The emotional connection between people and their pets is undeniable.
Most of us go to great lengths to ensure our pets are healthy, happy and safe. Some will even travel 2300 miles one way. That’s the story behind one man's search for a horse he let go ten years ago.

47 Year old Norris Galatas is an Army veteran of 27 years. Injured in Iraq four years ago, he spent most of that time at Walter Reed Hospital undergoing dozens of surgeries. During his stay, he had a lot to think about. More times than not those thoughts turned to his filly Sugar who he was convinced, needed to come back home to Mississippi.

“Take her home and she can be with her momma and her half sister,” says Norris.

It doesn't get much farther away from Meridian Mississippi than the outskirts of Reno.

But Norris Galatas is on a mission, to find a horse he let go ten years ago. He raised her as a baby and has only ten year old pictures to go by.

"She hasn't changed much, other than getting bigger and she looks just like her mother," says Norris

His search for Sugar began in earnest two years ago, when he tracked her down to Northern Nevada. As fortune would have it, his friend P.J. Degross would just happen to live near Reno and help him make contact with the present owner.

“Happy to see him, friends forever, right?” says P.J

“Yep,” says Norris.

Norris traveled 23-hundred miles over the Thanksgiving weekend to pickup Sugar, sleeping on his army cot in the back of the trailer to save on expenses.

“Wyoming up in the mountains it was really cold, it got down to 12 degrees at night,” says Norris.

But all the miles and cold weather would melt away as he gets his first glimpse of the horse he's waited years to re-connect with.

“That's a good girl,” Norris says as he talks to Sugar.

“I think so yea,” Norris says when asked if he thinks the horse recognizes him.

“Yes it was worth it, I was about to cry, It’s so good to see her again, but she's going to have a great life,”

Norris leads Sugar into the trailer he brought from Mississippi. Home is where they are headed.

Norris and Sugar are together once again. With Sugar's babies, and Norris's I.E.D injury, they will not doubt have a lot to talk about what's transpired over the last ten years.