I was an avid reader of
Horse and Rider magazine for many years, from high school and on into adulthood. A lot of my early knowledge about horses and horsemanship came from that magazine.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s, the magazine carried a column for pen pals. You could send
Horse and Rider your name and address and request that it be added to the numerous others in the column, most of whom were young girls like me looking to find like-minded friends.
My address appeared twice, and at one point, I had around 100 people with whom I was regularly corresponding! Two of them became life long friends, Sue Seese and Beth Dickinson. Both were part of the early days of the hobby, and Beth is still very active in it. Sue moved on to high end quarter horses and showed on the Quarter Horse circuit. I am still in touch with both women.
Shortly after we began writing to each other, Sue and I got our first horses.
Sue and Stormy, Reseda, California, 1972.
Amy and me, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1972.
Sue's mare, Stormy, had a lot of Thoroughbred in her - perfect for Sue who loved the breed. She also founded a hobby club and registry for model Thoroughbreds that ran for many years.
Stormy and her filly, Stormy's Santana.
Our letters flew back and forth, with a letter being received in the afternoon mail, responded to that evening, and then mailed out the next morning. We knew when to expect each other's letters, and it was a real thrill to see Sue's distinctive handwriting when I opened the mailbox after I got off the school bus.
Sue and I became best friends despite the distance between us. After nearly five years of weekly letters, our parents allowed us to get together. I flew out to California in June after I graduated from high school.
Sue and me at the Jaws exhibit at Universal Studios, 1975.
There was no awkwardness between us when we first met face to face. After all, we knew each other so well from the hundreds of letters that we had mailed each other!
Sue made arrangements for us to ride while I was there, borrowing horses for me to use. One of them had been owned by Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan on the popular TV show,
Gilligan's Island. That was a big thrill for me - I mean, how many people can say that they rode Gilligan's horse? I can!
We also competed in a horse show during my visit, with me riding another borrowed horse. I took home a ribbon which still hangs here in my office where I can see it.
Sue and I each went off to college, got married, and she went right into the work force upon college graduation while I started raising my big family. Through the years we continued to correspond, although the letters slowed down to just a couple of times a year due to the busy-ness of our lives.
Adulthood for both of us had its ups and downs, but Sue really took some hard knocks - her husband died of brain cancer and then, after remarrying many years later, she developed breast cancer.
And through it all, the letters continued.
I got one from her in the mail yesterday.
Typical Sue, it was a three pager, single spaced!
I waited until I had a quiet moment to read it, wondering especially about her cancer treatment and if things were still going as well as they had been at Christmas. To my delight, she is healthy and nearing the end of two long years of treatment. Yay, Sue!
Sue (middle) with her niece (left) and sister (right) last Christmas.
Sue's words at the end of the letter were touching. Referring to the fact that I was now retired and had more time to write her, she said, "Let's keep this rolling," referring to the more frequent correspondence that we had begun again and which was so, so similar to our teen years when the letters came weekly.
There is a real joy in a long term friendship, a friendship with someone who has known you even longer than your husband. We've been friends since 1971, just shy of fifty years.
You can bet that I am going to "keep this rolling!"
