Tom Vicky and Gaitways trail adventures

This was the last trip before we pick the boy up. Therefore, this round of pics deserved to be on top. Now it will give you a great comparison to see how big our bouncing boy has gotten.

It was a great trip. We got in early Friday and were well rested and ready for a full weekend with Vievo and the wonderful Janicki family. Plus, this trip required us to work out logistics, like where we'll keep the horses while we're there. Saturday, it was dreary, rainy and a bit cold outside so we hung out with Peter and the boys and waited a bit for it to warm up. Turns out the animals didn't like the weather either. Vievo was edgy and nervous, worse yet, Peter had been driving him but not really riding him. Aaron had been riding and he was gone for the day. After a brief attempt to ride Vievo and some bridle and bit fitting time, ,Peter decided that playing outside wasn't a good idea so we put Vievo back with his friends and loaded everyone up in the Excursion for an adventure to Winthrop. Okay with us, we had no idea where Winthrop was... It was through the Northern Cascades and in Eastern Washington!!! This must have been one of the funnest car rides we've ever had. Since we were tourists, the boys new we had to see as much as possible so Peter allowed 90 seconds at each of the cool spots. We went from rain, to snow to desert. Here are a few pics of the beautiful scenary on the way to dinner..

And after 3 hours of milkshakes, laughter, running in and out of the car to meet our 90 seconds we made it to Winthrop for a great dinner.

Sunday, was a much better day for playing with Vievo. The weather was actually sunny and very pleasant. Aron was also home. So, we saddled up Vievo and Arelle (SP??) the little 13hh Haflinger so Tom could see what his boy could do. Except, Aaron rode Vievo and Tom rode the little Haflinger. OOOHHH what a site that was..

They rode through the creeks, past the loose yearlings and through the Rams, nothing seemed to faze Vievo. When they got to the big field, Aaron hopped off and Tom got to have his first ride on the horse he's been waiting for, for 3 years. It was magical and there was no doubt these two are meant to be together. So,  what else can we say except...we can't wait to bring you home Vievo! The rest, well the pictures speak for themselves..

This is our last log for this page. Thank you for following our incredible journey. Please see the Blog page to track and follow the adventures we encounter on our trip to pick up Vievo.

Well after lots of research, figuring out where we want to go and what we want to do and finding something to carry Tom over the hills and through the valleys, we found a beautiful well buillt breed of horse called the "Oberlander". It's a light draft horse with great stamina and lost of strength. It was fate when we found the wonderful family who had our future horse.

If you want to know more about the breed, you can find them on www.oberlander.org.

Veivo was born early 2006 in Mt. Vernon, WA. He'll stay there and we'll love and visit him from afar until he's a three 1/2 y/o. This is hard! But it's in his best interest, being able to grow up in a great place, with great training, and the ability to just be a horse. We will be visiting him about twice a year until it's time to make the trek with Wyat and Schnapps to pick him up.

We hope you enjoy this page dedicated to our not soon enough family addition:

Okay, so what baby isn't cute???

These are from our first visit to see him. November 07, we fell in love immediately. He was just so snuggly and oh what strong legs and feet!

Tom just went back to see him as a yearling. Here, he's 18 months old. He's gotten alot lighter and is definitely taking on the "draft" nose! But his big china soft eyes say exactly what his personality is like!

October, 2008. Another wonderful trip to Washington to see the Janicki family and Vievo. At this point we're as excitted to see the family as we are our growing boy (and that's an understatement!). He's about 15'2 hh and weighing in at...heavy. He has a wonderful temperment. Very easy going but friendly guy. While we were there he was trailered, saddled, bridled and sat on for the first time. Here are some pics from this last trip.

This is Tom and I posing with our growing boy...                                                                                      Below,, Vievo's first passenger...

 Vievo learning to carry the saddle, you can see he's stressed.

After a tough weekend with us, he hooked him up to the carriage and we ponied him down to the lower field. He actually looks small next to the Big guys!

And out he went to run and play with his Oberlander sister, new Oberlander colt and the magnificant Haflingers..

It was a tough goodbye! When we left, we went to the field. The horses were up in the trees and Vievo actually came down to see us. He really seemed to latch on to Tom..

  And he watched us until we drove away.. It was a tough departure!

 December 08---Vievo is being ridden. Below are some beautiful shots of Aron riding Vievo for his 4th time...These will be future wall hangings..