2 for 1 dream

Yesterday, was the day Savannah's biggest dream came true!

Prepared with horse treats, halters, her dad and his best friend Kevin, and a borrowed horse trailer... she set out to Culleoka, TN to pick up her new horse.

This dream has been 7+ years in the making, Savannah started going to a summer camp back then and got to ride horses daily... in fact, any extra time at camp she spent in the stables.

When we bought our land, she started saving money, buying horse books, and studying... all in hopes of convincing us that this was something she truly wanted.

She has more than proved herself! In fact she currently has TWO jobs at the stables several properties down from us. She has looked at many horses and been very picky... and she finally found a beautiful 3yr old paint mare. But...

This is where the 2 for 1 dream came into play. The Mare had just had this little filly 6 months ago. The owner had hoped to keep the mommy and baby together. With a little negotiating, Savannah got them both!

Savannah named the filly Mississippi... Missi for short. We lived in MS for several years and have wonderful memories of it so I thought Savannah was so very clever for coming up with that name.

In the process of loading and such, they didn't get any good pictures of the Mare but I'm sure there will be no shortage of future photos of her. Savannah named the Mare DayBreak, Bre for short.

Bre is in the back and she is a black and white paint. Missi is in the front and is a brown and white paint. Missi will need lots of training and handling but Bre will be a great trail horse for Savannah pretty soon. Bre has not been ridden since she had Missi, so Savannah will take things slow and should be on the trails with her quickly.

As if picking up 2 horses was not enough excitement for one day... the borrowed trailer had a massive blown tire on the interstate on the way home. Through no small effort, they were able to find another tire and finally made it home several hours late. Safe and sound, thankfully.

We will start building our own stables at the end of this month and add some more pasture fencing. Until that is complete, our incredible neighbors have agreed to let us board her Mare on their land, and the filly will stay in the fencing where we have our goats and female donkey.

This is Kevin, Shawn's best friend since elementary school. Kevin's wife Cate gave him, for his birthday, airplane tickets to come see us. Shawn has been b.e.s.i.d.e. himself looking forward to this visit. How much more can a Utah boy ask for then to come down south, help pick up some horses, help fix a flat tire, ride along the TN river on the 4wheeler... becoming a muddy mess, and today they are off to the Alabama/S.Carolina homecoming game?

I had to include the above photo because this is the stray beagle, Shiloh, that hangs around our house. Shiloh always keeps a safe distance and won't let us touch her. Kevin is here a matter of HOURS and has Shiloh eating out of his hand... oh the injustice of it all!!! Yes, yes indeed... pea green with envy!