Between Christmas and New Years Eve

To all our friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This next year on the ranch, we are hoping to do some really big things. Mostly, we want to attract new members and get the co-housing part of our community in order and get our homes built. This is a multi-year project, but at the end of it, we'll have the community that we have dreamed about. This will include our indoor arena which we are calling the "Red Horse Arena".

There aren't too many horse co-housing communities out there, so if you're interested, or know someone who is interested, please get in touch with us.

Another big change is that we now have Willa's Aunt Edie here to stay. She was no longer able to care for herself and was in a Long Term Care facility in Washington. But all she really wanted was a home to stay in. So we decided to have her here, and we are all so glad she came! It was a lot of work in order to get her here with at least enough of her furnishings to make her feel at home, but we did it. However, we didn't get much done with our Christmas decorations this year. I had hoped we could do more, but it didn't happen. We do have a few up, and I must say, that in spite of it all, our Christmas this year seemed to be a really special one!

The animals are doing well this winter. Though winter set in early (we had negative temps the week of Thanksgiving), everyone seems to be wintering very well. Mostly it's been warm and wet, which is the kind of winter I prefer. The Dream River was flowing for awhile, and after this week, I think it will be flowing again. Boss, however, is getting very old and feeble. He's been showing signs the last few days that this is the end for him, so we won't be surprised if something happens soon. But after all, no one lives forever and he's 15 years old! That's very old for a greyhound.

I'm very thankful for everyone who has helped at the ranch this last year. Truthfully, we couldn't do it without you.

Again, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and for this next year, I hope that your dreams will come true! May it be a blessed year for one and all.

Thanksgiving 2010

Another Thanksgiving is here at Dream River Ranch. Once again I find myself thankful for so many things! One of the biggest is in the picture. Our turkeys came out huge! The toms weighed in at around 50lbs each, and the hens at about 25. I hope they are as tasty as they look!

• I'm thankful for Connie and Douglas who came and shared the summer with us. They shared their gardening expertise (yummy!), they shared their songs (Fireman Bill), and they shared their love. Though it worked out so that they couldn't stay, they impacted the ranch in a very good way for the short time they were here.
• I'm thankful for the new horses we got and especially for Roxy, the new filly. Omar, Bella, Bonnie, and Yankee have been excellent additions to our herd.
• On that similar note, I'm thankful that Roxy is such a sweet little filly. She is very smart and willing. What a great combination!
• I'm thankful for the chickens who continue to provide good eggs for good eating. We also did meat birds this year and put about 400lbs of chicken into the freezer last August.
• I'm thankful that things continue to grow here at the ranch, for the Cowboy Leadership education program, for the fun we had with the folks from the Air Force and from Mountain Home Parks and Rec.
• I'm thankful for the lovely videos that folks took of our happenings at the ranch. It's always great to share the fun!
• As always, I'm thankful for the other ranch partners: Willa, Joseph, and Steve. None of this would be possible without all of us.
• I'm thankful for the beautiful view no matter which way I look.
• I'm thankful for the new pastures, the new Saddle Barn, and the way the ranch keeps looking better every single year.
• I'm thankful for the new kitties: Milo, Monty, and Marika. They are wonderful mousers!
• I'm thankful for the dogs who keep on working day in and day out. We are still coyote free and it's all due to their diligence.
• Most of all, I'm thankful to our Creator who has made all of this possible. Thank you!

There are many things to be thankful for, and this is just a partial list. I look forward to seeing what there is to be thankful for next year.

On a Rainy Day

It's a rainy day here at the ranch. But Willa and the Gem State Vaulters are in Las Vegas, and from all accounts will be returning with high scores. Apparently they have taken either second or third in every class they entered. That's fantastic!

Can't wait till they get home and we get the whole scoop!

It's been a long, long time!

Wow, I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted anything on this blog. So the last anyone knew, we had just lost Gaelin.

Now we have several new additions to the ranch. First of all we got Bella and Omar. Omar is pictured to the left. Bella is a lovely little Mountain Welsh Pony, and Omar is an Arab (of course).

Then we got Bonnie, a Quarter Horse, Clydesdale cross, and low and behold--she was pregnant. So we also got a new little filly we call Roxy. Who was born on the ranch on May 6, 2010 between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. She is an adorable little Medicine Hat Paint.

Recently, we aquired Yankee, who is a black Morgan horse. He is just wonderful! He also drives, and came with a lovely little black surrey to pull.

This year, we also experimented with raising meat chickens and turkeys. Since both endeavors were successful, I believe we will likely do it again next year.

Along with our usual summer camps, we also hosted several day long events for both the Air Force, and Mountain Home Parks and Recreation. These events were very successful for both parties, and we look forward to doing it all again next year!

We also started the first Idaho Equestrian Vaulting Team. The Gem State Vaulters! They are currently preparing for their very first event.

See our Facebook page, for current information, and stay tuned. There are so many things happening around here it will be fun to see what happens next!

Gaelin, the Gentle

Gaelin the Gentle
01-25-86 to 01-27-10

It's been two days now, and its time to let his friends know.
Yaas
Willa




Big boned 16Hh bay AppendixQuarterhorse with a kind and gentle heart. He helped start the equestrian program in Artemisia, and my therapeutic horseback-riding program for victimized kids. Before he came to me, he was a track horse (California) and then a competitive jumper (Jackson Hole, WY), and I think he played a little polo there too. His name then was ET (short for Esperanca Two). I was told he was quite a handful in his younger years. Some thought he was a crazy horse as he did buck his last owner off a few times. I didn't believe that he was crazy, but that he only had vision problems; and that he did. To me, he was a magnificent creature and said 'yes', when he was offered to me. Right away he was turned out for the winter into a field with 7 other geldings. Watching him interact with the other horses taught me that he lacked confidence. I changed his name to Gaelin and told him he was retired from having to be brave, and only if he wanted to, he could be brave; but it wasn’t required. Within a few months, he taught me that all he really needed was someone to trust, to guide him with confidence. Over the years, several opportunities arose where we learned to trust him. For almost 10-years the circle of trust flourished.

As an SCA gaming horse, he helped introduce foam-tip jousting, mounted archery and crest-combat to Artemisians. Many Artemisian equestrians rode him, from young kids to gamers to royalty. In the modern world, he carried my husband Joseph to the top of some pretty steep mountains... I like to think that Gaelin was his horse... and set the pace in many parades, which we love to do, even behind noisy fire engines. He carried me on my first sidesaddle canter; and down the polo field at a full gallop for my first true "bump"... a tactical move for taking your opponent off the line-of-the-ball so you or your teammate can steal it (the ball, that is) away for a goal. Wow! That was a thrill! With such strength and endurance, I could always imagine him in his youth and how he must've exploded over fences in the jumping arena. Yet with all his mightiness, he was THE best gentle lesson horse in my riding program. He understood what was needed of him and enjoyed his retired life carrying little darlings around and helping them to gain confidence in themselves. He would nuzzle them before and afterwards and look longingly with his soulful eyes at me always questioning, "What's next?"

Gaelin was 24-years and 2 days old, and euthanized in peace January 27, 2010.

Out of all the horses I’ve had the honor to caring for, I felt a special commitment to Gaelin; to do the best I could to spare his life from any trauma. This prayer is befitting for such a giant of a heart of a horse.

"And, my friend, when I am very old and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see that my trusting life is taken gently. I shall leave this Earth knowing, with the last breath I draw, that my fate was always safest in your hands."

Happy 2010

Well, it's finally here, 2010. And as you can see above, we actually have water in our Dream River! To me, it looks pretty cool because it means we have had LOTS of water coming down lately. You can see from the picture above that there is still lots more to come. In a desert, this is really good news.

I finally noticed this morning, that the sun is rising earlier. That is going to make it a lot easier to go out and feed before I take off for work. At this time of year, we really start looking forward to spring, summer, and fall when we can really gear up to go out and ride. We've got some really fun things planned. Patty introduced us to a whole bunch of new horse games that we are excited to try out with our kids (and ourselves). We will continue to do our medieval horse recreation, and of course Kid's Camps are going to be great!

We did more full moon rides last year than the year before, and I really hope for even more this year! Plus lots of trail rides during the day.

We are looking forward to meeting some new ranch friends we haven't even heard of yet. We are looking forward to Douglas and Connie coming to stay with us and see if they would like to become part of our community. Wave! Hi Douglas and Connie! We are looking forward to meeting Pat, and also perhaps Nancy. And next summer, we hope to see our volunteer friends back for even more fun!

The garden has the infrastructure almost completely done, this year we should have a bang up garden and we are looking forward to building a root cellar. We think at this time, that we are going to use one of the berms we will be putting up as the base for our cellar. Who knows? We might even be able to get some our Dream River Ranch produce to the Mountain Home Farmer's Market.

Possibly, we will build a new chicken coop this year using straw bale construction. We just have to finalize where we really want to put it, because once it's built, we aren't moving it.

Hopefully, we'll get some roofs for our horse wind breaks, so they can have better shelter from the elements.

I'm hoping to get the website even better than it is right now, since I've already started working on it, it's a distinct possibility.

Most of all, we hope for our community of friends for this next year: health, joy, blessings, and most of all....life!