Our Lives Would Never be the Same

Our lives would never be the same.......... We began our journey from the southern coast of Oregon to the southeastern US. ALL of our animals made the trip with us. I looked into animal transport companies, but NONE of the companies GUARANTEED all animals would be delivered alive. I knew my animals and their needs and personalities best, so my husband and I invested in a custom built stock/horse trailer so ALL of our animals (horses, pigs, goats, sheep, dogs, barn cat) could make the cross country trip as safely and comfortably as possible. ALL of our animals have names; they are all pets and are dear family members, actually. When an animal crosses onto our property, it gets a collar, a name, and a safe place to live out the rest of it's life.

We weren't sure we would be able to afford to bring everyone. We actually contemplated NOT making the move because we didn't want to leave anyone behind. I promise each of my animals I will take care of it (he/she) to the best of my ability for the rest of my life. My burly looking, but tender hearted husband actually shares the same sentiment:). We spent an exorbitant amout of money getting health certificates for ALL of our animals so we could cross the US legally. Wooooooooooooh! That final bill from the vet almost sent us into a tail-spin. Uggggg..... The vets spent a day and a half chasing and capturing my 2 rescue pigs so they could be vaccinated, ear tagged, and get their blood work done. Half of the many thousand dollar vet bill was spent on 2 pigs I basically rescued....... I knew if I left them, noone else would care to spend the time and money dealing with them, and they would end up in someone's freezer. NOT HAPPENING to any of MY babies!!!

We started our trip leaving Oregon in late September, 2013. I love the Pacific North West, I LOVE THE PEOPLE and we have great friends there...... I just couldn't hack the "over" 120 inches of rain we were getting each year. The ground never seemed to dry out and I was dealing with mud-on-top-of-mud with all of the animals we have. The weather was wearing on my soul, and I longed for change and a better environment for my animals where we could get out of the mud. The trip out with the animals took almost 2 weeks. We had to find "horse hotels" and/or fairgrounds where the horses, goats, and sheep could stretch out and rest each night. The poor pigs were confined to my tack room for the entire trip because if I unloaded them, there was no way I would be able to "re-load" them again (they aren't small). My tackroom was TRASHED, to put it nicely:).

I loaded all of the animals up with electrolites each day because I knew they would not consume the amount of water to keep them properly hydrated and I didn't want any serious illnesses or deaths. THANKFULLY, everyone made it and we didn't experience any sickness or lameness issues. To put it mildly, the trip across country was HELL, and I would never want to do anything like it again, but I am glad I did. We travelled with 4 horses (all atleast 1/2 draft horse, and 1 full draft who doesn't tie), 10 goats, 2 sheep, 2 pigs, 1 barn cat, and 7 dogs. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

So..... That's where our journey begins on our small homestead. We decided to cut expenses, and buy a "tiny" home. We realize what is important to US is our "family," which includes all of our animals. All of the excess "stuff," can be nice, but it comes and goes. "Family" is always there:). Our "family" even includes one expensive dairy goat I will never "rebreed" because her last kidding session almost killed her. Another includes a show quality sheep I will never rebreed because her last birthing almost killed her....... I reiterate that our animals are pets. We DO use some goats for milk and cheese, but only to the extent that they seem comfortable and healthy:). Is our hobby expensive? HECK YES! But, Hey....... What hobby isn't? It makes us happy, so that's how we focus our lives!!!