So, Jerry and Cheri have been wanting to add some younger horses to the herd, so on Friday, we headed to Brighton, CO where a horse auction was taking place. If you’ve never been to an auction, they are a lot of fun—even if you aren’t buying.  But if you are, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the sale and bid on something more than you would have wanted if you don’t already know what you want and what it’s worth to you. So on Friday, Jerry, Lauren, Tammy and Shane (our farrier for years and years), rolled into the sale barns mid morning so we could get a good look at the horses for sale beforehand and get a chance to give them a spin and narrow down our best choices. Tammy and Lauren were cheering for this one…… (Jerry wasn’t going for it...dang it!)  DSC08170 We then spent several hours walking up and down the aisles, checking horses out head to toe, picking up feet, and looking for less visible signs of things that might be problems later. Then came the fun part—the test driving! Can’t even tell you how many horses we rode, but this was our favorite part. Lots of fun checking out the different personalities and seeing what they could (and couldn’t) all do.   DSC08183  In all honesty, there were tons of great horses. Some we knew we wanted right away, others we would wait and see how much they were going for—which would depend on how much another person wanted them as well. The two in this picture are ones we particularly liked. These little girls rode them around all day! DSC08171 Then it was time to get our seats for the sale! Oh, but first we needed a buyer’s number, so Jerry went and picked his up. We were…uhhh…. a little alarmed……. and as we realized it was also Friday the 13th, we all had to laugh (and cross our fingers!) as we found our seats for the main event. DSC08185 DSC08186  Horse after horse entered the ring and as the auctioneer made call after call, the horses were each sold one by one. Some we bid on, some we didn’t—some we won and others we let pass--but when it was all said and done, we had three new members of the Bar Lazy J family to take back to Parshall with us! And here’s the one who cost us the most! (But he was well, well worth it!) DSC08197 Thus we have appropriately called him “Big Money”. Here he is settling into his surroundings down at the barn. DSC08199 And introducing “Pip”! What a cute little mare! DSC08205  And last, but not least, we’d like to welcome “Isa”! (Check out the cute freckles on her legs.) DSC08201 And why “Isa?” you might ask…well……isn’t it obvious? DSC08204 So there you have it folks! Even though the odds were against us, we have to say we had a pretty lucky day at the sale barn. In fact, we give these new guys two thumbs up! DSC08207   Welcome to the family!