Every Girl’s Dream Come True…

For Christmas this year, my girls’ are getting what they have wanted since they could talk. They actually already received it, and boy-oh-boy are they excited. I know Christmas is not about gifts, but we enjoy picking out special items for each other. For our family giving is the best part.

There are some things no matter how hard you try, you never outgrow. For me it is my love of horses and riding. That gene was passed down to our five year old daughter quite strongly. She has only ridden maybe a handful of times, and she can sit in the saddle like a girl that has had lessons for two plus years. Yep, she got that from me, I won’t hide that fact.

My mom also carries the NOH gene (nuts over horses). She knows our current horse, does not not have a disposition for children. She is not a bad horse, but she is well, quite high strung and a bit umm, well, feisty.

My mom has been looking for a horse for our girls for a few weeks. I wanted to rescue a horse if we would be getting one. Well, she found a twenty-one year old registered paint mare who had not been receiving proper care and feed. This mare was not on a rescue list yet, but was in desperate need of a home.

Many of you remember our horse, Stormy (please note that the pictures in that link are graphic) we have had since she was born was injured this past summer. She is doing awesome and you really have to look for the injuries. the next injury did scar the worse, as there is indentions where muscle died and didn’t grow back quite like it was. We will know for sure that she is bred in a couple weeks. If she is bred, well we will have Christmas in July!!

Now back to this new mare. See, this is where God comes in—doesn’t He always?

When my mom first started thinking it was time for us to have a safe kid horse, I had a few specifications.

• Wanted a mare. I love mares, I have ridden mares for a long time, and loved it. I have ridden geldings too, but something about mares…
• I wanted one big enough The Hot Guy and I could ride.
• I secretly wanted a bay, buckskin or palomino.

God saw fit to provide us a horse at a VERY low price. She is a bay, she is definitely big enough, and she is a lovey mare. However, she is going to need lots of love and food. Did I mention she needs lots of food?

She has several missing teeth, so we have to provide a special old horse diet. She seems to be doing well with it so far.

I have ridden her, and she is a nice ride. She is pretty much a one speed fits all horse, which is fine for our family. She may get a little more speedy as she gets healthier.

Due to the shape she is currently in, I am not going to post pictures. She is very thin, and I don’t need someone thinking we aren’t feeding her well. When we get her looking better, I will add before and after pictures. She has been seen by one of the vets we use, and it has been concluded that she needs food and lots of it that she doesn’t have to chew a ton.

Even our 22 month old, Hannah rode her today for about 18 feet. She was smiles from ear to ear the entire time. Her name is Dee, and she is pretty much spook proof, chickens, cats, dogs and kids, none of them bother her. We were able to turn her out with our other horse Stormy yesterday, and they get along fairly well. We hear the typical mare squeal every once in a while, but we figure within the week, that will be over with.