Roxanne’s Farm Story

Having a ranch and farm has been a dream of mine since I was six years old. My grandmother sent me to a farm camp in Sebastopol; I fell in love, immediately. I loved all the animals and taking care of them. It has been my tucked away dream-one of those dreams that I thought was not going to come to fruition. Nearly 50 years later, I am living my dream.

I was going through a very personally challenging and painful time in my life when I decided it was finally time to take a step to pursue my goal of having a horse. I first reached out to my friend, Scott, as I knew he had horses. I started riding and learning under him and took it quite seriously. Scott is a real cowboy and took his horses quite seriously. I admired that.

Learning how to work with horses, to care for them, and to tack them up is an education in and of itself. I was fortunate to learn by repetition with Scott to where I got more knowledgeable, comfortable, and at ease around caring for horses. I love being in their company. There is something that cannot be described of the benefit I feel from being in their company. Their instincts and sensitivity is remarkable. Working with Scott, I was led to working with my trainer, Tricia Yates.

After working side by side with Scott with his horses and him taking me under his wing and scolding me when I was not doing something right, I became empowered enough to pursue my dream of having my own horse. With the help of my trainer, who I highly recommend, I bought my first horse, Nugget; a beautiful Palamino Paint and Quarter Horse.

I cannot even begin to express how much Nugget has changed my life. I thought I was taking him under my wing when it was Nugget taking me under his. During that challenging time, I would go to Nugget, and he would just know in some eerily way. Even at times if I put my head down, he would press his forehead to mine. An unbelievable love and connection were born. I knew I would want him home with me. At that time, I had him at a stable and I would visit him daily.

Fortunately, I was able to buy a small ranch, not built for animals or horses, where I could see it, an amazing potential to have Nugget live at home with me and my existing animals, at that time was 2 dogs and a cat. Within months he was home. Nugget needed a buddy, as horses are social animals, and I was connected to a wonderful horse rescue SERRA, and I fostered Trigger. Trigger and Nugget immediately bonded.

Why am I doing all this? Why would I want to open my home to others? I am so incredibly thankful for the love I get to experience now with the 3 horses, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 27 chickens (of which 3 are roosters), and two incredibly funny pigs. I understand that not everyone has this kind of access and I want to be able to share this kind of magical connection with others. We, as humans, have so much to learn from animals. It is common for all the animals to roam around together, in peace.