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.

Ranch life and stuff

Is anyone out there reading this? If I had readers I would do this more often.

I've been told I need to blog about my life??? Seems I don't live a normal life, so here goes. I live on a ranch in western Oregon. It's tiny by Wyoming standards, only 35 acres and another 15 leased. My husband Dave and I own Menagerie Ranch and I rescue animals. To date I have 10 dogs, 9 horses, 8 cats, 5 goats, 2 pigs and 2 llamas.

Six of the horses are boarded here. Their owners live in town and pay me to feed and pasture their horses. Two are lovely Morgans, both chestnut (dark chocolate brown) with white stockings and blazes. Two are gray Arabians (if the horse's skin is black they're called gray, but there hair is white--go figure??). The last two are both buckskins and the only geldings (boys that have been "altered") on the ranch. One is Bucky (see my previous posts for more about him). The other is Monte, a knockout Keiger mustang.

I'm often asked what is a Keiger mustang. In the remote southeastern section of Oregon is the Keiger valley. Many centuries ago the Spanish came to this country and when they left they didn't take their horses. That's how horses came to America. Some of them got into the Keiger Valley and got trapped. Those mustangs are marked with stripes on their legs and one from the mane to the tail. They are highly intellegent and spirited. Monte is golden with a black tail and his black mane has an overlay of bright gold hair. (Many pay good mony for frosted hair!) He's been DNA tested against old Spanish horse bones and he's a direct descendent!

We had a good hay crop this year, I have a barn full of hay, a total of 1,085 bales. I won't have to buy hay this winter! But right now I'm worried about two goats. These two, son and mama, came to me a few years back. The woman caring for them couldn't handle them. The female, Helga, has a huge bag and had it for two years before I got her. It's a mammery tumor and it's so big she can't put both back feet on the ground at the same time. My vet won't operate because of the huge blood supply to that bag. She's not in pain and always runs for her bucket of grain.

Deufus, her son, has weird front legs. They bend at the knee, but they're bent sideways! I'm giving him Bute, (asprin for large animals) just in case he feels pain. It seems these two goats are terribly inbred. The parents of Helga were brother and sister and Deufus's father was probably the brother of that pair. Anyway it's painful to watch them walk and they're doing it less and less. They made it through last winter but I think the next one will be really hard. I'll watch them and make that Terrible Decision if necessary.

Well that's all for now.

Exciting News

As you know, I volunteer with PBO--Pro-Bone-O (see my last post for a description of what we do). We have joined with another group, the Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) on a new project. We are establishing a full-service vet clinic for low and no-income people. It will work on a sliding scale and will not turn anyone away because of inability to pay. We hope to open at least one day a week by the end of summer. It is our aim to be open 5-days a week for full service care. If anyone out there is reading this and would like to help please either mail a donation to Building Fund, Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) and mail it to Pro-Bone-O, PO Box 1823, Eugene, OR 97440. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

More on Bucky and new on Pro-Bone-O

Bucky has started nickering when it's his turn to run into his stall. Because the weather's so nice we've started turning all the horses back out into their pastures after they eat dinner. This morning Bucky did a little crow-hop when he left his pasture. Good to see him feeling good.

On March 18, Lane County and the United Way held the fourth annual Homeless Connect. It's a day when the big buildings at the fair grounds open their doors to all the homeless. Many agencies and organizations gather there to offer free access to a large number of services. There's clothing available, breakfast and lunch are served, the homeless can get their teeth, ears, eyes, blood pressure, etc. checked. They can talk to counselers, get a massuage, get legal help, look for housing, and pick up dog and cat food and supplies, which is where I spent the day. I work with Pro-Bone-O, a loca nonprofit that holds twice monthy free veterinary clinics for the pets of people who are homeless. We give out meds when needed, do flea treatments, vaccines, and hand out dog, cat, rabbit and ferret food. We see 50 to 60 pets per clinic and hand out hundreds of pounds of food---all donated.

Horse poop

Bucky is growing more comfortable on the ranch. Last night I opened his gate and he went into his stall all by himself.

When I arrive at the barn in the morning, all nine of the horses are anxiously waiting for breakfast. I'm greeted with nine heads over stall walls, watching the feed room for me and a green bucket. I go down the row, dumping a scoop of grain into each feeder. My friend Y goes ahead of me and makes sure the feeders are up front. Jessie, a tall mare, is famous for filling her feeder with poop. I keep an extra for such a need. Do you know the average amount of poop produced daily from one horse is fifty pounds?