Wow. Just wow. You guys have honestly no clue how on top of the world I feel right now! Just a warning, this part could be a little boring, so you're welcome to skip ahead to the review responses if you want. I feel like I need to explain where this story came from in light of the glowing reviews I've gotten. I lost my first horse due to a freak accident about five years ago and this past year on the day we had to put him to sleep I was remembering how much his passing changed my life while I looked at the picture I have of him on my writing desk. Before I knew it words were pin-balling around in my head and needed out. So I started writing in my own version of shorthand because they needed out so bad. Thus the Diamond S Bar and all the characters were born. The ranch itself is partially from my head and partially from a ranch I stayed at for a week in Montana last summer. It was a place with a lot of good memories.

This story started out running parallel to my life and it didn't bobble much. And because I'm in such a good mood right now I'm going to tell y'all a little about me. I live in North Central Ohio on a small horse farm and have been riding since I was nearly five years old. August marks the thirteenth year I've spent on horseback. My first horse was a high end American Quarter Horse western pleasure horse. I fell in love with the sport on his back. He could also place in contesting, do a western riding pattern with no cues, and heel a calf in seconds. The only thing he didn't do was jump. Since then my grandmother bought me another Quarter Horse when Snazzy died. His name is Jag. He's a big butt, but I love him dearly. He did the same for me that Hugh did for London.

Anywho. I am five feet nine and three quarter inches tall in my bare feet. I'm very blond. I take college classes half days at Tiffin University online even though I'm going into my senior year in high school in the fall. If you can do it on horseback, I probably have. Including taking the dare from my best friend to jump a three foot jump bareback. Let me tell you, if you have ever jumped and think that's flying, try it bareback. It's amazing. Hmm. What else. I drive a little red 1999 VW Bug. I love it. My work is awesome, it's a little feed mill in the middle of town. And even though I love writing stories about romance I'm one of those seventeen year olds that hasn't even ever held hands with a guy. Of course, I only have one really good female friend, so I can fudge the male POVs really well. I can't help it. Guys are so much easier to get along with.

I hope I answered any questions about me and didn't bore you. Onto the fun part!

M.Naja – I'm really glad you liked the story. I tried for something not too cliché. It runs really close. Thanks so much for reading and letting me know you liked my story!

Deppfan31 – Thank you so much for all the reviews! And you didn't annoy me a bit. I look forward to the reviews from people that break down their comments chapter by chapter. Its really nice. As for your questions, I'm not from anywhere fun, just north central Ohio. I don't have a real southern or western drawl unfortunately. I can do a damn good impression though! Again, thank you so much for all the reviews!

Knight of Tortall – I'm really excited to find another horse lover on FP. When I couldn't find any horse stories that were more then just vaguely knowledgeable and even then only halfway well written I decided to try and change that. I've had horses literally my entire life. It sounds like you and I are very similar. I'm five foot nine and three quarter inches tall. And I'm the little one in my family. It sucks when it comes to finding guys taller then me and rocks when it comes to keeping control of my 4-H group and such. If you ever get the chance to go to a full rodeo jump on it. They're a blast. And yes I show pleasure predominately, but I've shown a little bit of everything over the years. The most fun class I ever competed in was draft horse barrels on my friend's Percheron. It was hilarious. One of those big guys gets running and its literally like riding a freight train! And I completely understand not having friends that understand your horse habit. I don't have any that do either and the sad part is most of them have horses. Anywho. I'm really glad you liked the story and if you ever do find someone like Clive see if he has a brother! Lol!

Kristen – I'm really glad someone else understands why I had such a hard time letting go of my Snazzy. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.

st.elmo-lover – I'm really glad you liked this story. It was extremely fun to write and I greatly appreciate any review I get.

tlw1 – Thanks so much for all your reviews. I really looked forward to your input. And you were completely correct about changing the genres. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't. Lol! Not like that's anything new! Again, thank you for the reviews and the advice!

Aquala7 – If I ever find a guy that's a Christian and love th horses even half as much as I do he's not going anywhere. I know what you mean on that. Thanks for taking the time to review!

Fleeting Moment – I must say, your enthusiasm is catching! Good luck with getting your own horses. They're worth the trouble. I don't know that I would stay sane without them! And I love your idea for a name for your horse!

beckxfok01 – There's a lot of little things I would like to change in this story and expanding on it is one of them. I originally wrote this to only be about 15,000 words, a very short story and then it just kind of tumbled out. Going back and re-reading it gave me more ideas and different thoughts then when I first wrote this. Anywho. Thanks so much for taking the time to review. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this!

Rouge-writer-16 – I have to be honest, I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I read your review! You have no idea how many times I've reacted that same way only I forgot I wasn't home alone at the time and scared the crap out of my family! It was great! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading this story. It was a lot of fun to write, but a little gut wrenching to post. Thanks so much for the review and the write up on your profile! That's awesome!

Xlilyx – I'm so glad to hear about other people that love their horses like I do. My friends don't tend to understand my horse habit. Thanks so much for the reviews!

Friggin-Crazy – I love that there are other people that love horses like I do and share my enthusiasm for the animals! Thanks so much for your reviews. My friend Jesse who I based a lot of Clive off of is a special guy. It's too bad he's in Montana and I'm in Ohio. lol!

ShatteredDreamer – Thanks so much for taking the time to review! I hope the story lived up to expectation!

Aimee – I'm really glad you can relate to the characters. Horses are more worth your time then anything else no matter what anybody says.

Pacific71 – Guilty as charged. Part of the rushing is because of how closely this story runs to my life. I haven't gotten to college yet and because of my uncertainty of how things really go in a college setting I don't know how to convey it truthfully. I plan on going back through the story and editing and expanding and re-writing as I go. Thanks so much for the review!

Dream Rain – Thanks for taking the time to review!

Xtotallyatpeacex – There's about six and a half years between them and when I went back and read through I realized the time he would be proposing would be when there appeared to be seven years between them, but if I messed that up in my head it wouldn't be pretty. Believe it or not you're the only one that noticed or asked about that! Thanks for your reviews!

collegestudent – My inspiration for Underdog went away with the football season! I know, it's terrible! But that season is coming up real soon so be watching for updates!

playgroundunited – Thank you so much! I've gotten really sick of reading stories that are so worried about make out scenes and other behavior that I don't really care to read about I decided to write a story that was clean. Thanks so much for your review! And if you ever find a Clive let me know if he has a brother! lol!

Tempest116 – Thanks for taking the time to review! I'm glad you liked it!

Jamie – I wish something like this would happen to me too. But oh well. But I'm glad someone else can see why cowboys are so appealing! Thanks for the review!

And to anyone that reviews even after I get this posted, thank you for taking the time to read and review! Reviews make my day!

AJ (WesternPrincess)