WATERFORD, Mich. – A Michigan woman always dreamed of having a horse but could only imagine what it was like when she tuned into Mr. Ed and cowboy shows on her black and white TV.

Gloria Crawford finally bought one at 52 and learned not only how to ride but to compete successfully on a horse. Now, she and her beloved 29-year-old Morgan breed horse are in very select company.

Crawford, 72, and her horse, Equinox Ebony Knight, were inducted into The Dressage Foundation’s Century Club.

The Century Club recognizes North American dressage riders and horses whose combined ages total 100 years or more.

“It’s really an honor,” she said.

Crawford said she always wanted a horse of her own while playing with horse figurines as a youngster and watching them on her favorite shows and movies like “My Friend Flicka,” a 1943 film about a boy given a young horse to raise.

Life, though, sort of took over and her dream of owning a horse seemed out of reach until her sister in-law, Donna Horton, bought a horse.

Crawford, thinking it was now or never, decided to reduce her work schedule as a legal secretary and went looking for a horse she now had time to dedicate herself to. She found “Ebony” at a farm about 30 miles from her home in Waterford in the southeast part of the state.

Crawford said she rejected all of the other horses she looked at that day but knew there was something special about Ebony, a former show horse in California, when she first laid eyes on him.

“I happened to get what I call a one in a million horse. It was a match made in heaven,” she said.

Crawford, who lives in a subdivision, keeps the horse at a nearby stable and for the first couple of years went riding mostly on trails just for fun.

One day, Crawford spotted a trainer working with a horse and its owner on dressage and decided to give it a try. Dressage is a form of riding that includes walking, galloping and precision movements inside an arena.

“It’s almost like dancing with a horse. It’s really a lot of fun to do,” she said.

After a few years of honing her skills in a not so easy to learn craft, Crawford started competing and brought home close to a dozen blue ribbons with Ebony. 

She hasn’t competed since having her knees replaced a few years ago but she and Ebony still enjoy casual rides together several times a week. They’re also still learning new maneuvers in dressage in their lessons from a trainer.

Ebony does not talk of course, unlike Mr. Ed. The part-Arabian horse carried on conversations with his owner and best friend, Wilbur Post, in the popular late 1950s-1960s sitcom.

However, Crawford said her horse does communicate with his body language and the bond with her horse is just as special. “This horse has so much personality. I mean, he does almost talk. You don’t have to wonder what he wants. He tells you. You just know,” she said.

Crawford said realizing her dream was “the best decision I have ever made. I’ve never regretted it for a moment. One of the best things in life is to have a horse to ride and love,” she said.

The Dressage Foundation in Lincoln, Neb., is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 to promote the advancement of dressage in the United States. Close to $3 million in scholarships and grants has been awarded by the group, whose funding is entirely from donations.