I saw my first Morgan horse in the summer of 1986 at Nolichuckey Valley Morgans, owned by Bill and Lynda Carter of Jonesborough, Tennessee. I went to their farm with my father who was answering a classified ad about a Morgan filly for sale. I went along just to look, but wound up about a week later buying the filly. Her name was Chuckey Crown Jewel. She was small, had lots of hair, and as a yearling had not yet come into her own. But there was something about her that I really liked. I also liked her dam, Mir Roy Black Beauty, and felt like it was worth taking a chance on her. When I got her home Sheila, who had not yet seen her, said, "You paid that much money for that?!!" It was the beginning of Crown Jewel Morgans.

Jewel the day that I bought her in August of 1986, being led by my sister, Christi.

Jewel turned out to fulfill her name, as she was a wonderful horse. But one Morgan is not enough. I had become aquainted with Jim Kennedy of Greeneville, Tennessee, the owner of Jewel's sire, Mir Roy Gem. Jim had a weanling filly for sale in the late fall of 1987 that was a half-sister to Jewel. I had seen her when she was about one month old, and when Jim told me she was for sale I went back to take another look. I brought her home in early December, just a few days before our daughter Molly was born.