Elizabeth first saw Pete (Juan Pedro) at the barn, calmly handling a massive white horse who was rearing like it belonged in a medieval painting. Her first thought: Who is THAT and where can I sign up?!

Their actual introduction was far less cinematic. Elizabeth poked her head into the stall where Pete was working, said hello, and got a one-word reply without eye contact. (Romance, clearly, was in the air.) She soon learned that his name was Pete, he was new at the barn, and — naturally — he was already dating someone in the horse world. Elizabeth mentally filed him under “tall, dark, and handsome, but unfortunately off the market,” and went back to caring for her horse, Cassie.

Still, fate had its own plans. Pete seemed to like Cassie immediately (Elizabeth maintains he loved the horse first, her second), and he started helping in small ways -- teaching Elizabeth how to braid manes, recommending training exercises and equipment, or just quietly working alongside one another. Over time, the friendship grew, and eventually Pete’s relationship ended. One evening after the Saratoga horse show, the two found themselves seated across from one another at dinner. It was then that Pete realized Elizabeth was indeed single and, a few months later, he worked up the nerve to ask Elizabeth out — from there, history pretty much wrote itself.

Pete tells it a little differently. He remembers Elizabeth showing up with her arm in a sling after a fall, only to promptly take the sling off so she could climb back on her horse. He thought she was a little crazy (and is probably now convinced of it). Although he assumed she must be married when they first met, he couldn't help but notice her eyes, and once he realized they were both single, he made the first move.

So yes, their beginning involved a rearing stallion, a busted shoulder, and a less-than-stellar first hello. But somewhere between all the sarcasm, stubbornness, and horsehair, Elizabeth and Pete found the kind of love that makes dreams seem possible and makes the world feel a little calmer — even when a horse is standing straight up on its hind legs.