Our Animals

REBA:  THE LODGE DOG

Reba is our newest dog adoptee.  She was acquired from one of the local Humane Societies on Feb. 5, 2015.  She had lots of specifications to meet before she could be considered.  You know, being a lodge dog is a very important job – so if you are not naturally social, happy, well-behaved – well, your job could be in peril.  We also personally wanted a mid-size (she’s a tad smaller than we were hoping for, but nothing is perfect) female with enough hair that she did not need to be ‘blanketed’ to go outside, able to keep up with the horses when we go riding, … you get the idea.  She had big shoes to fill, too, because our previous dog had been pretty ‘perfect’.

We have now had her long enough to know she is a keeper.  The guests have taken to her – to the point of offering to take her ‘off our hands’ if we chose not to keep her.  She is adapting to the lodge rules quite rapidly, although she can still have issues with wanting to lick your hand  or trying to steal your food.  Yes, she is a thief; leaving the trash baskets and things alone … until you leave the room.  But, she is getting better and she makes us laugh.  That’s the best part of her job!

RANGER MUSTANG (RIP)*

Mustang in the Mist
Photo by Lee Very

Ranger is a BLM Mustang from northern Nevada.   He had run wild for eight years, before being taken to the Canon City Correctional Facilities in Colorado for training.  Having been deemed too old for training, he and Shadow (a nine year old) were sold to a wrangler from Estes Park, where they were allowed to run wild for another year.  He is one of the first two horses we purchased in December, 1999.   Being a ‘vintage model’, he is now 31 years old, Bill’s best bud – and one of the best trail horses ever!  We have lots of ‘training’ stories; mostly how these two Mustangs trained us.

*We lost Ranger in December of 2018 to a bout of colic, at 32.

JESSE (RIP) *

Shadow, our other BLM Mustang had a tragic accident in early April, 2001 and broke a leg.  For Mother’s Day, Bill got me another horse; this time a five month old Mustang/draft cross filly from northwest Colorado.   She followed me everywhere and soon became known as “Juanita’s big black and white dog”!  Being a true gray, she is now pure white and has been my best bud since.  She is all attitude, but I depend on her to keep us safe in the back-country.  We’ve covered a lot of miles together all across the U.S.!

*Jesse had EMS (equine metabolic syndrome – like type 2 diabetes in humans) and weight was a constant issue for us.  It slowly affected her feet and they finally became too painful for her.  I made the very difficult decision to let her go in July of 2017, at the age of 16 1/2.  She was the best equine friend EVER!

WASHOE

Washoe is a Mustang/Arab cross gelding from the Sand Wash Basin area in northwest Colorado.  In 2003, I purchased him from a neighbor when he was 18 months old and had a friend help start him.  He is listed as a blue roan, meaning another gray who has turned white, so I had a matched pair of white horses (hard to tell them apart), that I hoped to teach to drive – someday.  He is our ‘spare tire’, or pack horse, whichever is needed when we are traveling.

Washoe is now 22 years old (in 2022) and still the best the go-to steady-eddy horse.

ALLOY

Alloy BLM Mustang

Another BLM Mustang.  He came into our lives in January of 2017, as it was obvious Bill needed a younger horse.  It had become too difficult for Ranger to handle the mountainous terrain. (You know, horses in their 30’s are comparable to humans in their 90’s.)  Alloy was 7 at the time and had been through the Extreme Mustang Makeover, a 90 day training program with a final competition at Ft. Worth, TX., where he placed 5th out of 40 horses.  After a bit of a personality clash with his new adopter, Bill took him on.  It meant a trip to San Diego, CA to pick him up and a fun visit with friends all along the way.  He is a classic bay; 14.1 hand dark brown with black points in all the right places – legs, tail, mane – and no chrome (no white markings except his BLM brand).  Check the horse blog for some funny stories.

PHOENIX:  THE DOVE (RIP)

Phoenix on her nest.

Phoenix is a white dove that we adopted in August of 1999.  She was found by some butterfly researchers in Rocky Mt. National Park.  One of the gentlemen had owned domestic birds and recognized that she would not be able to survive the night alone in the park.  He said she was following them, begging for food.  He put her in a bag and brought her to a leather shop we had in town at that time.  The owner of the shop knew us and that we had an empty cage occupying a spot in the Lodge.  He called and asked if we would adopt the bird.  She has been a bright spot in our lives ever since, and has laid several hundred – yes, hundred – eggs.  She does a lot of flirting with the bird in the mirror.

We lost Phoenix to old age on Mar. 21, 2016.  We had her wonderful voice and company for 16.5 years!