Ranger Creek had 27 horses that summer; 7 of their own and 20 leased horses. I rode a lot of different horses throughout my stay, but of course I had a favorite one.

C.O.D. was an about 19-year old Appaloosa gelding, a cute little horse. Actually, Appaloosas are not my type of horses, C.O.D had nothing in common with the ones I liked but there was something about him. When I rode C.O.D. for the first time, we were on a rather difficult trail but I was not scared at all, C.O.D. did a good job in taking care of me. When we raced our horses later that day, I fell in love with this Appaloosa and wanted to take him home with me from this moment on. C.O.D. is an easy horse and even if I like spirited horses a lot, I was happy that he was just such a good buddy for me. He was fast and liked to run. From time to time, Jessi and I took our two horses (she loved Bubba) for a run and I think they enjoyed it just as much. C.O.D. had not a very good position in the herd's hierarchy; his only real friend seemed to be Coco, and Bubba sometimes but in general, the other horses, especially Gizmo and Baldy liked to nip and bite him. He really couldn't defend himself, so I always fed him and took special care of him. Well, I didn't mind if C.O.D. was not very respected in the herd, I liked him and that was all that mattered. The guys, especially Shane and Brandon always made fun of me because I loved that damn horse to death. But I didn't care, well actually, I didn't like Brandon's horse either... :-)

The closest moment I ever had with my horse was the day when Jessi had to leave. It was a sad day for all of us and I guess I cried most of the day. Still I tried to get my work done while the horses were out in the pasture, enjoying their day off. I just wanted to go down to the wrangler's quarters when suddenly I saw C.O.D laying down. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't stay if I'd approached him. But as I did so, he didn't move at all and even let me sit down and pet him. It was amazing how safe he felt when I was sitting there right next to him. For about 10 minutes we remained like that before he decided to stand up again. That was the closest moment I ever experienced with a horse.

Well, C.O.D. was not a horse of the Comisfords and a couple of days before I left the ranch, C.O.D.'s day had come; the leased horses had to go back to their home. I started to cry even before the owners came to get them. Bill and Brandon didn't know what to do with me, Sue was more or less desperate and I really cannot find any words that could describe what was going on inside of me. Most of the people probably cannot understand but everyone who has a pet or a bigger animal to take care of probably has got a relationship to his/her companion. So did I. C.O.D. was just my horse. After the owners had pulled up and we had loaded the horses up into the trailer, I was standing there at the rail, watching my horse leave. That was one of the saddest moments this summer but Bill and Brandon did the best to comfort me.

Besides C.O.D. I had two other horses I really liked to ride. One was called Coco, a black gelding and in my opinion the most beautiful horse at Ranger Creek that summer. Coco was a pacer and a real smooth horse. I loved to ride him but it happened that he started limping for some reason, so I couldn't ride him very often. But there was Jupiter, a really nice horse. I loved him as well as the other two because he was a more spirited horse and sometimes I called him "Mr. Rodeo" or "The Pain". Well, most of the time, Jupe was just my "prancy friend". He was nervous from time to time and started to act up. Still I liked him but in the end I neither can compare Jupiter nor Coco with C.O.D. I so much wanted to take that horse home with me. I will never forget him.