Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!
I started with photography when I was about... say... 14 or so. We just had a cruddy old digital, so the photos were far from great quality-wise. My parents bought me my current camera, an Olympus SP-500 UZ, for chirstmas two years ago. It's a great little camera- very easy to use, and produces great results! I tried three other cameras before I decided on this one
It's a 6.0 megapixel, with a 10x optical zoon and 5x digital zoom. It has an awesome 2.5" color LCD screen and 27 modes (includes video). It's stood up to two+ years of hard work, I mean this camera's been through everything- and only a ding on the screen from it all!! It's survived horse shows, being banged around on the farm, being nudged by horses, everything. It does GREAT outdoors (where I primarily shoot), and is great for close-up shots. It does very well for action, and I have never had an issue with it capturing my horses. Its major weak spots are indoors and in low light. Unless you want to use the flash, you need a statue's hand to keep it still and not blurry. It can pull indoor shots off if there's good light, but needs help otherwise. However, I rarely shoot inside, so no big deal for me.
I love it! It's as close to professional-quality I can get without going totally broke!
Here's a review with pictures of it:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SP500/SP5A.HTM