*Actually my mother had finally given in and my father had to go along with it*

I even got to skip school the day we went and picked him up. I was so excited about getting a horse that I didn't care what it looked like, what breed, what training, what age, nothing mattered. All it had to be was a real horse.

I wasn't into Appaloosas at the time, but my mom had Appaloosas in the past and liked them. I remember seeing the man that we bought Gusto from and all I wanted to know was the horse's name. He told me 'Gusto' and my mom and I went out to see him. I remember my first words, 'Geez he is fat!'.

Well Gus has always been on the heavier side, it's just his build, I guess. Rocky, the man who sold us Gus, took him out of his trailer and saddled him up. My mom rode him first (since she knew more than me) and then I got to briefly ride him around the parking lot. Hey it didn't matter to me what he rode like, he was a horse and he was mine! We bought him almost 'sight unseen'.

They handed him to me and he almost drug me to the trailer, one he had never seen before, but the door was open so he wanted to go in. I let him go in, like I had a choice! It was the trailer he was going to go into anyway. And on went the day we bought him.

I remember being in the car behind the trailer and thinking, 'wow that horse is MINE!' I would have to say that was the happiest day of my life.