Chester, made my dream become reality.
Two years ago today, I met and brought home my horse Chester.
And the story begins....
Once we decided we were going to get a horse, we started the process of building a home for our new animal and I started my search for, my horse. Crazy! After years of looking at horse books (and finding the smallest ones there were in the books) = ) there I was, looking for a horse to buy. After a year and three months, we found Chester. If I remember right, I saw his add and thought he was not super pretty, kinda bony and was two hours away so we definitely couldn't get him. Well, maybe less then a week later, my dad saw his add and asked me what I thought. I said it looked like a nice horse, a little older then we wanted... but it was two hours away! Well, my dad emailed the owner and that started a chain of emails. The horse was available, but there were other people in line to look at him. We were first in line though so we had first grabs. = )
We started praying once we decided we were going to dive into this horse thing. Praying that the Lord would provide a horse if He wanted us to have one. I want to tell you guys, we prayed for a gelding, any color, (not white though) 14.2 hands, a good price, experienced, (I prayed it wouldn't be perfect so I could work on something with it. Ok, stop laughing!) = ) and anywhere from 10 to 15 years. Well, we were praying for a 15 year old gelding, 14.2 hands. What did the Lord provide? A 16 year old gelding, 14.3 hands. Is that amazing or what!?!
We had to drive over the mountain pass to go see him. So after praying, and deciding that this was probably the one, we scheduled a time to see him. We found Chester's add online Tuesday and bought and brought him home Saturday. We borrowed our neighbors horse trailer, and had a friend come with us. We set out at six a clock Saturday morning to go get my wild steed. You can probably image how I felt. Was this the one? I might be getting a horse today!! I was excited but not overly as I didn't want to get my hopes to high.
Well, after over two hours of traveling, we reached the place and got out of the car into a thick fog. (It was really hard finding the place, it was so foggy.) "I think this is it!," said my dad.
"Oh ya, here he comes," I said.
Then. Far off, through the thick fog, comes a man silently leading a horse. The horse walking respectfully at his leaders side, if not a little behind.
That memory will always be graven in my mind. The first moment, I saw my first horse.
Shorty was his name. Not too loving, uh? It was December, so he was all fuzzy. He had icicles on his mane, tail, eyelashes and even his nose hairs, but he didn't seem cold. He stood there patiently as we looked at him and I stood there smiling and stroking his fuzzy fur. My friend got to work right away and felt his bones/body and asked some important questions. The guy gave me the lead rope and I walked him down the field/yard. He was SO cute and he was very gently and respectful.
In the pictures online, it didn't show his face from straight on, so we thought he was bay with black legs. When we saw him, he had this ADORABLE star and blaze running down his face with another star on his nose. I think that was a total bonus and made me fall in love with him. = )
After me and my Dad had a little chat, we said we wanted him and my dad headed inside to do business. My friend and I walked Shorty, (Chester) over and tied him to the trailer. But, as they were taking a little bit inside, my friend asked me if I wanted to get on Chester. I said no....not sure why, I probably was nerves. She asked if she could and I said yes, so she hopped on bareback and trotted him across the yard. As she did she hollered over her shoulder, "He has a bouncy trot!" And, my horse adventure started! = )
We then loaded him up in the trailer- he loaded like a breeze! They guy gave me one of Chester's brushes and the rest of his grain. He also came with his halter and lead rope.
Then, we started for home, trailer full! And I, was a new horse owner with my very first horse.
I am so glad I got Chester and am so thankful for him! It took me about three months to name him. Have you guys ever gone online and looked up horse names? Don't. I found a site that had horse names from A-Z that had several pages per letter. That was a mistake. = /
His name changed from Shorty to Chester. =)
I love you Chester!
Full trailer!!!
From a dream....
....to reality!
My next post, I'm going to take a walk down memory lane, with LOTS of pictures!
