Andria is my oldest daughter and the girl who started it all! When she was two years old, all she wanted for her birthday was "My Little Pony", and she told me she wanted a real horse someday.  From that point she saved any Christmas money, birthday money, even the change she got from great-grandpa Olaf's pockets. She would bring me her money and say, "Put this in the bank, Mama, for my REAL horse".  So when she turned 14 and had saved enough for a real horse, well, what's a mother to do?  We put our townhome on the market, bought horse property, put up a fence, and went horse shopping.  I fully expected to live out my own childhood dream vicariously through my daughter, content to be the chauffeur, cheering section, etc.  Little did I know that MY whole life would change because of one little girl's horse!

Her first horse was a little Bar N mare (Indian pony branded with the Navajo nation brand) she named "Makana", which is Hawaiian for reward.  (The Hawaiian words for wish, promise, goal, and several other appropriate words just didn't sound like good horse names.)  Makana was an excellent starter horse, but Andria quickly outgrew her.  So she went to a friend who was more her speed. Machi was purchased to take her place from a friend who had been injured in an automobile accident and could no longer ride. She tried to keep her horse anyway, but eventually could not afford to do so.  Unfortunately during the years she was not ridden, Machi had developed arthritis in her hips, and it became severely symptomatic upon being ridden again.  Our friend had missed her so much she was happy to take her back, especially since she had found a job she was able to do despite her condition caused by the accident.  Next came Sonny who was an ex-racehorse gelding. He was a sweet boy, but suffered so much from leg problems left over from his first career that Andria spent more time with him in rehab than riding. We found him a new home where he would have minimal riding requirements and were shopping again.  An Arabian named Thorn was her next horse and is still with us as he eventually became Lindsey's horse - the two are much better suited for each other. Andria's perseverance finally paid off and she found T Bar S Gunsmoke, a grulla quarter-type grade gelding - four years and still going strong, they enjoy a lot of adventures together, and she is helping him to overcome the residuals from abuse in his past.  Andria and Smoke live in Salt Lake City with husband Spencer and my "granddogs", Tally and Zoe (2 of Chloe's pups, check out our Meet the Dogs page for the family resemblance to Chloe and Tank).
 

Smoke in the snow, Salt Lake City, Utah

Smoke and Andria, swimming together, Scottsdale, Arizona

Tally picks Andria to be her new mom

tiny Tally in the snow at her new home

and Zoe, on Christmas Eve at one year old