Pony-Up

Downtown Tuesday Nights

2010-07-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Downtown Tuesday Nights in Roseville is in full swing. This year there have been lots of new vendors join us and it makes for a fun and exciting night out!! The weather has been and continues to be great as the breeze always picks up by 6pm and cools the whole area down. In addition to the pony rides for the kids there is the bounce houses and a new train ride this year... Great fun for all!!

Add this to the cost of business!!

2010-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Little bit a EWWWW factor here today. Last Friday evening we caught Gawain to take him to an event, only to find an ugly hard bump on his chin. After a thorough inspection by us to make sure it was not life threatening or contagious, we made sure he could still eat and drink...we let him back out in the pasture (Why do the kids always get sick on the weekend?!).

I had a hunch it was just an abscess as Gawain is a very playful pony and plays very rough with Apache. I was very sure Gawain had gotten kicked in the chin just right to cause all of this. In order to drain it, it was going to have to be "ready" any way....so he gets the weekend off!!

Monday we took Gawain to our favorite Vet. He confirmed my suspicions and went to the task of taking care of the sweet boy. Gwain was drugged, the abscess drained, antibiotics counted and bottled and the payment on the vets office was paid (LOL) (think about the bill you get when you take your little doggie in and make it pony size).

Now Gawain gets 2 weeks off (with pay) and we get the lucky task of cleaning out the "hole" and administering the pills (7 and a half pills 2x daily). OH well!! such is life on the ranch...and one of the reasons we have so many ponies.

Olive and Chex

2010-06-29T08:20:00.001-07:00

At events it is hard not to take a million pictures of our animals...much how we feel about our kids. Here is one of our favorite ponies and our sweet mascot Olive at an event. We never could have found a better little mascot than Olive as she loves pony rides and being out in the public! For her tiny size she is brave around the ponies without being silly. Several times we have had a timid child at an event and Olive has helped them feel brave enough to ride the ponies.

Petapalooza this saturday at Rush Park

2010-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Come Join us!!

CBS Radio’s “Pet-a-Palooza” celebrates our love affair with pets with a day in the park where you can bring your dog & listen to music. PLUS, you can eat, shop, enjoy a number of animal exhibitors & exhibitions…you can even adopt a new pet!!!

More than 40 different animal rescue groups and nonprofit organizations will be at the event to adopt animals and increase the awareness of the rescue causes.

Pet Adoptions * Vendor Booths * Caricature Artists * Dog Photo Booths * Dog Groomers * Live Entertainment * Animal Constume Contests * Dog Agilit Competition

"Ponydometer" reading: 6 12/100 miles!!

2010-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

We recently purchased a pedometer... just for the fun of it, so we could answer people when they ask us how far the ponies have gone.

This is Memorial weekend and that officially kicks off the summer. SO our first big event of the season comes in at 6+ miles on the pony and handler in one event!!

SO for this weekend...Thank a Veteran and watch for our "ponydometer" readings in the future.

Thankyou Katie, come see us again!!

2010-05-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were at Fry's. One of the sweet little ones that kept coming back for rides was "Katie" . Katie went home and came back just to give us this drawing.

Thank you Katie, I love all of the details in this picture, the logo's on our shirts, the fact that my kids are there with me.... and you on the pony!! Thank you Katie!!

Frys Electronics

2010-05-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

we are at Frys Electronics all weekend with the ponies and the petting zoo helping them celebrate 25 years!! Come out and see us and our fun bright colored tents!!

People as compared to animals

2010-04-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

People that know me know that generally speaking, I prefer animals over humans. You may wonder how this picture tells of that story.

My mare does not like being separated from her ponies..this gate got in the way.

People often say "Animals are unpredicable" I have been working with animals all of my life, and surrounded by people all of my life and I can say with absolute certainty that animals act predictably like animals and humans are the unpredictable ones!! Horses predictably spook, kick, bite. Bunnies predictably scratch, and nip. Humans on the other hand act like they like you, just to rip you apart behind your back. Humans lie, cheat and steal. Humans think in advance ways to hurt others and leave some of us scratching our heads wondering what happened.

Animals do what animals do... they don't think out ways to hurt each other. Of course a pony that has not been trained properly will buck a child off and eat the grass next to the childs broken body...but that was predictable and preventable. A good animals trainer can see many things coming and can stop or prevent them...but sometimes we cannot act quickly enough to their fine tuned instincts, or we did not see the signs.

So back to my mare. She does not like being separated from her herd. Yet her diet is too rich for the pones and thus has to be separated at feeding times. We always return her to the herd when we notice she has finished eating. Today we missed the signs... she tried to tell us and we missed it. So she ran and jumped the gate.... barely making it over and hit her back hoof on the gate, bending it. So we learned something today and were reminded of things....One... she may have a back up career as a jumping horse..this was a 4' gate!!! And.... animals act like animals.... I LOVE animals...they are so predictable

Feed, prices and chores

2010-04-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Just after the cost we put out for insurance, feed comes in as our second most expense. So is stands to reason that we need to buy right, and store properly so we have the least amount of waste so we can keep our prices as low as possible and still take proper care of the animals.

This long winter was a hard one. Hard on the animals not used to the prolonged cold, so they needed more feed to compensate. And tough on the vermin (RATS!!) that like to take refuge in the far recesses of the barn!! We have, successfully, kept all of our feed in Rubber-made containers.... this year a few rats put an end to that!! We switched to galvanized steel and now have our neat, tidy feed room back up and running.

What happened to the rats? No poison that is for sure.... with all the kids and animals around here that is NOT an option...
While cleaning out the barn from top to bottom.... all we needed was our hungry cat for the full grown rats and the hens....well they took care of the nests!!

Training and more training

2010-04-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a long winter and we are always so happy to get back into the swing of our training routine. Some folks think that training can stop at some point....nope!! Horses and animals in general (not to mention people) should be learning new things all the time.

Learning new things keeps their minds alert, keeps them calm and it keeps them happy.

This pony is learning the beginnings of pulling a cart. With liability the way it is pulling a cart is becoming a lost art. Not many horses are trained for it as there aren't many insurance companies willing to cover it, so why train the horse. I don't agree with that. Yes, it takes many hours of training, but in the end the horse is happier and lives longer, more productive lives..... and that is worth all the time we can offer.

Can't grab this Bull by the horns any more!!

2010-04-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Any one who knows us, knows how serious we are about safety... Safety of our animals and safety of the children that we take our animals to. Whether it is a birthday party with ponies or animals for events, we keep it as safe as possible.

One way to keep things safe is to anticipate what can go wrong, before it goes wrong and fix the situation. When you anticipate and work to fix the problem it has to be a win/win situation.

This is Liam our mini-bull. Liam, like the rest of our cattle are Irish Dexters. Well bred and sweet and calm. The problem with Liam is that although naturally polled ( no growing horns) sometimes there is "scurs" or horn like protrusions. They don't grow, but can cause some damage none the less. The safest thing to do, for everyone...Liam included...is to remove them.

Our fantastic Vet has been called to the rescue to fix our pretty boy!! Liam has been given a sedative and the area around the scurs is numbed before the "surgery."

Like I said before....no grabbin this bull by the horns!!

Tb Free..of course!!

2010-04-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Just because something isn't required, doesn't mean it is not important.

Amalia Matilda is our resident mini-cow. She is a very well bred and lovely Irish Dexter Cow. We take her to school events and farm tours and are looking forward to breeding her and milking her. Many children now a days, know where there milk comes from logically, but they have never seen the process in action.

Amalia Matilda is 1/3 the size of a regular milk cow and while still weighing in at a hefty 300 lbs (give or take!) she is just the right size for a kid to witness first hand the process of milkin.

We had Molly Tilda, as our ranch kids call her, tested for Tb. We were not expecting any reaction, but when dealing with kids you can never be too safe. So we paid the price and jumped through all of the government hoops to have her tested.

Of course she is Tb free.. and in a year, she will be ready to show little half pints where their gallons come from.

Of course Tilda and her friends are ready any time for birthday parties.

Colored baby chicks !!

2010-04-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Colored baby chicks are back. Such fun they are for the kids in our petting zoos!! they will be out all weekend at all of our events.

This picture gives you a little peak and another one of our many animals habitats. This is our baby poultry hutch. It (not unlike all of our habitats) is better housing than most folks have in third world countries!! Heated with special lights and proper ventilation. Large enough so they can run around and get strong muscles. We can close half of it off for daily cleaning. What you can't see in this picture is the "out door deck" for when the babies need a safe outdoor area to start their limited trips outside.

Freedom Park will have us there this Saturday if you can make it!! Come see the sweet little babies!!

Dog and Pony Show

2010-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a funny little picture of our little dog (obviously not our working ranch dog.. but she sure keeps you warm on a cold night). Olive is going for her first pony ride !!

Keeping equipment looking good

2010-03-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

When you use something it ends up looking...used...

Every year we try to take the time to keep all of our equipment looking good.

What a mess!!

Keeping the dirty ranch clean for the folks in town

2010-03-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ranches are dirty places, no doubt. The work caring for the animals is never ending as it is, but we do try to keep it all clean for the folks in town that don't realize what it really looks like....

One of the PERKS of the Petting Zoo business

2010-03-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of perks we have being in the Petting Zoo business is our chickens. Our chickens are free range in the real sense. They are locked up in a nice predator safe house at night, but all day they are let free to roam around and eat and be happy...and of course lay eggs.

One of the surprising bits of information that we have found is that most folks don't know why some eggs are brown, some are white and some are other colors... the answer may surprise you. Brown eggs are NOT better than white eggs (even though some stores that sell them would like you to think so) The color of the egg is dictated by the breed of the hen laying it. At our ranch we have several different breeds of hens. So when we open our refrigerator this is what we see...lovely isn't it?

Some of the real loosers in a bad economy

2010-03-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

In a bad economy lots of people suffer and I am not here to deny that. Nor am I a person that is pointing fingers at people that cannot take care of their animals. I am however pointing out that in a bad economy large animals tend to get the raw end of the deal.

People are abandoning large animals by the hundreds. With their need for specialized care and lots and lots of food it only stands to reason.

This is a pony that we rescued from such a situation. Her usefulness seemingly gone due to her age, she was not taken care of, as evidenced by her hooves. We took her in and our amazing Farrier went to work on her. Several hours later her hooves looked a little more normal. Needless to say neglect like this is not taken care of in one appointment. She will be alright in time, and although she cannot be used for pony rides or pony parties, we did find a great place for her to live out her life in peace. So my working ponies don't only pay for their own care, they share their earnings with others too...a good thing for this sweet mare!!

Nativities

2010-03-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

Nativities are a big part of the season in December our animals were involved with plenty this year and had a great time doing it.

The Christmas season signifies the end of a busy fall for us and is sometimes bitter sweet as we are all tired and in need of a break but the break also means the bad weather of winter is on its way.

Ocotber Farm Tours at Zittel farms

2010-03-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have been branching out in the Agro-entertainment industry and partnered up with Zittel Farms. Zittel Farms has been doing school tours for many years. This year we did them for them.

We had a great time teaching the children about the animals and corn. I think not a few parents were surprised to find that even their 2 year olds could remember quite a few things about the animals when it was explained to them in a easy way!!

Taking over something as big as the farm tours at Zittel Farms was no small task, and we took it over just weeks before opening. All in all it went well, we learned alot. We had sometimes more than 150 kids in a day walk through the farm.

Hopefully we will do better next time and even branch out to having farm tours at different times of the year. With the average family 3 generations "away from the farm" it is a fun way to keep our agricultural history alive!!

Gourd Festival

2010-03-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

Every year we pick up new events and let others go. Not that we are snobby or lazy or overambitious. We just have to balance how much money we have to make to take excellent care of our animals and how many times we have to drag every one off the ranch in order to do it. Care of the animals is not the only concern. We have insurance bills, cost of labor, and many other aspects to think about.

This year we ended up at the Gourd Festival and it was a huge success!! We will be there again in September and we will let you all know in plenty of time for you to mark you calendar!!

Rare Family Vacation

2010-03-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to hire a ranch hand to watch over the ranch and take our kids to Disneyland. You may be shocked to hear that my little ranch kids didn't really like it (weird, I know). One thing we did do while down in S. Cal was go to Medieval Times. Now that was something my kids enjoyed. We enjoyed the horses and what other folks are doing to give horses a place in a modern society. We were impressed with the care of the horses and could appreciate the training that went into those lovely animals.

As cool as it was, we decided that jousting pony parties are just not going to happen, but you may be able to talk us into dressing the ponies up and providing Knight costumes....but I just need to find the time to make them LOL!!

With rain, comes MUD

2010-03-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever driven past a cattle feed lot in the winter...makes you want to be a vegetarian for sure..cattle standing belly deep in mud..yuck!!

Unfortunately, where there is rain and dirt there is mud and add a few farm animals to it and...eeewwwww it becomes deep mud!! Our animals need to be kept clean. For more reasons than vanity. So that means we have to get rid of all that mud..the old fashioned way, with shovels and wheelbarrows. (now you understand why december can be so bitter sweet!!)

On the positive side...keeps us all in shape over the winter....

Yearly trip to the wine country

2010-03-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Every year we are hired by some prominent wineries to bring our ponies and petting zoo to entertain their employees. We love this trip as it gives us an opportunity to camp with the ponies.

If you have ever been camping with kids (let alone all of ours) then added a dog.. it can be an exciting event, to say the least. The funniest thing about camping with us is that we bring 8 ponies a mini cow, sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies a pot belly piggie (and the list goes on) . I am used to the looks I get when I go out with all of my children, but if I could get pictures of the looks we get when we arrive with 2 tow vehicles and all those kids and animals..it is a HOOT!!

This year was especially fun as the camp sites we were assigned had a neighbor. When they saw us arrive they did not even wait to see what we were about and packed up their 2 horses and got a different site. I chose not to be offended, even though they did not even think to see that we were normal and organized folk. Well, the spot they moved to had no neighbors...until later when some partiers arrived!! We are early to bed and early to rise folks and very organized, we don't have to holler out what each child needs to get done..they know their jobs and get them done on time. Then they are free to go do what they want so long as they can see me and I can see them. As we were quietly doing our thing... our hostile x neighbors were seeing just what they missed out on and ended up in the middle of loud music, cigarette smoke and foul language. Over at our camp was crickets singing and dishes done and animals quietly munching on hay.

Don't read a book by its cover folks.... this time getting the cold shoulder was fun.

insanity of Life? Or just the way things are in the real world...

2010-03-11T10:52:00.001-08:00

Forgive me friends for it has been a long time since my last blog. You may think this is a lack of attention, or possibly ill use of my time....whatever the reason, I was talking with a young mother of ONE the other day that was complaining of not having any time for a real life (WOW). Not that I don't believe her, as I am sure she is really busy. If she is busy in town with one child and a cat... how busy am I with 6 kids and at least 100 farm animals to look after.

My penance shall be getting "caught up". You see, my intent was to keep you all in formed of what was and is going on with us and the animals, but in the process of doing all that picture taking and activities and events..they never got posted. I will get that done and caught up in the next few weeks.

NEW pony!!

2009-07-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

As you know, we found a new home for one of our ponies recently. One of the things we like to do is to be on the constant look out for ponies we can train and give a life to. i have often told folks... An untrained pony is worthless, a well trained pony is priceless. The unfortunate truth is that many people think they can buy untrained cheap ponies and fix them "with love" the only thing they will be getting is hospital bills or training bills when the pony figures out he can outsmart the human. The pony is always the loser in this situation as then he is labeled any number of negative things... generally speaking it is human error, as there are very few Bad Ponies... but a LOT of bad training techniques (or lack of).

We saw this lovely guy being advertised by JD Acres horse rescue http://www.jdacres.com/ and after a few phone calls we knew and they knew this was the perfect set up for this pony.

He is every thing we could have wanted in a larger pony... and as you can see Chex thinks so too!! Watch the blog as we start our summer training with the ponies in training. This is Titan and we will show you where we are with Bo and Slick Chick too!!

Nothin' goes to waste!!

2009-07-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

At our ranch we cannot afford for anything to go to waste. If the horses cannot eat it, it goes to the other animals...if they cannot eat it...it is either composted or used for bedding.

Here we are cleaning up the trampled hay that is not worthy for any one to eat, putting it in the chicken house, where it is sorted through by the chickens...eggs laid on it or generally "used as bedding" then it is taken out and composted for the garden...starting the cycle all over again.

the dreaded POOP!!

2009-07-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest question we often get from our customers is... "what are you going to do with the...um....well if the ponies...well you know....go to the bathroom??"

Well, I tell them...YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!! it is MINE!!

we compost it and grow the best gardens and the most lovely flowers..... now even our neighbors will call us and BEG for the horsey leftovers!!! :)

A day in the High Sierra

2009-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Martis Camp is a lovely subdivision in Truckee. They asked us to come to one of their open houses to give hand guided pony rides. Wow what a lovely area to give rides!! we even snuck a ride in for ourselves on the ponies!! Notice that they are all in their halters and no bits.... What a lovely day!!

Do the ponies LIKE this job??

2009-07-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

This is a question we get a lot when we are at events where we use our pony "sweep" which is the contraption that the ponies walk in a circle with. The question is a good one, when someone really wants to know the answer. The answer to the question is not the same with every pony, just like humans have different likes and dislikes, so do ponies (not so surprisingly!!). We have ponies in our herd that hate doing birthday parties and love working the sweep...we have ponies that love the parties and hate the sweep. With as many ponies as we have, that is not a problem. The truth is that it is nearly impossible to get a 400lbs animal to do something it doesn;t want to do...unless they are drugged. Drugs are expensive and hardly worth the use, they are illegal and unethical.

All this to tell you about a pony that we trained that hated his job. Triscuit has been to many events and parties and really did not like it. One of the responsibilities of a horse trainer is to find what a horse likes to do and train him in that discipline. Triscuit was happy to be a family pony, when we had little guests to our ranch he was the one we brought out. But I noticed that when my little niece came to stay and she was assigned Triscuit to ride... Triscuit was in heaven, no on off on off new kid here another one there.....boy was he happy!!

We made the tough decision to sell Triscuit. We had several people interested in him but the family we chose was PERFECT!! Triscuit now belongs to "JJ". They were love at first site!! as you can see from this picture. OH and don't worry about my niece..she still has PLENTY of sweet ponies to choose from!!

Where we will be on the 4th of July

2009-07-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

In the morning we will be at McBean Park by the band stand giving pony rides until 4:00. Then we will be at the Gold Country Fair Grounds giving Hand guided pony rides from 4-9ish. We will not be bringing the petting zoo out to either event due to the heat and space restraints....

How can I complain??

2009-06-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I complain about how much we work during the busy season. I do get tired, the kids get tired, we WISH the ponies would get tired :). The main complaint is not the work but the 10% of society that makes all of our lives miserable.

This event is at a lovely camping resort. We were surrounded by loveliness all day long. All of the kids, all of the people!! All of the nature...oh it was breathtaking!!

Then....it happened when we were all packed up...aching backs...smiles on our faces (ponies ready to go...NOT tired) and she came....on her "lark" Yelling gout to me " Are you the pony lady? YOU!! are you the pony lady" well since I was there with a trailer load of ponies..there was no denying the fact. I smiled and said yes..dreading that she might want us to take the ponies out "for just a minute" so that her junior could have a ride too!! BOY was I wrong...she was HOPPIN' mad!! (AT ME?!) She explained that while she was sleeping away in her campsite, her grandson had stolen away and gotten a pony ride from us...WITHOUT HER PERMISSION!! and maybe she would sue!! (OH MY) I explained to her that that could not be possible since every child has to have money for the ride and I always ask where their parent is.... the little boy in question comes lurking up, ice cream cone in hand. I turned and recognised him immediately as he was not just at our event for a few minutes he was there for several hours (with many questions that needed answers immediately!!) Well, I said to the grandmother, he did have a parent with him, when I asked him he pointed over at a lady who smiled at me and him and gave a hearty wave!! (good enough for me!! ) so I gave him the ride. THAT was not his mother or me says the indignant grandmother!! SO, let me get this straight... grandma loses track of the grandchild for several hours, the kid steals money from somewhere and gets another lady to give him permission to ride... am I supposed to get a birth certificate from each parent? I don't think so!! My only comment to grandma was.... I do my due diligence to ask for the child's parent, you lose track of your kid for several hours...and somehow this is MY fault? No wonder so many people are going out of business and insurance is soooo high. OH MY!!

DINOSAURS!!!

2009-06-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

OK HORSE PEOPLE...can your horses work next to those?!! This picture is taken from my cell phone as I was not expecting to need a camera this night at the street fair we were working. Well, a new vendor arrived and they have a dinosaur ride attraction. These dinos stomp thier feet and ROAR and move all around!! She also has zippy rides that look like a small motorcycle with a stuffed animal on it. She was afraid to set up on account that every other time she had worked near the horses they freaked out completely!! No one puts thier animals through the training program that we do and this night it really paid off!! Our ponies didn't care at all!! In fact, they thought they were pretty neat!!

Hard Core Pony Riders here are more Summer Events

2009-06-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Pony Riders UNITE!! We still have several weeks left at Down Town Tuesday Nights on Vernon Street in Roseville. This Friday evening we will be on Plumas Street in Yuba City. The Fourth of July Clebrations will bring us to Lincoln at the Park by the band stand and also in the evening we will be doing HAND GUIDED rides at the fairgrounds in Auburn. Summer Nites in Nevada City is coming up the 15th and the 22nd of July. August 1st and 2nd will have us high atop High Camp at Squaw Valley (that is too much fun!!) At the end of the summer we will be giving FREE pony rides for the Sunday Funday event at Rusch Park.....

PARTY IN THE PARK!!!

2009-06-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

This years party in the park in Auburn CA was bigger and better than ever. We were there next to the bounce houses having a great time!! If you missed this event this year you need to mark your calendar for next year as it was a great event for the whole family!!

At Horse Expo

2009-06-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Horse Expo...Riley can barely get his head over the stall door that will be his bed for the next three nights. SOOO CUTE!! the other ponies that came couldn't see out at all. They didn't care though as they were ready for bed after all those rides!!

Our arena for rides in the Young Rider Park looked really great!! It was so much fun to see the kids have such a great time at the event!!

Preparing for Horse Expo

2009-06-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

When we take on an event as big as Horse Expo at the California State Fairgrounds we take it very seriously and take a lot of time preparing and planning. At this type of event we pull out all of the stops and really put out something great for the kids. Here we all are making all of the obstacles for the ponies to go through. This event would just not go with the typical pony ride carousel, so we build things for the ponies to go over under and through a the event with someone hand guiding them through it...as you can imagine it gets better and better every year. This year we had a bridge with flower boxes on each side, a "noodle wall" that the ponies had to go through, a small gate to open and close, and bright colored poles to walk over. We also had cones and more flowers. Needless to say the children riding the ponies had a great time and it also showcases the training level of our ponies. Even though they are hand guided through the course there were several horse trainers that marveled over the condition and calmness of our ponies.

Shimmer's and the Proposal

2009-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

Usually Chili gets all of the interesting jobs so Shimmer was very excited when she got to be invited to a very special job. This very romantic and sweet man had Shimmer there to help him propose to his very lovely lady. Their children were all there and it was very sweet... I even shed a tear ( I think Shimmer did too!!)

PUPPIES

2009-05-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

This picture is of our ranch dog's LONG awaited litter of puppies.

They are pure bred Australian Shepard's. I really don't know how I could do all the things I do...6 kids of my own, all of the animals, all the parties and all of the kids that end up here...with out my dog Summer!! We have selectively bred her and her puppies are just as perfect as she is.

Meet Chudleigh!!

2009-05-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

This adorable young man is our new "calf". Chudleigh is actually a mini cow and he is adorable!! We don't like buying full size animals for our petting zoo as they quickly outgrow the petting zoo fencing and become too big for the children to enjoy so we have been saving up to buy more miniature animals (but let me tell you they do NOT come with a miniature price tag!!). Chudleigh would LOVE to come to your party!!

Yammies the Mini Donk

2009-05-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

We have been saving for another donkey for quite a while. We finally saved up enough to buy this little gem from our friends at the Eubanks Family Farm. This is Yammie Damme Eubanks the day she was born!!

Here she is now just as lovely as can be!! She and Chili are best of friends!!

Downtown Tuesday Nites!!

2009-05-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Downtown Tuesday nites is on again!! There is so much fun stuff to do!! Cars, food, bounce houses, and of course your favorite pony rides!!

Shearing Time!!

2009-05-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

By the time spring rolls around our Shetland Sheep for our Farm Animal Petting Zoo get very hairy!! We have a dear friend that is heavily involved in 4-H and is great at doing a "show shear" on her 4-H animals. We are so grateful that she comes over faithfully every year to make sure our little guys are treated kindly and sheared nicely for your enjoyment!!

More from Good Day Sacramento

2009-05-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

Clean Up Day

2009-05-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

Things at the ranch can get really dirty. When we do Pony Parties we understand that not every one has come from the country, so we try to keep our equipment clean. So the ranch kids and I spent a whole day scrubbing the trailers that transport the party ponies and our farm animal petting zoo, inside and out.

Good Day Sacramento's

2009-05-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday many of you saw us and your favorite ponies on the Good Day Sacramento Show in the "Budget Kentucky Derby". What a hoot!! We brought Triscuit, Shimmer, Fabio, Apache, and one of our new boys Gwain. They all did great and lived up to the sweet safe reputation they have. None of the ponies caused any of their handlers any trouble and Fabio (who was re-named "My Pretty Pony" for the day) could sense the need to win by his handler and won the "race". I wish I had pictures to post but the videos are up on the Good Day Sacramento website at the link above. When I get my techno hat on I will figure out how to post them here!!

2009-05-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

SWINE FLU!!!

2009-04-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

With the recent news regarding Swine Flu I thought I might address the issue here and let you know that even though our piggies are not infected, we feel it prudent to leave them home until further notice. We feel this will protect our pigs from someone who might be carrying swine flu and from any one who thinks they may have gotten the flu from our pigs.

What is Swine Influenza?

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs. Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930.

How many swine flu viruses are there?

Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. At this time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.

Can humans catch swine flu?

Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.
How common is swine flu infection in humans?In the past, CDC received reports of approximately one human swine influenza virus infection every one to two years in the U.S., but from December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine influenza have been reported.

What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

How does swine flu spread?

Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
What do we know about human-to-human spread of swine flu?In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.
In follow-up studies, 76% of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. Additional studies suggest that one to three health care personnel who had contact with the patient developed mild influenza-like illnesses with antibody evidence of swine flu infection.

How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?

To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 10 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.

What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?

There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?

Probably the most well known is an outbreak of swine flu among soldiers in Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1976. The virus caused disease with x-ray evidence of pneumonia in at least 4 soldiers and 1 death; all of these patients had previously been healthy. The virus was transmitted to close contacts in a basic training environment, with limited transmission outside the basic training group. The virus is thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix, and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The Fort Dix outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact in crowded facilities during the winter. The swine influenza A virus collected from a Fort Dix soldier was named A/New Jersey/76 (Hsw1N1).

Is the H1N1 swine flu virus the same as human H1N1 viruses?

No. The H1N1 swine flu viruses are antigenically very different from human H1N1 viruses and, therefore, vaccines for human seasonal flu would not provide protection from H1N1 swine flu viruses.

Chili and the Bachelors

2009-04-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

The other day I got a phone call from a guy asking if we rented donkeys or ponies. After asking him what he wanted and why we found that he wanted our donkey as a prank entertainment to his friends Bachelor party. After assuring me that the donkey or I were in no danger...it was all in fun we decided to go. Chili and I and our 'body guard" had a great time.. The guys ended up being a great group of fun loving guys and we all hung out talking and taking pictures of them with Chili. Chili was even a referee for a few of the games they were playing. It was really a hoot!! I had never been to a bachelor party before so this was my first...Chili's too. Of course all of the ponies were really jealous of Chili as he always gets the really fun jobs... Thanks guys!! for the funny memory and for being such nice guys!!

SO many Christmas Events.... So little time!!

2008-12-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

This year we had more Christmas events than ever!! Here are some of the fun things we did with the traveling petting zoo in the Sacramento area this December.

I think it is very important for children to able to interact with petting zoo animals on a regular basis so I was happy to see quite a few of our regular "folks" at the events and happily coming to pay another visit to their favorite petting zoo animals.

Occasionally I get worried about my own children getting burned out on all the events and not having a "normal" life (if there is such a thing) but my worries are always put to rest at times like this when, at an event, I turn around and my children are helping a timid little visitor around the animals.. the big smiles on both children's faces are all the assurance any mom would need.

Chili the Donk... He gets all the good jobs!!

2008-12-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our donkey Chili came to us as a sweet but untrained youngin'. We have spent many months training him and now he is saddle broke (but too young yet to trust with other people) and one of the ranch kids trail companion. He is also so cute and funny that he has a reputation... sometimes we get e-mail just asking how he is doing.... Chili gets some of the best jobs too!! This time he was invited to hang out at a Christmas party...which he really enjoyed!! Chili really is a wonderful Donkey and we really love him.

More Work around the ranch

2008-12-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

These are some funny pictures of what happens around the ranch when you hire some workers.... we hired John Dumont Stump Grinding to grind out some old fruit trees so we could re plant our orchard.... well the ponies thought his truck and trailer was a play thing. May of his tools and things were off loaded from the truck bed and Elvis could not resist loading up and going for a ride. He has been on a "vacation" from work due to one of his hooves... I think he is telling us...enough is enough let me GO!!!

Using "Horse Power"

2008-12-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

After the fires this summer we have had a "fire" lit under us to make sure the property is safe. We have been clearing brush and other things. I asked the ranch kids to move a pile of brush....well to my surprise we caught them using "horse power" My horse Poker was in the way so they saddled him up and with no complaints whatsoever...he helped the kids move two large piles of brush.... now that is a good joob!!

Gettin' ON

2008-12-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

Slick Chick and Beau are really coming along in their training. Here are pictures of the kids getting on them and walking around getting the ponies used to people being on thier backs. Slick Chick is still needing the support of the longe line where Beau is coming along just great and flying "solo"

Crazy Jobs with the Petting Zoo aniamls

2008-12-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

This is one of the fun jobs we get to do with the animals. This was a modeling show done in Sacramento where they wanted goats in the line up. It was a real hoot!! the goats loved it and we had a great time with our little models :)

Mini Donk in training.

2008-12-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

This is "Nibblet" and we have here here for training for a friend that has a mini donkey ranch up the street from us. After the fires last summer that came dangerously close to our ranches it was aggreed that the donks needed to come one at a time to learn some of the basics: loading and unloading, leading and other mannerly behaviors. This ranch raises such incredibly intelligent and sweet donkeys that Nibblet is really coming along fast. So we decided to add a little Pack training. :)

Upgrading the Ranch

2008-12-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

Winter is a great time for us to get work done around the ranch!! We really needed to upgrade our road into the barn and arena area as we are working towards opening our "Parent and Tot" pony lessons soon. We had a large tractor at the ranch cutting the road in. It was a great day for spook proofing some of the new ponies and getting some big jobs done!!

Places We Will Be

2008-12-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

This year we will be at quite a few Public Events with the ponies and petting zoo animals. These pictures are of Victorian Christmas. The dates for Victorian Christmas are Decmber 10th, 14th,17th, and the 21st.

Auburn has its own fun Chritmas events that we will be at this year as well. Country Christmas is in the downtown and uppertown areas on the 11th, the 13th, and the 20th.

There are several live nativities happening at the First Nazarene Church in Sacramento and Adventure Christian Church as well....we hope to see you there!!

Remember Sparkle??

2008-10-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

We had a pony named Sparkle, she was a fantastic pony and we loved her. As many of you know one of the "side" things the kids and I do is to take in untrained ponies....keep them with us... train them to a job they like and then find the perfect home for them. When we met the Farnam family and they told us what they were looking for we knew we had just the pony for them. Sparkle was amazing!! she was the perfect lead line pony for the little children in their preschool (Smart Start in Loomis) and she was the perfect starter pony for her own children.

Last week Sparkle was savagely attacked by a Pit Bull at her home in Loomis. I spoke with Amber Farnam and with several of the Animal Control officers. Sparkle fought hard to save herself and I have no doubt that she tried to protect her little goat friends from the dogs. But alas, one little pony is no match for a pit bull and his co hort (there was another dog involved). The Fanams were able to shoot and kill the dogs and Sparkle jumped into the pond to get away from her killers but went under several times. It was infection that killed her a few days later.

I find this all senseless and I really wonder why anyone would want a dog like this. We have dogs.. Sparkle trusted dogs all the other dogs in her life we fair with her in the past.

We loved you Sparkle... you were amazing...we are sorry. Not sorry for having found you the perfect home...but sorry that there seems to be more and more people out there that make terrible choices that effect us all.

We recommend the Farnams and thier lovely family and Smart Start Pre School to any one.

Grooming Day

2008-10-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

You may not realize what goes into getting all the ponies ready for a day of parties. We have to wash and srub them. Brush them and clip all the long stray hairs, braid up thier tails, then put them all in blankets to keep them clean. It is hours of work (but we are happy to do it). There is a good reason our ponies are healthy and happy and are the best ponies to have at a party. Childrens birthday parties with animals need to be as clean as possible. There are many "things" in the animals coats that the children's immune system is not used to so we do our best to have the animals as clean as possible and then we also insist that the children at our pony parties wash thier hands after playing with the animals.

Ground Driving the Ponies

2008-09-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

All of our ponies go through a very rigorous training program. They are actually in training their whole lives as we are always teaching them new things. It keeps them happy and well mannered, this is a very important thing when you are a pony ride pony!! These pictures are of Slick Chick and Beau learning how to ground drive. This teaches them many things. They learn how to steer, so that they can be a trail pony. They learn how to have something behind them, in their blind spot. And it is the beginning steps to pulling a cart. We drive them in and around scary things, just like when we are teaching them to lead.

Trail Riding on the Ponies

2008-09-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Our ponies that we use for children's birthday parties are not just back yard ponies that we chase down and catch every Saturday and drag them all over town. They are in shape athletes, loved family members and dear friends to many. Here are pictures of 3 of the Ranch Girls on a trail ride at one of our favorite places to ride, Hidden Falls. Many "horse folks" know us and see us out and about with the ponies. We always like seeing real horse people at our public events as they can see well taken care of animals and appreciate it. In this picture you see Friar Tuck, Fabio and Elvis out having a great time. The picture was taken from atop Poker to those of you who know and love him!!

Thoughts on Sunday Funday in Citurus Heights

2008-09-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

We are just getting home from Sunday Funday. We were up at 6am to feed and care for all of the ranch animals, by 9am we were at Rusch Park in Citrus Heights to give pony rides. All was set up and we were giving rides by 11:30. It is now after 8 and we are all coming up to the vittles in the crock pot.

We had a great time and the City of Citrus Heights really put on a great event that more folks should be thankful for!!

Although most of the folks there were great and we did have quite a bit of fun, we did run into a few folks that did not know who were were and they had some interesting comments that I would like to share here.

Do you ever water the ponies? This was asked by a woman who had just walked up.... now the implication was, that we don't water the ponies often enough.. well I can tell you that even though we know the ponies can go many hours without water.. we offer them water at a minimum of every 30 minutes. The water we offer them is treated with electrolytes and slightly sweetened to encourage them to drink... and drink often. Why would we not? But these folks did not know us or how much we love our animals..or that most of the money we make goes right back to them.

Many of you know we have weight limits on our ponies based on what is safe for them to carry and what will not hurt them with unskilled children getting on and off all day (which is, by the way, the hardest part on them) at a large event.... we bring along a trusty scale to weigh the kids. We had more than one parent get very angry with us because we would not give their child a ride even though they were very much over the safe weights for the ponies. Let me point out two things to those folks.... we did not feed your child... and we are not going to sacrifice the good health of our animals for you...period. If you choose to wait in line even though we did say that there was a weight limit... you are waiting in vain.

We love these ponies. and now I will get off of my soap box. We will continue to do large events as we love the children and love to see them interact with the ponies.... but we will NEVER do anything that is not a win/win situation.

Teaching to excersise on the longe line

2008-09-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

You may not believe this but sometimes our ponies do not get enough exercise. You may not believe this when you see our ponies working on the carousel or after a long day of parties. But what needs to be realized is that they are just walking. Ponies need to exercise at the trot and the lope as well. Horses are made for running and trotting and walking all day with little or no breaks in the wild. The hardest part for these animals is actually not getting enough exercise with what we do. In comes the 30' rope!! We teach the ponies to run in circles around us.... keeps them happy, we aren't trying to keep up with them (as if we could!!) and they are healthier for it. Our vet always says, "A working animal is a happy animal".

Off to the Trainer!!

2008-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

We do most of our own training, but we do know when to call in the professionals!! This is the case with hobble training.

Here you will see Jack Owens from Jack Owens Training Stables hobble training our 2 new ponies Beau and Slick Chick. Hobble training is a very important step in horse training that is often overlooked. We want our party ponies to be truly trained, not just gentled. We want to build trust and knowledge in them so that your children can have a fun time on them.

You want me to get in THAT thing?!

2008-09-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

When folks think about what all goes into training a pony sometimes they over look the smallest things, how to load into a trailer is one of them. Horses are not born knowing how to get in and out of a trailer (unfortunately!!). Here we are spending quite a bit of time teaching Beau and Slick Chick how to get safely in and out of the trailer (and that it is not a big pony eating monster!!).

How do we get there from here??

2008-09-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

One of the talents we actually have to train into a pony is how to be "lead". Since most of our parties and events are hand guided pony rides the ponies must be very good at...well...leading!!

Here we are teaching Slick Chick and Beau how to be lead, over and around scary things, through and over poles and all kinds of things we have set up for them. They are very good ponies!!

Best Pumpkin Patch to take kids!!

2008-09-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Zittel Farms is the best pumpkin patch to take the kids to in the area!! It is clean and family friendly and with McDonalds right next door it can make for a great Fall Famly outing. We will be there with our ponies and our petting zoo all month on Fridays and Saturdays.

Visit from the Veterinarian

2008-09-23T06:11:00.001-07:00

As you can well imagine, with all of the animals we have, we see the vet quite a bit. This time our vet was out for a routine herd inspection. This is just like a "well baby" appointment, only for all of the animals. He looks the property and the animals over to make sure everything is going well. He also spends the time answering any of our questions that may have come up since we saw him last. We are happy to have our vet, he is a great guy and I will leave you with something that he said to us this time "A working animal is a happy animal" and to that I added with a laugh "and Shetland ponies need a little more than others!!"

What do we do with the head shy pony??

2008-09-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

One of our new little ponies is what we call head shy. Which means that she does not like her head to be touched. Luckily, I know where this little mare came from and I know that she has not been abused. Sometimes when we get a pony and they have a problem like this it is all a guessing game as to what happened and why they are acting this way. Now, in order to give this girl a job doing pony parties with children, she has to tolerate someone touching her head. This means we must show her that nothing is bad is going to happen when her head is touched. So we do just that. A lot of touching of the pony's head and not getting upset when she tosses or pulls away. We simply ignore her behaviour and just keep touching. Being careful to not get hurt :). She will come around in time..... but we will let her take all the time she needs, getting angry or upset at her will just tell her that something bad IS happening. We are happy that she is a very smart and sweet pony so we have all of the confidence in the world that she will come around.

We Passed the USDA inspection AGAIN!!

2008-09-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been at my ranch know we run a clean operation. That does not exempt us from the pop inspections by the USDA/AC. We passed and our most recent inspection report is on our website on our traveling petting zoo page. You may not realize that all petting zoo's are regulated by the USDA and are subject to pop inspections. Our Rabbit hutch is equipped with misters to keep the petting zoo rabbits comfortable during the warm weather. The bunnies are grateful for it and it is required for their good health.

The new Chicken Taj Mahal, Rabbitry and Fowl Building

2008-09-11T19:05:00.001-07:00

This year we had to upgrade our Chicken house.. and upgrade we did. Since the the threat of Asian Bird Flu is real we wanted to make sure our house would keep our birds safe.

So we put in a sterilizable cement floor. With the help of our neighbors and my cousin the job went really well.

The indoor area has a cozy egg laying spot and a nice roostin area for at night. It is all mountain lion and other vermin safe for sure. While we were at it we added another "side" to the building for the rabbits. They now have a strong building to hang thier cages in that is cooled with misters. They are lucky bunnies indeed

How do we train ponies, and why do we train them?

2008-09-10T16:47:00.001-07:00

It is now time for us to start training the new ponies. The first step is to make sure they are "halter trained." What this essentially means is that the ponies cannot have a problem with having a halter on their face. We train this by merely taking the halter on, and off again, and on and off again, until they no longer have a problem with it. Why do we do this?

The answer is simple: just like a dog's collar, the halter allows us to lead the ponies around to where we want them. This is the most important part of training for a party pony, because if they could not be haltered, we could not lead them, and hence we could not bring them to your party. Definitely a negative! Watch the blog for more upcoming episodes on training the new ponies.

Our Brand New Baby Calf!

2008-09-06T20:31:00.001-07:00

Meet Percival! This unfortunate calf's mama died while giving birth. The owner of this orphan calf, Gary Ross, being unable to take care of him effectively, has given hit to us to use him in our petting zoo until he gets too big. Percival fits right in. Percival is a "Limousine" cow, and while usually used for meat, everyone agrees that he is just to cute for anyone to eat.

While he is still exceedingly small, Percival has an enormous appetite. This calf can drink up to eight pints, or four gallons a day! It should only take Percival three months for him to grow too big to keep, so we are determined to get as much love out of him as we can.

We were written up in The Horse Magazine!!

2008-07-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

This was a real boost!! We are getting to the end of a busy summer and headed into the busiest season of all ... the Fall. this is a link to a wonderful article written my Marsha Hayes from The Horse Magazine. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=12380&eID=76602

We LOVE our ponies AND all of our animals!! So I was so glad to have her capture that in the article.

camping with the ponies??!! YES

2008-07-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

Some say I am crazy, well maybe a little. This past weekend we went camping with the ponies!! We have a standing job at a large winery in Napa so this year we decided to add a little fun. There is a wonderful campground there called Skyline Park. We love it, one of the reasons is the staff and rangers that work there are great!! But the real reason we love it is that we can stay there with all of the animals ( and I do mean ALL of the animals) .

The pictures aren't really that great but it was hard to get good ones from the back of a horse myself!!

When I tell you that it was crazy.. it was.. but what do you expect when you go camping with 2 sheep, 4 goats (someone had to milk the goats), chickens, ducks, 2 little pot belly piggies (that tried to sneak into the tents with the help of a few kids!!!) our calf Chauncey, Chili donk and a horse and 7 ponies!! the folks in the neighboring sites were pretty shocked!!

All in all it was a great time, the ponies got a well deserved fun time out on the trail and the family got some bonding time!!

We camped there for 5 days this year. We worked on Saturday but the rest of the time was just fun for kids ponies and all of the animals. We rode around the miles and miles of back woods trails and wow!! that is all I can say!!

The ponies really loved it but Chili really had a great time too!! We are just starting to take him out on the trail more often.. he is just a great little donk!! It won't be long before we can trust him with kids at parties!!

The picture shows one of the ranch kids riding him out on the trail and if a donk could smile... Chili would be SMILING!!

New kids on the block!!

2008-06-25T20:20:00.001-07:00

One of the small aspects of our business here at the ranch is training and selling well broke kids ponies. So here are the new recruits!! They are both registered American Shetland Ponies and they are absolutley lovely. We will take pictures of thier progress along the way to share with you.

This picture is of the two new ponies on one side of the fence and our ponies on the other. We learned the hard way, way back when, that you don't let the new guy out with the herd right away. That was one expensive vet bill!!

These picture really don't do justice to how lovely these two are!!

Horse Expo!!

2008-06-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

What fun we had at the Horse Expo this year!! We did something a little out of the ordinary, we set up a miniature trail course and led the kids over it!! It was a major hit with the kids and the horse folk alike. we just felt like the horsey people would appreciate more of a horse atmosphere in the Young Rider park as well. If you missed the Expo this year you really need to go next year... with all the free fun there it is well worth the price.

Pony Rides

2008-04-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Although the back yard birthday party is our favorite venue we do like to come out to some of the larger events in our community with the ponies. In order to do that we have to train the ponies on a regular basis for pony rides on the pony carousel. We chose this day as it was nice and windy so the ponies could re-acquaint themselves with the flapping of the canopy.

We will be at the Roseville Street fair starting on May 6th and going for 13 weeks every Tuesday evening on Vernon Street!! Then we are looking forward to Zittle Farms that may open as early as September for pony rides!!

BABIES

2008-04-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

Babies are all here!! We had quite a surprise this year as we added two STERILE Nigerian Dwarf does to the petting zoo line up.... well they turned out to NOT be sterile... the fun by product was the BABIES!!

As some of you know we had to retire our petting zoo pigs.. I have told some of you what brought it all on... but we won't go into that here as the perpetrators were untrained minors of the human persuasion!! But we were able to make a good situation out of the bad.

WELL!! In MY day we didn't do THIS!!

2008-04-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

We often hear comments like this when we have our ponies at a party. Especially this one where the mother has a talent for making things PERFECT!!

The only comment I have about that is "times have changed" NO MORE are the days that our children can run down the street unattended, we can't drop them off at parks or let them ride ponies at the lake. We live in a world where all of our children'd activities have to be monitored for thier safety!!

We love having our ponies for rent for such situations.... we love to see the joy in thier faces while riding around on them having the time of thier lives.... I only wish, and I think it is the wish of all mothers that we didn't have to keep them in our sight all the time, but since those days ARE over ... we have options :)

Easter EGGSTRAVIGANZA!!!

2008-04-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

DID you see us on Channel 10?? We had a great visit from Channel 10 and quite a few other newspapers when we were at the Easter Eggstraviganza in Elk Grove in March. What a great event put on by the park and rec district there!! Great folks doing great things in the community!!!

the article: http://www.egcitizen.com/articles/2008/03/25/lifestyles/doc47e968932227c140867826.txt

YEAH BABY!!!

2008-04-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

This year we were invited to provide the pony rides for Yeah Baby and boy was it FUN!! This is really a great event for you to find great vendors for baby and kid stuff!!!

PONY TAILS!!! and other great ideas!!

2008-01-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

These pictures come from a really fun party that had some of the greatest pony party ideas. The children all had "pony tails" and they did a fun little take home craft from Michaels that I had never seen before!! Great Party and THANKS FOR THE PICTURES!!!

Chili, and the night out at the Bar!!!

2008-01-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

Well, last night Chili the Donkey was out having fun at the Boxing Donkey Bar in Roseville CA. You can see from the picture above he was quite the Party Animal and the "life of the party!!".
We were there because the owner of the bar, that is not quite open yet, was getting a surprise birthday party. He was quite surprised to see Chili there, eating pretzels with the guys!! Chili spent the evening walking around the bar and joining into the various conversations, I mean what else would he do.... just stand there and do nothing!!! Besides the pretzels at the bar were great!!!

Ponies need the dentist too!!

2008-01-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

These pictures are of Sparkle and Riley getting her teeth "floated" by a equine dentist!! He did a great job and he was tired after filing the teeth of 12 pony party ponies!!!

Some of the ponies needed teeth removed, some just needed filing. I love it when professional folks work with our little guys. Even some "professionals" in the eqine industry think that ponies are "mean" or "ill-behaved" etc...etc.. all the garbage we hear about ponies. To them I say.... NOT MY PONIES!!! They all stood nicely and not one had to be sedated to get thier teeth worked on.

Some interesting facts about horse teeth... they never stop "growing". Growing is not really the right word, they actually "erupt" from the gums. The way horses chew causes thier teeth to get very sharp points that then poke holes in the sides of the horses mouth. If not taken care of this can cause all kinds of other health problems.
We get great satisfaction out of taking care of these ponies, and I know that what we do is unsurpassed in the industry!!!
You don't even want to know what the bill was for all this dental work... :)

The Bride Price will be 2 Appaloosas

2008-01-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

One day we get this email: Our plan is to be married on the Oregon Creek bridge, we would like to walk on the bridge with your ponies in tow and hand them off to (my future father-in-law) in exchange for his daughters hand in marriage, that was his request when I asked for (my future bride's) hand in marriage, he actually asked for two appaloosas. No one knows of this idea, I think everybody will get a big kick out of this, afterwards we plan to let the little ones have pony rides. We expect about 6-8 children, between 2-6 years old.

To which our respose is YES!! and two of our ponies are POA's (whick means they are pony size appys!!) To make a long story short. The ponies were there, it was a great laugh!! A sweet and very romantic wedding with a wonderful laugh mixed in. This couple really love each other and know how to laugh in the thick of it all.

The ponies did great, we brought Riley and Joni. Although when the croud closed in around them our tried and true Riley decided it was too close quarters for him and walked right out!! Joni stood there in front of the pastor with the bride and groom like a brides maid!!! What a hoot!!! We bought Joni in the summer thinking we would train her and then sell her, which is why she has stayed on the "in training" page. If she never left, we woudln't crare. She is sweet, cute and very reliable....even on a bridge when a crowd closes in..... the perfect pony to have at a party!!!

We love doing "pony rental" jobs where it is not necessarily a party!! A great change of pace and yet another way to meet some really great folks!!

Cold and FROST!!

2008-01-12T22:04:00.001-08:00

WOW has it been cold!! This strange picture was taken by one of the ranch boys. It is our dear donkey Chili covered in FROST!! As a matter of fact when we went out most of the ponies were covered in frost. It was beautiful to see!! Don't worry about them being too cold though, they are built to take it!! Not one of the ponies had a hard time with the cold and I think they all really like it (if thier attutudes are any indication :) ) they were all out running around and playing in the frost. They were all worked up and the steam coming out of thier noses made them look more like mythical creatures than pony ride ponies!!! We all had a late breakfast that morning as we were all drawn to thier irresistable cuteness out there running around with "smoke" coming out thier noses!!

Tis the season for Nativities!!!

2008-01-12T22:01:00.001-08:00

Each season brings a different focus in our life and this is the season for Nativities. We had so much fun with First Nazarene Church in Sacramento this year providing those great folks with the live animals for thier Nativity schene. Chili was Dominic the Donkey one day and now he is the humble Donkey in the stable where Baby Jesus is born. OH what fun.

Dominic The Donkey News 10 Coats for kids drive and The End 107.9

2008-01-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those out of the ordinary days in the Pony Ride / Traveling Petting Zoo business. Our dear donkey Chili was the star of the show acting as Dominic the Donkey (he-haw he-haw). We were out at Sunrise Mall all morning collecting coats for kids for the News 10 Coats for kids drive with none other than Gavin (AKA Santa) from "The Wake Up Call". Gavin and Dayne and quite a few other of the great folks from The End were out there and what a great group of people!! They are truly interested in thier listeners and the response they recieved in terms of coats was phenomenal!!
Chili was acting as Dominic the Donkey (from a fun song that was played on 107.9 for most of the month). People came out in droves to get thier picture taken with Dominic (AKA Chili) and Santa (Gavin). Pictures can be seen on http://www.endonline.com/ .

Channel 10 was there filming our little guy.