“Oh! You mean you actually don’t enjoy eating dirt? Oops, my bad.”

KENDRA CASPER, Oregon

“Where have you been all day?” Cooper, my Paint gelding, gets lonely and bored when he’s the only horse in the pasture. He pouts if I don’t give him enough attention.

EVELYN GILBREATH, Missouri

“Do you fully trust me?” I think Chief, my 16-year-old adopted Standardbred, knows that I do. I’d been told he was cantankerous, but he breezed through ground training and now seems at ease and content.

TINA TAYLOR, Florida

“Why do you always make me go through the mud and water puddles?” My 15-year-old gelding would really prefer to step around them.

MARISSA LEHRER, Minnesota

“What is the point of going around these barrels?”

JOSEY SHUFF, Louisiana

“Helloooo…aren’t you forgetting something?” That would be my well-loved 19-year-old mare, Maggie, when I turn up without treats.

GRACE SMITH, Washington

“More, please?” My gelding, Blue, would ask for more peanut butter crackers. It sounds crazy, but he loves them, which proves he fits right in with our family.

ASHLYNN ABERNATHY, Alabama

“How come you go out at night and I have to stay locked up in a stall? I could handle a night on the town!”

MEGAN MARIA D’ANDREA, Ohio

“Why the darn baths?” My horse would rather just eat and play out in the field—no riding, no baths.

ALEXIS SETTLER, Michigan

“Forgive and forget?” My palomino Paint mare would want to know if I’m ever going to get over her rearing up that one time. Forgive? Yes. Forget? No!

LINDA AVERY, Oregon

“Why should I? Just give me one good reason. Oh, for food? OK!” My gelding, Wyatt.

BRIDGET HODGES, Arizona