We always love to share the experience of our foal winner. This year we held onto Nicole’s story so that we could share it as we are preparing for our 2022 foal giveaway. This is why we do what we do!
2021 Foal Giveaway:
Our Third River
Ranch Experience
Back in August Third River Ranch posted their annual foal giveaway. I saw a friend enter it a couple
years ago and started following their Facebook site and entered also. I Dreamed about how cool it
would be to win a foal, scanned through their horses, and wondered what kind of experience it would
be. Honestly, once I did all the requirements to enter, I didn’t give it much thought because I never
imagined I would win. I always like to check and see where the winner is from and what their story is.
NEVER would I have thought I would be sitting here right now, writing my story….
Fast forward to September. I am sitting on the bleachers waiting for results of the 2 nd go at our state
finals (barrel racing) to see if I made it back to the final round. I receive a message from Danni. Not
putting two and two together at that point, I normally ignore anything in my “other” messages folder,
but something told me to respond. She said it was related to the foal giveaway. I was in shock. I
thought maybe I was a finalist or something because there was no way I won. Still in disbelief I received
a call from Tex and Danni 15 minutes later stating I had won the foal giveaway. I had no idea what say! I
was a babbling mess. I had prayed that morning for a safe run and good day and God delivered in ways I
never imagined. I am a nurse, and it has been a very long last couple of years. I have not gotten to
spend much time with my horses or kids due to the pandemic, so I recently changed jobs due to burn-
out. This weekend was my 2 nd time back out barrel racing in a long time and it turned into one to
remember!
It took over an hour for my husband to believe that I had won. He thought for sure it was a scam until
the announcement was posted. Tex and Linda wanted to meet us, and I had never done a road trip from
Michigan to Colorado and on top of that hauling a weanling. I had a lot of questions and Danni was very
supportive in helping us prepare. I had no idea what to expect.
On October 9 th we started our road trip to Colorado. My youngest stayed home with my parents while
my non-horse husband and oldest son Garrett came along with me. My husband is an accountant and
I’m positive he just came along to make sure I didn’t come home with more horses than I was supposed
to! Travelling to Colorado has always been something my husband and I wanted to do and winning the
foal give-away gave us the incentive to finally do it! We made it to Third River Ranch safely and I was
nervous to meet Tex and Linda. This is such an honor to win one of their foals and you always hope that
you meet their expectations and can do them justice for this wonderful opportunity.
As we pulled up to house Tex and Linda were on their front porch to great us. If you haven’t met them
then you are missing out. I have never met such kind and wonderful people. They truly open their
home to you and do everything to make you comfortable. Even down to letting your dog sleep in the
dog bed he keeps stealing! First thing I wanted to do was meet Tinker and they took us right down to
see her. It was probably a good thing my husband came with me because their line up of foals is even
better in person! After meeting Tinker, Tex told us where to go site seeing, then we came back for a big
dinner in the evening. While we were there, another couple from Michigan were picking up some foals
also. We got to meet Danni’s family and it was such a welcoming and warm environment. My non-
horse husband even had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone. Garrett loved seeing all the foals
and getting to see Tinker for the first time. The next morning Tex had noticed my trailer wasn’t sitting
right with my truck, so he had Dan help him fix it. It hauls perfect now!! I really felt “taken care of”
while we were there and felt like part of the family. They are the kind of people you meet that make
you want to do better.
One thing that stood out while I was there, Linda was telling us why they started the foal giveaway. She
said they really wanted to give away a foal that they would want to keep for themselves. That meant a
lot. Tinker has been home a couple weeks now. She handled the trip home like an old pro. She loves
my kids. She follows my son Garrett around everywhere. She is sweet, calm, and does things in stride. I
am so impressed with the quality and work that was put into her. She fits right into our family.
I am still in shock today that not only did I win this sweet little filly, but the adventure we got to take as a
family and wonderful people we met along the way. Tex, Linda, and Danni are amazing people. They
made such an impression on our family and gave us this incredible opportunity. I couldn’t thank them
enough. They not only gave us the opportunity to own this sweet little filly, but an experience our family
