me to this horse.

It took two more visits to Kelsey before deciding to get him vet checked in preparation to buy. He seemed to be more relaxed than the first time, although he was full of life. I tried not to get my hopes up about the vet check as I was heartbroken before when the very first horse we went to see didn’t pass. I didn’t know if I could go through that again and prayed he would pass.

The day of the vetting was one of the longest days of my life. I didn’t go to the vet check with my mom, as I would’ve fallen in love with him even more.

Finally the vet called that night. He passed. Anxiety was replaced with relief and happiness. A couple days later, Kelsey was at his new home. One thing I decided right away though was that he needed a new name. Kelsey just didn’t seem to suit him. Kelsey was now Jag.

As Jag’s winter coat grew out, I noticed a small marking on his right hip; a heart outlined in dark grey. Perhaps it symbolizes my love for him, or for his obvious love of life, or maybe even that if you hold a dream in your heart, it will come true.