And [God] took a handful of southerly wind, blew His breath over it, and created the horse.... Thou shall fly without wings, and conquer without any sword. Oh, horse.

*Bedouin Legend*

One of my favorite quotes of all time.

I used this quote in my sociology thesis the sacred relationship between God, humanity, and the horse in the Bedouin culture, whose sole existence depends on the horse. What a beautiful image, and what a perfect relationship between humans and animals in general.

First off, my apologies - I have to bring you up to speed as things have been progressing with regard to my "horse hunt" (and no, I will not be shooting horses with any weaponry, as some had mistakenly understood...no....). In the beginning of January, my trainer Jess contacted a facility in Madison, GA (http://www.southcross.com/) from where she had bought several of her own horses/lessons horses with much success. This is where Biscuit (the lesson horse I have been riding thus far) came from. A largely Western facility where they offer trail rides, B&B type services, Western training, it also does a limited amount of English training/ground work for "prospects." Jess thought this would be a good place for us to start the process - lots of prospective options in 1 location, good quality horses, good prices. Fair enough...I wouldn't know where to start myself.

Here are my contestants (we narrowed it down to these 2 from 5 potential candidates):

Contestant 1: Cards

4 yo QH mare 15+? hh

Contestant #2: Valentine

8 yo QH mare 16.1 hh

After trying both out, gut instinct was "Cards." We connected better, I liked her dog-like personality, and her coloring was absolutely amazing. She was slightly over my budget that I had set for myself and was "non-negotiable" since another potential buyer from Canada was looking at her...

I left that day with a "glad that first experience is over so now I can actually think rationally" feeling.