It's Been A Good Ride, Shortfat
It was every little girl's dream come true when I found Shortfat to become my friend. I had wanted a horse all my life, but the circumstances were never quite right to get one. When I finally did decide that I could start looking for my own horse, I was afraid to tell my mother. I was afraid that she would say that I was being impractical and irresponsible. Instead, she said: "If you can make just one dream come true during the course of your life, then you are doing better than most people.".
My mother has never spoken words which were more true or wise. I made one dream come true during the summer of 1988.
Shortfat was the first horse that I looked at when I began searching for my dream horse. I was convinced that you couldn't buy the first horse that you saw, so the search went on. Despite every other horse that I saw, I always went back to him. I will never forget the day that I used my lunch hour to go visit him. When I arrived he heard my car door shut, looked up and called out "Mama!". I bought him the next day.
His registered name was Shamuzon. When he came to me he was Shamu. But, from the first time I saw him he had become "that shortfat horse that I looked at first". For over a year Shortfat did nothing at a flat walk. It was two years before he would allow me to put a bridle on over his head. However, in the time that we shared, we both learned many lessons, grew to trust one another, survived bad times, enjoyed good times, and stuck together until the end.
