Pets are people, too

This is Rupert.....he was rescued 3 years ago. He and his litter mates were found in a trailer park and were being cared for by one of the residents. She successfully adopted all 6 of the kittens out He has been a great buddy to .....

Stewie, who was rescued 4 years ago when he was found by a vet friend of mine at her hospital, Yorba Regional. He had giardia, so he had to be quarantined at her house, which was next to my barn. She made me meet him and I fell in love. Jason didn't want another cat at that time, but I convinced him. Now Stewie LOVES Jason.

And last, but certainly, not least...is my beautiful Girl (Cowgirl). Her mom was surrendered to Red Bucket Rescue back in 2009. They had no idea that her mom, Crystal in Dunn, was pregnant. Cowgirl was born to Red Bucket Rescue in 2010. My previous barn owner owned her until she was 2 1/2 when she offered her to me to be her new mom. I wasn't looking for a young horse, let alone a mare. However, something about her made me take on the challenge of raising and training her....which I am still doing 6 years later. LOL!! She has taught me more about myself and how to be a better human than anything else in life.

 

TFPU, HBR. What a brood! Nice to hear the story behind your lovelies. Ya mean Jason's not always right?!?!

 

LMAO!!!

 

Love Cowgirls coloring! Sometimes the animal chooses us and we learn later that it was meant to be
I grew up riding western and sometimes competed in barrel racing and timed trail rides..I miss my horse but not the work and the $$$! Kudos to you for all of those great rescues!

 

I love cats, but my wife is strongly allergic to them. We had a stray that adopted us a few years ago when he found he could climb onto our roof and sleep in a warm corner of our master bedroom porch. He was in bad shape when he showed up - deaf, underweight, and worms. I dewormed him, and got him eating decent food, and got a comfy cat bed for him. Took about a year before he let me touch him, and then every morning I would open the door, he would walk into our bedroom, do one lap, and then walk back out onto the porch which he used as his base for operations. He was skittish if I walked up to him, but if I was lying on the floor he would walk up to me and let me scratch his head and ears - but no other part of his body. One day he just walked off down the roof... and never came back. I checked all the shelters in the area, but he never showed up. My wife and I were much more upset about it than either of us were expecting. Our only solace is that his time with us was probably the most comfortable he had been in his life - and he certainly got much healthier. But we miss his little presence on our second floor patio

 

Nice work, G. That was pretty necky with an allergic wife, but you earned a load of karma.

 

Hi Sara! Thanks so much for that! I didn't know that you were a horse person as well. Horses have definitely been the most rewarding purchase ever....although, I keep paying and paying and paying. LOL! I also have a 27 year old Morgan gelding...I adopted him from a friend, so he's not really a rescue. On the contrary, he rescued me and does so every day
This is my handsome Licorice 10 years ago.


This is Licorice today. He's my trusty steed

 

Those rock solid gentle giants are the best, looks you got a good one! I had a 16 hand Quarter gelding, I could sit under him, lay on him..basically treat him like a sofa..he was the best. I got a few nice ribbons trail riding with him too. I think he lived to 26 or so...makes me tear up...he was my best friend. We lived in Agua Dulce and Monty Montana was our neighbor, our 4H riding group used his arena and he’d come hang out...what a neat man!

 

OMG!! I totally know what you mean about the relationship with them. Both of my kiddos are only 14.2. But Lici, my old man, is such an old, sweet and gentle soul. He is the perfect first horse. He's so solid and bombproof. It's just that he got a bone spur 8 years ago which turned into full blown ringbone. It's been a heartwrenching road trying to figure out how much or little to do with him. He's pretty much retired now, but I do ride him bareback at least one a week. He's like a comfortable old shoe...I just love this boy to pieces!! I can do whatever with him...I trust him completely. My sassy 8 year old though , but I love her in a completely different way than my boy. Cowgirl and I are learning together and the bond is getting stronger all the time. Horses and just awesome!
That's so cool that you did some trail riding competitions. I just enjoy my kids for my own pleasure trail rides

 

Nice!! Horses are freaking awesome, quite literally my favorite animal! You’re so lucky to have a few good ones, I’m sure you work your buns off to keep them but they’re so worth it! My twin sister is breaking into the endurance side of riding, she’s hoping for Tevis someday...yikes! She’s a hardcore Arabian mama, I’m proud of her drive and hard work.
Hope to meet you some day Suzanne!

 

Biologically there are two of you!?!

 

Yep, I have a duplicate, mua ha ha...
But seriously,I do and she’s in Nor Cal

 

Maybe the other one stands on her feet - you know - to balance things out in the universe.
I'm just kidding @mountaingirl sara.

 

No such luck, she likes to be upside down too besides... who needs balance anyways

 

That's so awesome! I love that you have a twin
Yes, I am so lucky, blessed and grateful for my equine children. I don't have human children (Jason didn't want any ..which I was totally fine with), so I have horses instead...which are just as expensive and as much work as kids. It's just this way, Jason doesn't have to deal with them...lol!
Yes, indeed, I look forward to meeting you some day too, Sara! We could ride bikes AND horses together!

 

Meh, kids are over rated...I’m totally kidding! Whatever/ whoever you put your heart into is you’re prerogative! Good on you for not just going with what’s expected of us humans and doing YOU!!!
I’m totally down with either kind of ride! I’ll be back on the mtb soon and we’ll connect!

 

Can't wait!

 

Awwwww, it's getting all warm and fuzzy up in here!!!! Hugs!!!

 

When our children Courtney and Dylan were 5 and 2 they wanted a dog. My wife wanted an Australian Shepperd like she had growing up. So... we went to the local pet store and bought a cute small fluffy Aussie. They named him Quigley. After 4-5 years I re-named him the bark-o-matic 1000. We couldn't walk him or give him enough attention to get him to stop. He barked at everything all the time. One day I came home and said to my wife " It's me or the dog you pick dammit !! " Her response.. " don't be so quick! " with her hand on her hip. I eventually won the battle and my brother took our Aussie. I can finally sleep again. A year goes by and my family says " we want another dog " Hmmm. Panic overcame me. I quickly got on the internet and researched what kind of dog can I live with. What kind of 'quiet' dog can I live with. Well.. here they are. This is Jax and Ginger and is our second set of Basenji's ( barkless dogs ) over the last 20 years. Both were "returns" from previous owners for various reasons.

 

This here is Rusty. He's a Dorkie (Dachshund/Yorkie mix) that we rescued about a year and a half ago. I never thought I'd have a little dog, and never much cared for them, but my daughter picked him out. He's a pretty awesome little dude, and I think is a big dog trapped in a little dog's body. He's crazy fast, and his best friend is a Malinois that was adopted after being trained, but not making the final cut as a K9.

 

Nice, self-less work, Matt. A good, portable size


Retribution is a b!tch...where do ya think the little gray girl learned this dominating behavior???

 

Oh that face

 

The recipient doesn’t seem to mind

 

Our idiot neighbors moved and left there female feline behind. Roaming the neighborhood she got knocked up. Landed at my house to have kittens. Now seven weeks old. Might keep a couple but some have to go.

 

Greg, thanks for being a decent inhabitant of the planet. You’re a good man.


@mountaingirl sara: Yep. With limitations!

 

We all have our tipping points

 

The tigers look cool!

 

We adopted her as a kitten and she's one of the best cats ever.

 

This can’t be true! Idiot neighbors never move.

 

Stunning markings! Nice addition to your family and the thread, @kazlx