A while back, Olivia posed the question, “what is your perfect horse?” I thought about this a lot and kept coming to the same conclusion.

My desires are simple — I like thoroughbreds that can jump well. I prefer a gelding, and something in the brown category, probably 16hh, and something with genuine streak of wanting to try. I thought about what if money were no object and I could import or breed something with tons of scope and an amateur-friendly attitude. What if I could get one that doesn’t colic and never goes lame. Or if I could have a young one with proven success in competition and we could go over to Europe and blah blah blah.

That’s a lot of ifs, and I hate flying … don’t think I am not drooling over Diarado progeny at this point, but I also recognize dreaming within my limits is ultimately much more satisfying because I can live those dreams.

Derbies are not off the table.

My severely-biased reality is this: I have my dream horse. For a little while, after I sold a very successful adult/children’s jumper, I lost some interest in riding and all interest in competition. I was simply happy to hack around on whatever sale horses needed some exercise and my interest in jumping waned. I didn’t feel like I would have a budget to accommodate horse ownership any time soon. I didn’t want to quit riding, but I didn’t want to go anywhere with it, either. And then I rode Eli, just one idiosyncratic TB in a string of sales horses. He carried a lot of baggage, reacted melodramatically to just about everything, and sometimes became difficult to handle even for the simplest tasks (like picking out his hind feet …). Even so, we clicked. He reignited my interest in really riding, jumping, I even started to think about horse shows again. I still remained in riding limbo for a long time, but Eli stuck around long enough for me to informally half-lease him. Then, in my opinion, circumstances became such that he needed an owner. I am that owner.

Safety orange is the new black. But wait! The barn owner called them “tan.” I’m going with it.

He fits my simple dreams of a bay thoroughbred gelding with a nice jump and decent gaits. I am grateful for the opportunity to own him, and I look forward to whatever adventures we end up chasing down the road. What more could I ask for?