In September 2010 Rider to Rider column in Practical Horseman, we printed many great answers to this question sent in by our readers. We got so many heartfelt responses, we wanted to ask the question again here: What does your horse mean to YOU?

Dear Practical Horseman,

      Max is my hanoverian/thoroughbred.  He is the sweetest boy ever!  This past winter he got very sick though.  Quite close to death.  It all started when he got strangles, that wasnt the bad part though.  He developed a rare auto immune response to it called pepura hemorhaugica.  My heart broke when my trainer called me and said Max Might not make it through the night.  I was in Alabama at the time when she called and I rushed back to Florida to see my precious horse standing there in his stall with swollen legs that looked like they were from a hipopotomous and later on his skin fell off.  It was terrible.  It has been very grusome and long recovery period but we are getting there and Max and I are getting to riding again and currently jumping about 4 feet.  Max means the world to me!  I love him so much and we are the best of friends. 

What my horse means to me:

Freedom, Spirit, Indepence, Nature, Spirituality.

 Let me start by saying that I'm currently living in Russia - thousands of miles away from my boy.  I bought him when he was just 3, and green broke.  Now, he's a 10 year old, Dutch/Thoroughbred/Clydesdale cross that stands at 17.2 hh.  He's the prettiest horse I've ever seen.  Dark bay with a blaze, and this adorable little white spot on the side of his nose.  It's a charcteristic of his great-grandsire (I also had another horse out of this same sire).  He's got a great personality - the biggest goofball ever.  When it's time to work, he's really smart and tries his best to please.  You can gallop him cross country, take him for a trail ride, or put boyfriends and relatives on him.  In short, he's the "person" that I miss the most right now.  He always makes me smile.  I've broken up with boyfriends who thought that they should be more important than him.  I don't know what I'd do without him. . . 

That's such a loaded question...after losing both my parents, my mare has been there through it almost all of it.  She was Mom's gift to me after I endured braces for three years (and spent four years working for my riding lessons), and I know now that it was Mom's way of making sure I could retain some sanity through whatever life may bring.  My girl is gracious and kind and forgiving, but she holds me accountable and gives me hell sometimes. She's soothing when I'm upset and dumps me when I'm being cocky.  She has her faults and I have mine, but we know eachothers' and our partnership makes us both into better beings. She's a great teacher to my young mare, and she's always up to giving pony rides if I need her to (although she refuses to go faster than a walk, and she insists on following me, regardless of whatever her "rider" is telling her to do). She gets cranky when I'm not around, and she makes me believe in myself when I'm convinced I can't do anything right.  What does my horse mean to me? She's my baby, my friend, my partner, my serenity, my disicpline, my coach, and my inspiration. What else could get you out of bed at 4:30am to go out into -40° wind chills (Minnesota...) before work?

 My horse means a New Beginning. I lost my forever best friend Gideon in April.  I got him in high school and we had that incredible bond from day 1.  Around the same time I was losing Gideon, Silas was abandoned at our barn.  After spending a lot of money shipping a fancy horse from FL to try, I realized that Silas needed a mom and I needed Silas.  He is not Gideon.  Nothing could replace Gideon.  But Silas and I are beginning our new lives together and I hope our journey is even a fraction of the experience and enrichment that I had with Gideon.

 My horse is the shirt off my back and the smile on my face.