Ned, my first trainer, was very fond of my riding and convinced my parents that I should have my own horse and become a part of their riding team.  That was a big honor to me to be asked to join their show team.  The first horse they suggested to us was a large sandy bay, named Playmate.  He was a bit too much of a horse for me, but I tried him out during a lesson.  We took a bad fence, I let out a little yell and I fell to the ground.  Mary would have him sold to another customer within that same week and he was no longer an option. 

During that winter Ned moved out and a new trainer moved in.  His name was Jim and he intimidated me quite a bit.  I'll never forget the time he asked me to saddle Tiny for him to ride.  I went into the back barn and pulled Tiny from his stall.  I brushed him up and then just stood there in wonderment.  I stood in my four foot nothing legs staring up at this 17 hand horse trying to decide how I could possibly get a saddle all the way up there.  I was so afraid to tell Jim that I couldn't do it.  He finally came around the corner of the barn and saw me struggling.  He quickly came to my rescue and did what he should have done in the first place, and saddled his own damn horse.  He wasn't angry with me at all. Instead he was laughing at himself for giving me such an unreasonable request and at me for not asking for help.  For a brief moment I felt comfortable with him, but that comfort never lasted very long.  There was something about him that just never sat right with me.  We would find out later that it might have been a little bit of a cocaine habit getting between the success of our friendship.

We however, were still in the hunt for a horse and they had brought in a large bay Thoroughbred named Luke.  My parents scheduled for us to meet there one evening to try him out.  He was saddled in my Trainer's close contact Hermes saddle, which I was in no way accustomed to.  I mounted the big bay and went through basic warm ups on the flat.  We started with small fences and in no time at all he had me taking a 3' Oxer in the middle of the small indoor ring.  On the first approach, I was left behind during the departure which made it a very awkward jump landing me on the side of his body.  We made it around the first turn in the short arena with me holding on for dear life.  Then I tried to squeeze with my legs and pull my self back up into the saddle.  Squeezing however made him only travel faster.  My trainer yelled to me to jump, but I instead just let go.  I landed under his thundering hooves.  I can still close my eyes and see his dirt filled steel shoes passing over my head.  I actually did end up getting stepped on.  His one foot had landed square on my hip, but fortunately no damage was done.  I might have cried slightly, even though that is typically not in my nature to ever cry in front of anyone.  Then I dusted off and back up I went.  I cantered around the ring once and took my fence correcting all of the mistakes that I had made the first time around.  The ride soon ended and I was in love.  The horse almost killed me, but he was pretty cool and I thought for sure I should have him.

The next ride went much better, but he still hadn't proven himself worthy of purchase.  After my ride, I turned him out in the outdoor arena to play with Goodbar.  The two horses were not getting along and were fighting the whole time.  When my father and I ventured out into the ring to catch him, Luke charged us down.  Now typically if a horse is running directly at you, if you move back at them they will chicken and turn.  Luke was by no means a chicken.  He kept right on coming.  That did not impress my dad at all.

Christmas time 1985 had rolled around and I was convinced I was getting my horse. I woke up that holiday morning at 4:00AM.  I laid there in bed for a while.  I got up and used the bathroom, got a glass of orange juice, but never once peeked into the living room at what Santa had brought.  Finally at 6:00 I couldn't take it anymore and dragged everyone else out of bed.  My father took his usual place in the living room with the video camera mounted on the tripod to get our reactions to our gifts.  I thought I was going to die.....sticking out of my stocking was a model horse that my Father had painted to look just like Luke and a set of registration papers were tied with a bow around his neck.  All of my dreams had come true that Christmas morning....I had finally gotten a horse!  And not any horse, but a Beautiful Bay Hunter with a star on his forehead and two white hind socks.  I was sure that only great things could come from this.  I received many great things that day for my new horse and I could not wait to go down and see him.  The owners of the Stable had gone to a lot of trouble to make it special for me and they wrapped the outside of his stall in holiday wrapping paper.  However my new horse was a bit lippy and tore it all down before I got there.  That was OK, I probably wouldn't have noticed anyways through all of my excitement.

Shortly after I acquired my first horse he became very ill.  Strangles had gone through the barn, but luckily my horse did not catch it, he did however develop pneumonia.  That was two weeks of heavy medication and shots.  He finally recovered and we were able to get down to business. 

Luke had come with the show name Split Decision.  That name had come about because his last rider was leasing him and could not decide if they should buy him.  My mother did not care for that name and was determined that he should be Master Luke.  I showed with that for a while, but eventually the Star Wars name would get old and I would insist on picking a new one.  About 450 different suggestions later, we came up with Decisive Action.  And that was always the way he rode. Very decisively.  No matter how decisively awful.