Sally Ann Cheyne 1/31/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/31/21

Special Guests visit

Welcoming guests from a local assisted living facility is my favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/28/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/28/21

Family visits are our bread and butter

Family visits are our bread and butter. This funny expression means our main, steady source of income to feed our animals at Cheyne Ranch is the family appointments where we share our animals with one family at a time!

And by family, we welcome every imaginable type of family and small friend group! Heck, we've even had family members come together who don't even like each other

Support local, small, agricultural businesses and bring the kids for some outdoor non-screen learning time. I'll happily tell you about other outdoor opportunities for family fun too!

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/25/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/25/21

Lucy is 23 today!

Lucy is 23 today! On Jan. 25th 1998, Lucy was born! I kept asking her all day if she remembered that fateful day, although she hasn't been very forthcoming yet. We went for a birthday walk, after enjoying some homemade cookies. Happy birthday our strong chill mare, we sure do love and appreciate you!

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/22/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/22/21

Hand-washing station

I made this! This was one of those Pinterest inspired projects, I thought - I can do that! I started the project right - I asked someone much smarter than me to help me plan (thank you Stephanie), she drew me a diagram. Then I thought, this will be a $20 project because I have the barrel! and some left-over PVC pipe!

In the end, it cost around $100, it took a whole bunch of banging head against keyboard moments, and approximately 14 trips to Home Depot. I switched to copper pipe for some reason? And, in true form, I didn’t exactly finish it. I think it needs to be topped off with some prettier rock, or even some flowers? And the faucet is kinda spray-ey. I’m just thrilled we have a place to wash our hands near the playground.

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/8/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/8/21

On the mend and Funny video

Pearl is feeling better! Her 2 front feet were so sore with laminitis she could barely move this past week. The vet assessed her and fortunately, her coffin bones have not rotated. This good news is the acute crisis of her laminitis episode has passed. However now we need to address the root cause which is basically... Pearl eats too much and too much of her diet is high in starches / sugar. So Pearl will be eating ONLY hay that has been soaked (soaking removes starches / sugars in the hay). We need to make sure she eats NO treats, no fresh grass, no "rich" hay. This means no more apples for Pearl! Oh Pearl, I'm sorry girl, you and me both. Being a sugar lover has rough consequences.

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/7/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/7/21

DNA Dog Results!

I splurged on a thing and bought 2 doggy DNA tests on black Friday. I chose the company, EmbarkVet, because they have the most breeds available and they also guestimate a “Wolfiness” score (more on that later).

First: Lila - We have been debating and guessing what dog breeds make up our dog, Lila, since we adopted her as a puppy over 8 years ago. We were so sure she was a little Australian Shepherd, maybe some Great Pyrenees. We did the doggy DNA test and her results came back...

She is a lot of things - the most prominent breed at 23% is Chow Chow!! She also is a little Chihuahua, Australian Cattle dog, and Siberian Husky and other breeds too!

Second: Laredo - Scotty was Laredo’s owner since April 2019, and he was convinced Laredo was a wolf. Or at least half wolf. We’ve talked with several people and prior to adopting Laredo, we were confident he was NOT a wolf, but the peace of mind would only come from a DNA test.

Laredo is a BIG dog, 110 pounds. He looks like a Shepherd, but most Shepherds weigh-in well under 100 pounds. His DNA test came in and his breed results explain his size! He is 70% Shepherd and 25% Alaskan Malamute!! The remaining part is the catch-all for unknown, called SuperMutt.

Interestingly, Laredo’s “Wofiness” score is 8%, which is much higher than Lila’s score of 0.3%. That is a pretty unscientific score, and we are pleased to have our guess about his breed confirmed.

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/4/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/4/21

Laminitis

The hardest part about taking care of animals is watching them suffer when they are sick. Miniature horses (minis) are notorious for being susceptible to overeating, which result in all kinds of potential health problems. I thought since I know this health concern, I would make sure our minis were always fed in healthy moderation and never have access to too much sugar. Unfortunately, Pearl is in so much pain right now, she is foundering (also known as laminitis). The cause is uncertain, but the vet and I suspect she got into an excessive amount of big horses' hay. For now, we are keeping her comfortable, trying our best to manage her pain and consulting with the vet more this week. I'll keep you posted, but her prognosis is "guarded."

Sally Ann Cheyne 1/1/21 Sally Ann Cheyne 1/1/21

Happy 2021

Hold your head up partner, 2020 just bit the dust. The new year is here, it's 2021 or bust!

Lucky us! Look who is helping us offer family & small group visits at Cheyne Ranch - our friend Brynn! She is delightful, responsible, knowledgeable, a lover of animals, kids, even reptiles, and way more fun than me. Brynn will be helping on weekends and we are so excited!