A lifelong passion of mine has been the raising, care, and enjoyment of domestic livestock and household pets. Here is a glimpse of the many animals I have happily spent hours of my life beside, and the activities or skills I pursued through them.
For the entirety of my life I've held an infatuation with horses. My mother helped nurture my interest from a young age, enrolling me in horseback riding lessons. Although my time in the saddle has been sporadic over the years due to other interests or obstacles I've always returned to this passion of mine. In recent years I worked at a local stable to pay the lease on one of their horses. These pictures show my progress over the years in chronological order.
In 2nd grade my mother agreed to let me raise a goat with the intention that I would breed it once it reached maturity and sell the kids. I also joined a 4H club at the time and participated with my new Nigerian Dwarf goat. We ended up receiving her sister through another family who could no longer keep her. However, after a veterinary check they were diagnosed with a virus which prevented us from breeding them and Bonnie Bell and Spritz became family pets for the rest of their lives.
We've always had several household pets. My first pets were a rescue puppy and a barn cat I got as a kitten from my uncle in Michigan's upper peninsula. I've loved growing up in a house with dogs and cats, the comparative work they require is far outweighed by the enjoyment a young kid will get from these animal companions. About 4 years after the first two family dogs of my childhood passed on I received a surprise pure-bred border collie puppy. Since raising her I registered her in both the UKC and AKC (United and American kennel clubs) and have had success in beginner level showing. We have also bred her once to sell the puppies and are currently expecting a second litter.
Since before I was born we have kept a modest flock of egg laying chickens. I've invested varying amounts of time into them over the years with help from my dad. They provide enough free-range eggs it's been years since we've had to purchase any from a store. We've usually had between 20-40 hens and during the warmer months have a surplus of eggs. This led me at varying times to have a small operation selling eggs to neighbors or teachers at school. Several years ago I also competed through my 4H group with some of our chickens at our local county fair.