We definitely have the horse fever in our house now! Previously, I shared about the horse “Little Debbie” that we purchased Saturday afternoon for my youngest daughter. We were scheduled to see two horses on Sunday afternoon to pick between the best ones as we were really looking for two good horses for our girls. Our plans suddenly changed during the course of the day, though!

We traveled a few hours away from our home to where these horses were located. We also tried to plan the trip to where we could pick up some posts for the horse fence at the same time. We found a sweet couple that had some posts that they were selling for a really good price, and thankfully they were conveniently located between the two stops we were making to look at the horses.

Our first stop was a pretty little brown and white horse. We were impressed when we saw the horse as we drove up. The owner had her grandson on the horse, and it didn’t take long before my oldest daughter was up in the saddle. The horse was not happy that particular day, though, as was obvious by him rearing back quite a few times. The owner said that this is the first time she has ever seen this type of behavior before as her horse never does this. I did not feel comfortable with my daughter on the horse any longer. She quickly got off of the horse, and my husband got into the saddle thinking that he was going to make a difference when he got on. Meanwhile, the horse had other plans. It started bucking and rearing up in the front to where both of the horse’s feet came completely off of the ground. My husband tried a little while longer on the horse, then finally he gave up as well and got off the horse. We thanked the owners for the opportunity to ride the horse, but we knew that this particular horse was NOT for us.

We set out on our next mission to find the couple’s home where they had the fence posts for sale. We had the address punched in on the GPS, but my husband does not trust that thing at all. He actually fusses at the “lady” inside the GPS telling him where to go. He argues with her on just about every turn to the point that I really am not sure why he continues to use “her” on trips when he has little confidence in “her.” It is quite comical to hear him carry on some times, I’ll have to admit! The couple said that they would just make it easier on us and come into town to show us the way to their house. This was much appreciated, and it made my husband feel at ease.

As we rounded the corner and began to make our way up their driveway, we couldn’t help but notice the beautiful white horses on our right hand side. My daughters spotted them at the same time and complimentary phrases were flowing from both of them! They immediately wanted to know if those horses were for sale. They were out the truck door almost before my husband could park good, and they could hardly wait to ask the lady about the horses. My oldest daughter liked a big white horse, but that one was not really suitable for us as it was too “hot” out of the gate, meaning that this horse goes really fast! It knows one speed, and that is racing! We quickly dismissed this horse, although it did look like a beautiful white horse you would see in your dreams. We joked that it almost looked like a little unicorn, minus the horn!

Off to the side was a much smaller horse munching on some hay. I snapped a few pictures of this horse because it was too cute not to! The lady said she just wanted to show the horse to us, and before my children could finish their squeal, the lady had the horse in front of us. My children both were looking all over this horse and wanted to know if they could ride the horse bare back. The nice lady said they could give it a try, followed by more squeals of delight! They lead the horse to the round pin where my oldest daughter hopped on. After a little while, she finally decided to let her sister have a turn. They were so excited by this little horse!

The lady spoke about how she was going to train this little horse to pull a cart, and then in the summer months, have little children out there to pull around on the cart as part of a summer camp program possibly. My children were practically begging at that point, and the nice lady said the horse WAS for sale after all! Their little eyes lit up, and they started pleading with me with their eyes. I explained that we really came to look at paint horses today, and we still had one more stop to make. The girls were NOT happy with me at that point, but I insisted that we had to keep our appointment to see the paint horse that we were going to see next. My girls, then, packed up everything, including their pouty lips that were almost dragging the ground from disappointment, and we headed to our next destination to look at the other paint horse that was available.

Once again, my husband fussed and argued with the “lady” inside the GPS. He was convinced that we were in the wrong place when “she” told him to turn into a place where they hold major horse races and competitions. He had little confidence in the “lady” to begin with, and this made his hatred grow for the voice that was the GPS. I kept trying to reassure him that he was in the right place, although I was never more relieved as I was the moment I saw the name of the stables which confirmed that we were, indeed, right where we needed to be!

An older lady was sitting comfortably outside of the stables when we drove up. She greeted us as we got out of the vehicle and made our way over to her. We talked for a little while, and then she took us inside of the stables to see the paint horse that was destined to be ours. She lead this massive animal outside so that we could get a good look at her, and she was so pretty as the sunlight illuminated her brown and white patches.

An advanced rider took her place in the saddle to show us what the horse would do in the arena. The only reason they were selling this horse was due to her not being fast enough for them. She was perfect for us, though!

My oldest daughter, still pouting over the little white horse she had to leave behind at the last stop, refused to get on this paint horse. I had every intention of buying this horse for HER, and yet she stood with arms folded shaking her head no as she refused to ride this horse. I said that while I did not have as much experience as my daughter that I would still get on and see how it felt riding on the horse. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with this horse. I played around with her a little while longer, squeezing my legs so that she would trot, and sure enough, she did not fail! With a huge smile upon my face, I made my way back to the gate with the horse of my dreams. Once at the gate, I asked my oldest daughter again if she would please ride the horse. Reluctantly, she agreed, but you could tell that she was NOT happy about it. Soon she was back wanting to get off, and when she did, she went to the back of the truck where she sat by herself thinking of the little white horse.

I finished the conversation with the owner, and then I presented a check knowing that I could not let this little horse slip away from us by having someone else come in to purchase her while we were “thinking about it.” I wanted to secure her so that I knew without a doubt that she was my horse!

I went back to talk to my oldest daughter, and I gave all of the good points about this horse. She agreed that the horse was great, but it just was not the horse she wanted. I told her that this would be my horse, then, and we started talking about why she liked that little white horse back at the other ranch. She didn’t really know why, she just did!

I pondered all of this for a short while, and then I knew what I had to do.

My husband and I returned to the ranch with the little white horse, and my girls almost squealed in unison when they realized what we were doing! Yes, we were returning to let my oldest daughter take one last look at this horse to see if she really, truly wanted that particular horse. She said that without a doubt, she did! My husband hadn’t parked the truck good before my daughters bolted out of their seats and literally ran to where this little horse was standing. They hugged her, played in her hair, and could not wait to have their turn riding this little horse again. The lady saddled the little white horse up prior to our arrival, so she was ready to go! Around and around they went together, my daughter with her mile wide grin and her little white horse.

Yes, we purchased two horses yesterday, and we purchased another horse Saturday. We are now a three horse family! My girls and I are loving it. My husband? Not so much!

My dad came out to our “ranch” today to see what all needed to be done with the fencing to accommodate the horses. We are starting on it right away and are anxious to bring our “babies” home!

Here’s to days filled with beautiful sunshine that warms the skin, to long dusty roads riding with our horses, to bonding time with a mother and her two daughters! Life is GOOD!

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