By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Edwardsburg Argus
EDWARDSBURG - What is every girl's dream, as she is growing up? The answer for most might be to own a horse. Sharon Nickoson was no different, but her youthful dream did come true.
Attending her first wild mustang auction, which finds homes for wild horses from the west, which may otherwise be destroyed, she got more than she bargained for.
Now she and her husband Nick have 10 horses and two donkeys on their Whitetail Acres farm on Dailey Road in Jefferson Township. But the horses aren't wild anymore. All enjoy having their noses rubbed and will eat out of your hand. They make great trail horses, the couple said.
On a recent fund raiser horse trail ride, their two were the ones who went the entire 17 miles, Nick said. The horses reacted fine with the other horses too.
An almost 24-year veteran of the Elkhart, Ind. Fire Department, Nick with his wife, also started a A-1 lawn maintenance service 15 years ago, which as it grew acquired more and more equipment.
Living in Elkhart, with horses which needed shelter and pasture, and machines to store, and also having a lake house, the couple thought about getting a place where all could be combined, instead of having different properties. Though they have kept their Indiana home, they will be ready if Nick ever decides to retire from the fire department.
Nick said he had always admired the house and land on Dailey, which he drove by due to his regular golf outings with friends in Dowagiac. One of his partners told him that they saw a woman putting up a for sale sign by the road.
The Nickosons didn't waste any time but drove over to see and quickly buy the property. "It's our piece of heaven," Sharon said.
Distinctive with a winding white fence leading past a pond to the house and barns, there are now also signs advertising the couple is selling feed and tack.
A friend recently closed their feed business and with the fair coming, this made an ideal time to open. You can drive right into the barn, load up and drive straight out the other side.
They have feed not only for horses, but also for goats, sheep, cattle, bird, ducks, geese and deer. She is crazy for all her animals and even took Victor, a goat, to get his picture with Santa Claus. They are sponsors at the Cass County Fair for the first time this year.
The couple has one daughter, Tammy who lives in Elkhart, Ind. and one seven-year-old grandson.