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Treasures from Heaven Ranch
Photos
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Midnight Mirage [8 Images]
Mira: Pygmy Goat kid
Mira came to us from some pretty rough circumstances as well. A few days before I went to purchase her, her mom as well as a couple other goats were killed in a dog attack. I bought Mira, knowing full well that a goat kid at nearly three weeks old, could pose some issues; namely that of bottle feeding. She had been used to nursing off her mom since she had been born, and so I knew that she would be reluctant to nurse off the bottle. Adding to these concerns, was the fact that she was now beginning to nibble at hay. It took me nearly three weeks to get her to realize that she needed the bottle that I was offering; by this time, she was battling pneumonia and diarrhea that threatened to take her away from us, both conditions which were brought on by her refusal to eat enough nourishment to keep her strong and healthy. She was treated with antibiotics; both homeopathic, and regular. She bounced back, and started gaining weight and strength. She is now a sassy little goat, who wriggles her way into everyone's hearts quickly because she is so cute and has a "look at me and ONLY me!" attitude.
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Ministry [7 Images]
This is where I will put all pictures pertaining to ministry. Currently, I will be working with the local Evangelical Covenant church with the High Schoolers. I am eager and anticipating great things in the ministry there. They have a brand new youth pastor, who has a lot of new ideas, and the youth are getting excited about the new year of youth groups. We will be meeting in the next few weeks to do some creative planning for the new year and finishing the brand new youth rooms!
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Misc. photos... [8 Images]
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Mystical Rain [12 Images]
Mystic is a very special girl. When I got her, I thought it was just 'sympathy' that drew me to her, as she came with a horrible leg injury. The top of her knee had been ripped open by the antics of a nasty herdmate. The wound was deep and large, and she had dried blood and mucous from the injury all the way down to her hoof. She had a sweet calm demeanor, but at the time, I thought it was more because she was in pain, than that of her real nature. Her face was wrought with a fevered pain, that begged and pleaded "please, get me out of here!". So I brought her home to live with me. Taking with her a younger doe, named Mira. Now, usually older Pygmy does won't tolerate the antics of a baby that has just lost it's mom. Mira wanted to nurse, and Mystic allowed her to try many times, and at the most would gently lift her hind legs and walk away.
Mystic's recovery began very precariously. I brought her home, and immediately began a regimine of Pennicillin shots, and thoroughly cleansed her wound with Betadine mixed with a bit of antibacterial dishsoap. She cried out as I snipped off the hanging flesh off her wound, and carefully pulled out straw and shavings out of the depths of the gaping injury. I inspected the wound very meticulously, and was grateful to see that there appeared to be only muscle damage; I saw no strings of white, to indicate that there were tendons exposed or damaged. Mystic wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and didn't want to move about, which for a goat, spells bad news. I gave her some aspirin every couple hours to help ease her pain, and hopefully encourage her to eat and move about some. If she were to stay down for too long, her rumen would shut down. I made sure to keep the best hay in front of her and the little Mira, who also refused to eat much.
Mystic started losing weight, and by the second week after her injury occured, still had little mobility in the leg. I was beginning to wonder if I had missed some damage when I had thoroughly cleaned it after bringing her home. "Perhaps I had missed a torn tendon? But, no, I only saw damaged muscle." I tried to assure myself. The swelling was gone by this time, and the wound was rapidly healing, but I wondered if there was an infection deep within the knee that was preventing her from healing totally. I toyed with taking her to the vet for a thorough exam, but decided to give her another week and see what happened. The end of that week drew rapidly nearer, and my baby still wasn't bearing weight on the injured leg. The wound itself was closed up, and the surface area it covered was about the size of a dime. One night, just before I had decided to take her to the vet to rule out further unseen injury, I prayed even harder for her. I didn't really have a whole lot of money to pay for a large vet bill, and prayed that if I would have to pay a large sum, that Mystic would have to be walking in the morning. I couldn't pay hundreds of dollars to get her leg fixed, and though I would have should it have come to that, God answered my prayer. The next morning when I went out to see the girls, I was greeted for the first time, with a four legged Mystic. She was gingerly putting weight on the leg, but she was standing on all for feet. From that day on, she hasn't looked back.
Her attitude is still very kind and affectionate. She never pushes Mira around, and the two are like mom and daughter; inseperable. Mystic follows me everywhere, and has decided that I am the only one she is going to truly bond with. She runs away from everyone else, and when I am gone, skulks in a corner of the pen and refuses to move until I come back. I think that comes from a certain depth of love that is only wrought on by a rescueing from death. She is grateful that I didn't turn her away, and has devoted her affection to me in payment for saving her life.
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Sophie [10 Images]
Our canine friend: also known as our BFM...beloved family mutt.We adopted Sophie from a nearby No-Kill animal shelter. She had been one puppy of ten that had been dropped off in a box near the shelter. Her brothers and sisters had been adopted soon after being released for adoption, leaving Sophie to await finding a forever home. For months she had to live a 'kennel' life. She knew no freedom, nor authority. When I met her, I knew she was the dog for us. She is very intelligent, and very soft, so she learns quickly with very little discipline needed. She will be beginning her Canine Good Citizen certification as soon as one is available, and will be used in Obedience, and Agility competitions once her training is complete. She will also be used as a Therapy Dog to aid in our ministry outreach. However, Sophie's main use, is to be our much loved house dog, and she is fulfilling that deed very well!
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Sunset Pride [22 Images]
5 year old Black Bay Quarab Gelding.
Pride is what I consider, our most useful ministry tool. He has not yet begun his 'ministry' but he is the foundation upon which I will begin my outreach to both youth and horses. I purchased Pride a few months ago, and have been using Natural Horsemanship on him to gain his trust and obedience. He is becoming a very willing partner, and once his training is complete, I will begin using him to reach out to some of the 'unreachable' kids in my community.
During the summer months, Pride and I worked solely on ground-work, because he was very fearful of alot of new things, and still didn't really trust me to not harm him. Then, just two days before Thanksgiving, I was finally able to get on him for the very first time. Since then I have been teaching how to apply everything we learned on the ground, undersaddle. His attitude has changed so much in the last few months, that in alot of ways he is 'unrecognizable' compared to what he was back in February when I first met him. I am very proud of him; he is everything I wanted in a project horse, and I believe he will shape up to be very good at therapy work as well.
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TFH Flickering Light [4 Images]
Flicka is a yearling Barbados Blackbelly sheep. She was a rescue animal, and is still very shy around people; although if you sit long enough in the pen she will come up to investigate. She will also eat grain from your hand if you are slow in offering it; any fast motions scare her away. She wasn't handled much (which accounts for her flightiness), nor was she cared for properly, so we are currently trying to put weight on her after getting rid of a large worm load. She will be bred later on this fall, unless she is already bred. Her lambs will be bottle raised (to ensure their gentleness)and used in ministry before they are sold, or included into our breeding program.
Edited to update: In November Flicka disappeared from her pen (a gate was left open while we were gone at a youth conference) and she was never found. We were very dismayed at her loss.
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The Dorns [7 Images]
My husband and I. Without Adam, I will never have a successful ministry; we are a team, with the same goal in mind: to reach as many kids with the word of God as we can!
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