Arizona Trip

Early morning on October 3rd, Chris and I left with the horse trailer en route to pick up four foals from one of Desert Jewel's affiliate farms in Minnesota.  After one Shire colt, two Drum fillies, and one Gypsy colt were loaded onto the trailer, we were Arizona bound.  All the babies traveled without a hitch; they ate, drank, slept, and played like they were back at home with nothing amiss.  When we arrived at Desert Jewel the evening of the 4th, we got the kids unloaded and stood around visiting for a short while before heading to the hotel for a much-needed night's sleep.  The next day was filled with visiting a couple of different farms where the horses were located, including Diva's sire and dam.  I was actually offered to ride Diva's sire, Fortune, and there was no way I could turn down that opportunity!  Though my riding style was quite different than what he was used to, he tried to do all that I asked as best he could; it was a blast!  I also got to meet Diva's dam, Rococco.  She has always been a favorite of mine, especially with her being a direct filly from Lloyds!  I got to see so many incredible horses; it was like a dream!  When the time came to get ready to go, Chris mentioned stopping along the way to possibly pick up a goat so Diva could have company on the long trip home.  Jen had the perfect solution for us...their Mediterranean Miniature Donkey.  Chris was thrilled as he always wanted a mini donk, and now Diva wouldn't have to make the 30+ hour trip all by herself.  Instead of going home the way we came, we decided to go up through Utah and then through Colorado so we could go through the mountains.  Of course, we ended up hitting a snow storm in the mountains, and then, going through Nebraska, there were severe storm warnings out for 60 mph wind gusts, golf-ball-sized hail, and tornadoes.  Luckily, we only hit the edge of the storm and ended up fighting severe winds all through the state.  It was so windy, in fact, that a semi in front of us nearly flipped over; the whole right side of his trailer actually went airborne for a couple of seconds before settling back down to the ground!  Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  Both Diva and Squeak settled right into the group without a hitch.  It was a wonderful miniature vacation for Chris and I, and a dream come true to see a gorgeous red head out my window every day!