Annie was my heart horse. She was a grade palomino Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred. I acquired her as a 3-year-old filly when I was in college. She'd been raised from a weanling with a Standard Poodle and thought she was a dog. She loved to play with balls. She kept popping them with her teeth, though. Sometimes, when I'd be leading her in an arena, she'd just drop and roll like a dog on a leash. She could open Powder River gates. I'd unsaddle her and tell her to open the gate since I was carrying the saddle and saddle pad. She would go over and open the gate to the astonishment of onlookers. She'd wait for me to go out of the arena and would follow me. I could never get her to close the gate, however. She loved trailer rides. If the trailer had the door open, she'd go and get inside.

When she was almost four, she had an accident in which she tore a tendon in her left foreleg. The surgery was successful, but some complications rendered her unable to be ridden. So, I decided to have her bred. Her only foal was by a retired AQHA racehorse named My Leroy Brown. He was a sorrel colt. I named him My Dream Catcher, or Dream for short. When I first saw him, she pushed him toward me like she was introducing us. She was so proud of him. She had a miscarriage the second time she was bred and never conceived again.

During the lowest time in my life, I had to sell my horses. I could not afford to board them anymore. Due to Annie's condition, I gave her to a former coworker whose husband had a stud and they wanted to breed her. It broke my heart as she was my best friend. She was twelve and had been with me since she was three. She never got pregnant again. Some neighbors to their ranch had children who fell in love with Annie. They adopted her and she had a very happy time with them. I don't know what happened to her after that. I miss her still. I've had some amazing dreams about her, though. I know that she will be there to greet me when my time comes.