Cuties Arrive

Once in a while Menagerie Ranch gets some really new blood. Welcome two miniature donkeys. Say hi to Tullee, the white girl with the spots, and Jenny, the gray girl in front.

These girls stand almost waist high, and weigh around 200 to 250 pounds. Their heads look too big for their bodies, their ears are wonderfully hairy and they have skinny legs and the cutest, tiny little feet. Both of these girls are teenagers and can live up to 50 years.

They are my official Barnyard Ambassadors and have free run of my enclosed barnyard. They both fit nicely into one stall. When they arrived on the ranch the horses ran for the far ends of their pastures. The girls ignored them, but no horse was willing to chance a close encounter, even if these two were close relatives. Both horses and donkeys are equines. At dinner time I lead the girls into their stall and then brought the horses in  as usual. There was much snorting, huffing and head tossing,, but all the horses made it in without being eaten by a donkey!

 The day came when Jenny and Tullee felt enough at home to open their little mouths-----and let loose! That sent the horses running again, but not as far, they were growing used to their smaller relatives. But when they let loose, it's a wonder how that much noise can come out of those little mouths.

Did you know that burros and donkeys are the same animal? In the southern United States and into Mexico they are called burros. Up here they are miniature donkeys. These creatures have an amazing ability to carry a heavy load up steep terrain for many miles. They are also easy keepers, requiring little food. For breakfast I give Jenny and Tullee one flake of hay. For dinner they each get 1/2 a cup of rolled oats, 1/2 a scoop of Horse Guard, an equine vitamin mineral supplement, and 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed. 

Every morning, when they see me coming across the yard to their gate, they greet me with a duet. It's a great way to start any day! 

It was time for Shasta and Rebel to get their feet trimmed. Shasta had developed a nasty, horizontal crack midway up her hoof.

Sometimes cracks like this are the result of an abscess. The fix is to have a farrier trim the hooves and put a horseshoe on the foot with the crack until the hoof grows out. Horse hooves are like our fingernails. They continue to grow and periodically need to be trimmed. Horse hooves need regular trimming or problems can develop.





Farriers are the experts on horse feet. Many farriers are trained in the barefoot method, where the horse goes without shoes, like wild horses. Unlike wild horses, these horses need to have their feet professionally trimmed on a regular schedule. Farriers are also trained in the art of shoeing a horse.

A farrier was called to help Shasta's problem. He arrived with all his equipment.


Shasta's owner held her lead rope while the farrier went to work. He used a hoof knife to clean the sole of the foot. There is no pain in a healthy hoof. If a farrier does find pain he has found an abscess and will treat the problem. Shasta's foot was healthy, except for the crack.

He set to work cleaning the sole with a special knife. It has a small blade that's curved at the tip and very sharp. The old sole is dug out, back to fresh, new sole. It's much like the callouses we get on our hands and feet. They can be shaved back to fresh skin without pain. But get too close to new tissue and look out. The same is true of horse feet.




Then the farrier used nippers to cut the hoof wall. The hoof wall is much like our fingernails only it's much thicker and tougher. Like our fingernails, the horse feels no pain in the process. Here the farrier is using a special stand to hold the foot at the angle he needs to do it right.


Anyone can take a pair of nippers and trim a horse's hoof. But farriers are trained professionals who understand the whole hoof and how it affects the whole horse. A badly trimmed hoof can throw off a horse's gait and cause them to become lame. A hoof sole that's been dug out too close can lead to multiple problems, including pain on standing and moving. Horses are meant to move and can even sleep while standing. Any horse who lays down because of painful feet is open to serious health problems.






This is what a healthy, freshly cleaned and trimmed hoof looks like. The farrier studies the hoof, making sure it's balanced and even.

The last step for Shasta was a new pair of horse shoes on both front feet. Shoeing both feet will help her stay balanced. The shoe on the cracked foot will ensure that the crack won't grow larger as the hoof grows out. It will take about eight months for the hoof wall to grow out so the crack can be trimmed off. Then Shasta will have four good, whole feet to stand, run and sleep on!

Llama's summer do

Here's Baxter Black, also known as BB, with his new summer time haircut. Llamas can take any kind and amount of cold weather but the heat can take them quickly. So when summer finally decided to stick around these parts, I decided it was haircut time. My neighbor and friend, Yvonne, volunteered to help.


I got these two boys the same way I've gotten all my critters. BB came first. The man hauling him to the auction yard, where the slaughter trucks were lined up, made a quick detour to our ranch. BB was a small boy, small boned and all black.

I didn't know a thing about llamas when he arrived. I soon found a woman named Barb, who is still my go-to for any questions. She introduced me to llama 101, what to feed, how to handle, when and how to shear, etc. Then she said, "You'll need to get a second llama." And, she added, he needs to be as small as BB. It seems a larger boy llama will pick on a smaller one. Then one day she called with an offer I couldn't refuse.



His name is Murphy and his mama was part a herd the sheriff confiscated because their owner wasn't feeding them. When one of the females arrived at the foster home, she dropped a baby. No one knew she was pregnant because she was so thin. She had no milk so the baby was bottle fed. Because of his difficult start Murphy never grew to usual llama size, which can be around 500 or more pounds.



They were easy to catch that day. I led them into the barn where Yvonne waited with scissors in hand. Murphy went into a stall and I clipped BB to the stall door. BB began humming and soon Murphy joined him. Llama's hum when they're nervous or upset. We set forth, making great headway when BB decided to couch. Llamas are cousins of camels, when they lay down they tuck their legs and feet underneath, they also have a split upper lip.

I knelt beside BB and continued clipping. Yvonne worked on his long neck. Suddenly BB lurched forward and upward. I rolled sideways in the soft, but very dusty barn floor and managed to miss his flying legs. Yvonne ducked backwards and we both escaped.

Then it was Murphy's turn. He seemed cooperative too, for a while. He hummed while we clipped. He went silent except for a raspy sound in his throat. Yvonne bent down to catch a long patch of hair between his front legs. And Murphy let loose. Llama spit can fly for several feet. Murphy's went over Yvonne, with just the mist falling on her back.

Llama spit is not only ugly, it's slimy and green and it stinks.




Both boys were greatly relieved to return to the pasture. Sienna, my mustang mare, was not at all sure these were the llamas she was used to. They smelled the same but they looked different.

Newcomers to the ranch

I've got two new horses on the ranch, both are sorrels. Rebel is a gelding, he's the closest one in the picture. Shasta is his mare. Both are in their 20s, and in good health. Rebel is having a difficult time keeping Shasta away from the fence because there's another gelding in the other pasture and she's a big flirt. The fact that Rebel flirts with Gypsy, the little white Arab mare in the background, doesn't count!

My pastures are dry this time of year and that's good for these two. These two came to the ranch a little bit overweight---a rare happening for me. Most of the critters who make it to my ranch need something, food, kindness, a little training and a routine.




Horses thrive on routine. I feed at the same time mornings and evenings. They come into the barn in a certain order and they go out in a certain order. During the summer I bring them in to eat dinner and then turn them back out to spend the night in their pastures. In this picture my BLM mustang mare, Sienna, is the first girl, with the white star. Bucky, a handsome gelding, is in the stall beside her.
Sometimes these two have arguments but because of the heavy wire separating them they can't hurt each other.




Other news from the ranch isn't so happy. I lost my precious Cleo kitty.Yes, she was old, got to see her 18th birthday before her kidney's failed completely. She'd been on the ranch a long time and I miss her. It's been a tough year for losses. Two dogs, three kitties. I've had enough!

We're haying! Yesterday the Big Field was mowed, and once again Smilie goat got to roam. The grass had been so tall she couldn't see over it. All three goats stayed close to home, they know what's coming next.








The Big Field is about 25 acres that spreads, east to west along the banks of Oregon's Willamette River. Last year I got 1,085 bales, each weighing from 55 to 75 pounds, with a few going to 90 pounds. This year's crop is going to be larger and that means more bales to store.

It's most likely we'll be baling next weekend. I have a crew of teenage boys ready and waiting. It's a long, hot and dusty, two and sometimes three days of work. They'll follow the baler, in a pickup towing a low-boy trailer. When they come to a bale they stack it on the trailer. When they have a load of about 100 bales, they hop on for a ride to the barn where they'll stack the bales to the rafters. I feed them well, keep them hydrated and pay them. Even with all the hard work it's fun and the same boys come back year after year.




Here's my problem. I only need about 800 bales to feed my horsies and I still have about 300 bales of last year's hay left in the barn!

It's grass hay, horse quality and I 'm selling it for what it cost me, $2.50 a bale.

Wish me luck!

Pet clinics

I work with a nonprofit organization called Pro-Bone-O. We offer twice monthly, free veterinary clinics for pets of people who are homeless. We're all volunteers. Our local veterinarians volunteer their Sunday mornings, and so do the Oregon State University veterinary students who travel 45 miles to act as technicians for our clinics. All our medications, equipment and the pet food we distribute are donations.


We give their pets vaccinations, we treat worms, fleas, ticks, the doctor can treat infections and minor wounds.




We also give away pet supplies, collars, leashes and the lovely dog sweaters a volunteer knits.

When their pets don't need veterinary treatment they can come and get food. We have dog and cat food and believe it or not, we often have rabbit and guinea pig food for the very few who have these kinds of pets!







Our clients gather at 8 AM to wait hours, outside in a parking lot, in every kind of weather, for their turn to see the doctor or the technicians. The pets are wonderfully socialized, cats and dogs mingle and fights are rare. As our clients leave the building they bless us, thank us and sometimes I get a hug!


It's a long day and I'm always tired by the end, but you can't keep me away.

Goodbye Nicki and Nyya

Hello, from the ranch. I had eight horses living here, five are boarders. One day a large horse trailer arrived and took Nicki, a lovely white Arabian mare, and her pasture mate a tall, leggy saddlebred-Arab bay mare, off to their new home in Canada. Their mom had already made the move and was excitedly awaiting their arrival.

The long, sleek horse trailer pulled into the barnyard and the girls walked aboard like the brave, sweet horsies they are.

Nicki had been the second horse to come to my ranch. She arrived in October 2002, a little underweight. She soon gained the pounds she needed to be in good health. Her owner and I became good friends over the years. Nyya (pronounced Neigh-ah) arrived only a few month ago, and she was purchased to keep Nicki company on the two-day trip to their new home.





As the long, sleek trailer pulled out of the barnyard to start the long, two-day trip to their new home, the other horses nicker farewell. I think they understood that we'd never see Nicki or Nyya again. But that's a good thing. Their at home now, with their mom, who can take care of them and love them maybe even more than I did.

It wasn't long and someone new found my ranch. She will be moving in a gelding and a mare in the next couple of weeks. So life on Menagerie Ranch goes on. I'll never forget Nicki and Nyya, but I'm looking forward to meeting the new arrivals. Stay tuned.