A MAJOR DECISION

Many of our friends were skeptical. Wouldn’t the winters be long and cold? The winds mighty? The roads mired in mud during monsoon season? We were also warned of the paucity of health-care services for both horses and people.

These were concerns, we conceded, yet we were sure of our decision. I searched online for horse ranches throughout the state, but most were on the flat, windswept plains. Given how relatively flat our Texas ranch is, we wanted our horses to benefit from hill work. As trail and endurance riders, we knew that hill climbing is a sure path to fitness. And horses also will build wind and hindquarter strength far faster compare to those living in the flatlands.

We returned to Pie Town one year later, resolved to purchase 55 pristine acres near our friend’s ranch. The surrounding mountain ranges, the healthy landscape and the air---cool and crisp for much of the year---set our dreams in motion.

While making arrangements to close on the land, we contacted well drillers, dowsers, fence-builders and surveyors. We met a local builder who was in the process of constructing a house in the same area. He shared many insights into “stick building” a home, including materials, site location, square-footage costs and more.

Kenny and I knew we wanted a home with an office for each of us, along with guest quarters and a “great room.” We’d need a secure hay storage building, and we envisioned run-in sheds and perhaps a few stalls for special needs, along with an insulated tack and feed room, wash racks and tacking-up areas. Tractor and horse-trailer storage was also on the wish list.

When he passed over underground water, the rods snapped together. “I have no idea how it works,” Jesse told me. “All I know is that it does.”