Kurt Hummel was many things – a singer, a Broadway lover, the most fashion savvy boy in all of Ohio which is why most people were surprised to find that he loved horses. When one thinks of a stable, you immediately assume ‘muck’ and ‘dust’ something that you wouldn’t associate Kurt with. But, ever since Kurt was little, he had always had a special connection was horses. It started when he was six years old.

“Kurt, come on!” Burt said to his son who was taking forever to get ready as usual. “Dad, do I have to go? It’s only a walk! I’m tired!” Burt sighed as he looked down at his little boy who was busy trying to tie his shoelaces himself. Burt crouched down to look his son in the eye, “Come on, it will be fun, and maybe if you’re good, we can get an ice-cream later” he said encouragingly. Kurt smiled a little at this. “Fine, is Mom coming?”
“Yes she is” his mother’s voice rang out, clear and almost song-like as she came down the stairs. Elizabeth Hummel took her son’s hand and they left the house quickly, before Kurt could change his mind again.

The family had been walking for a while, round the small area of woodland they had at the back of their suburban housing area. “Mommy, look!” Kurt cried as he pointed towards one of the paddocks. An obviously pregnant black mare was standing alone in the middle of the field, neighing to herself. “Is she okay?” Kurt asked, looking up at his mother, concern filling his blue eyes. Elizabeth looked out towards the mare – her cries were getting worse every time and she sounded as if in pain. “Burt, she doesn’t sound too good, see if you can get help and Kurt and I will go see her?” she said. Burt nodded, thinking to himself how lucky he was to have married such a caring woman, as he walked in the direction of home to phone a vet.
Elizabeth lifted Kurt over the fence of the paddock and the pair walked towards the horse. When closer to her, Elizabeth could see she was a prize horse, her black coat was shiny, her brown eyes were clear and her mane was smooth. When Elizabeth was young, she herself had ridden but she stopped when she left for college, she never admitted it but she missed horses and what lovely creatures they were. Kurt held out his palm to the horse and spoke in a quiet but kind voice “Are you okay horsey? I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise” The horse watched him with cautious eyes at first but slowly, she lowered her head and pressed her muzzle into Kurt’s hand. The boy giggled at the soft touch of the horse’s nose but that giggle turned to cry of shock when the horse let out another whinny of pain. Elizabeth regarded the horse and hoped Burt and the vet would get back soon, the mare was in a bad way and from what she knew about horses, the foal looked as if it was attempting to come out backwards. Kurt continued to mutter soothing words to the horse, and he silently willed for the horse to be okay.

The horse whinnied once more and collapsed to the ground, just as Burt and another man came running up from the bottom of the field. “I’m here!” the vet called out, slightly out of breath. “I’m Doctor Berry, is this your horse?” he asked Elizabeth. “No” she replied “We were walking when my son spotted she was in pain, so we stopped to help her”
“Good job, you noticed her when you did son” he said kindly, smiling at Kurt. “The baby is breach but hopefully” he crouched down to the horse and gently started to rub a circle on the mare’s stomach, “I can get it to turn”. He continued to move his hands over the mare, gently turning the unborn foal, the right way round. Suddenly, the mare let out, what can only be described as, a sigh of relief. “Yes” Doctor Berry cried “The baby is back in the right place! Now we just have to wait for the birth to happen, but it doesn’t seem like it will be too long” Kurt noticed the sudden determination and a hint of pain suddenly appear in the mare’s eyes. He took off his jacket and laid it on the floor next to the horse. He sat on it and he gently patted the mare’s neck and whispered comforting words and noises of encouragement to help her through. After about half an hour that seemed like an age, Kurt brought his lips to the mare’s ears and spoke softly “Come on, girl”. The mare suddenly relaxed and stood up quickly as Doctor Berry was shouting “She did it! And what a fabulous foal he is! Just look at him!” The mare turned to her baby, and began to clean him; the foal looked dazed but healthy. Elizabeth hugged Burt and they were both smiling. Kurt looked at the little foal, with a huge grin on his face. The Hummels and Doctor Berry sat for a while watching mother and son bond.

After 15 minutes, the foal began to stand up, his weak thin legs not quite holding him up yet, his mother nudged him, and after a few attempts, he managed his first few struggled steps. The foal looked around at the people staring at him and he started to walk towards them, stumbling every now and again. When the foal reached the group of people, he came very close to Kurt and started to nudge his arm playfully. Kurt laughed at the foal and reached up to pat him. Elizabeth whispered to Burt “I think our boy has a new best friend”.

A woman suddenly started running from the opposite side of the field. “Oh my god, thank you!” she was shouting at them. “Tessa, I’m so sorry” she rushed up towards the horse who immediately began to nuzzle the woman’s arm. “I can’t believe I missed the birth of your first baby!” The woman turned to Elizabeth and shook her hand. “Thank you so much! I was out and I got a call from my neighbour saying Tessa looked in trouble but they were a group of people looking after her! I came quick as I could! Thank you once again, how can I ever repay you?” Elizabeth smiled at the woman.
“Don’t thank me, thank my son Kurt here, he noticed that your horse was struggling” The woman bent down and kissed Kurt on the cheek. “Thank you Kurt, my dear, I’m Sharon” She noticed the foal still hanging around near Kurt. “Tell you what, as a thank you, why don’t you name him?”
“Me?” Kurt said happily. He looked at the foal. The foal was the spitting image of his mother, black, with little white strips of hair near his hooves. “Socks!” Kurt cried. “Those little white bits near his feet look like Socks!” The foal started to jump around excitedly at the commotion coming from Kurt. “Well, Socks it is” Sharon said, “He seems to like it!”

Every day since then, Kurt went back to see Socks. Sometimes, he brought apples for the foal to eat, sometimes; Kurt just watched the horse as he galloped happily round the field. But there came a day, where Socks wasn’t there - Sharon had told Kurt he had to move on and go to a new home as he was too big to live with his mom. Kurt vowed to one day find his horse and companion again but until then, he made do at the local riding stables. He helped there every weekend and he learned to ride. He always found a safe haven in horses and it became a dream of his to one day win, the National Championships. As much as he loved Broadway and Glee, horses became another obsession of his. This is the story of just how one Kurt Hummel made that dream come true.