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When Covington County native Lynn Hall and her husband Tim Reed felt their lives in Shelby County were becoming too busy and over-crowded, Lynn knew exactly where she wanted to move her family.

"When Tim came to Pleasant Home, he said he couldn’t see living in any place as flat and as sandy as this, but it grew on him," Lynn said as she smiled at her husband who kept his face turned down toward the floor of the barn to hide a smile of his own.

Together Lynn and Tim are Large Animal Services and, with her years of veterinary medicine and his experience as a farrier, the couple has built a business that makes them happy and offers their customers their combined expertise.

"We just felt overextended in Shelby County. I loved what I do and I wanted to work. I just didn’t want to work all day and all night," said Lynn.

Her mind turned back to childhood days she spent with her aunts in the community of Pleasant Home and the house of one particular aunt, which Lynn and her family now call home.

Lynn Hall held a horse for her husband, Tim Reed, as he inspected one of its shoes.

As a child Lynn Hall, seated right, ran up the steps of this porch to visit her Aunt Ruth. Now Lynn and Tim Reed, her husband, standing left, with their children, Will and Kim, walk from that same house to the barn where they care for their own horses and those of their customers.

Lynn, at age 15, got the first horse of her very own, a palomino Quarter Horse.

"I showed all-around from halter to timed events with that horse. Who does that?" she quipped.

And Lynn’s love of horses was what led her to her occupation.

"Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a vet," she said.

A 1980 graduate of Auburn University, Lynn has been a veterinarian for more than 25 years. And Tim has been a farrier for more than 20 years.

"We married in 1982 and Tim went to farrier school in Oklahoma not long after. He also worked with some talented, established farriers after he finished school, so he has a lot of excellent experience with shoeing performance horses and corrective shoeing for horses with lameness issues," Lynn said.

Working together provides an enhancement to both their individual services.

"The really good thing about Tim and I being together is the work we can do for lame horses. I have an x-ray machine and ultrasound equipment, which can really be helpful to a farrier working with a horse with problem feet, and our customers don’t have to relay messages between the vet and farrier. We can work together to find a solution that works for that horse before it leaves our barn," Lynn said.

Large Animal Services has what is called a "haul-in" facility, which means they can see and care for customers on their place.

"I’m set up to do an on-site Coggins Test, and I have stocks and IV fluids for horses needing that kind of therapy. I can also do reproductive work on horses for people in the horse business. Having a facility where customers can bring their animals means I can save them money and me the time it might take to ride around all day," she added.

Tim and Lynn have also passed along their love of horses to their children, Will, 23, and Kim, 13.

Will has recently moved to the family place in Pleasant Home where he breaks young horses and trains Western Pleasure horses.

"He’s worked with trainers in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas over the past several years and he’s excited about making his own business," Lynn said.

Long days for farrier Tim Reed (left) and veterinarian Lynn Hall mean they sometimes have asked neighbor and Andalusia Farmers Co-op employee Russell Lassiter to bring them a few bags of Tizwhiz horse feed to span the days until they can make it for a Co-op visit.

Lynn Hall and her daughter, Kim Reed, checked the heart beat of Kim’s timed-event horse Jessie.

"Kim has competed at the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show for the past two years in timed events and in 2007 she was in the top 15 in poles," Lynn proudly said.

The family has a total of eight horses and enjoys going to Quarter Horse shows. Lynn serves as Advisor for the Alabama Quarter Horse Youth Association and Kim is the group’s vice president. Tim also serves on the board of directors for the Alabama Quarter Horse Association. They also go to open horse shows and Kim participates in Junior High School Rodeo.

"Our favorite show every year is the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio. Everybody works hard to make sure they make it to that show," Lynn said.

While building their practice, a new barn and fences, Lynn and Tim said they have been thrilled with their local Quality Co-op store, Andalusia Farmers Co-op.

"They’ve been great. Actually, we couldn’t ask for better service. Anything we’ve ever asked, they’ve never said they couldn’t do it. Times when we’ve been out of feed but unable to make it into town before the Co-op closed because we still had customers, Russell (Lassiter, Andalusia Farmers Co-op employee) would bring us a couple of bags of feed on his way home. We had a hard time finding a feed in this area our horses would eat, but they love the Co-op’s Tizwhiz and the horses have done great on it," Lynn said.

Andalusia Farmers Co-op has been a valuable part of their business in other ways as well.

"They’ve given our business cards to customers and we really appreciate that. They were so helpful when we were moving in and building the barn. Nobody was too busy to price fencing or other supplies for us, and that great service makes a difference," said Lynn.

Lassiter returned the compliment, "You just won’t meet better people than Lynn and Tim. It’s nice to feel like you can help good people when you go to work, and the horse owners in Covington County need them here. We’re glad to have them."

And Tim and Lynn are glad to be there.

Lynn added, "My goal now is the same it’s always been: to practice good medicine. I want to make enough money to pay my bills and go to the horse show, and Tim feels the same way. We want to do the quality work we’ve learned and been trained to do, not doing anything half-way, and have a good time doing it. If you’ve done your best and made your customers happy, you’ve done a full day’s work."

Kellie Henderson is a freelance writer from Troy.