Sam

Sam on a "walkabout" greeting Rocky, a beautiful Arabian gelding in 2024.

November 11, 2024 was a very sad day at the ranch...

Diane DiFonzo's long time horse buddy, best horse friend and family member for almost 29 years had to be euthanized to end his pain. He was almost 31 years old. Sam had blessed Diane throughout his long life and she had taken such good care of him. He had been living here on the ranch since September 2018, but more recently he was having more and more trouble getting up, and he was losing weight, so we took care of that by turning him loose on the ranch, to make visits to see his horse friends, lie in the grass (when there was grass) roll in the soft dirt of the round pen and just go wherever he wanted to go - and then he would go back to his own paddock and eat, and gain weight! He was very content! Diane treasured Sam. He hurt his knee a few days ago and the cut had gone deep, and also into the knee joint. Diane started his treatment and things were looking better, then today he went down and he went into shock, so our vet said it was his time, to take care of his best interests and let him go.

In the first photo he is a beautiful young gelding, in the second photo Sam was about 29 years old, lying in the green grass of springtime behind the round pen, and in the 2022 photo Sam is the horse at the back by the fence napping under the tree. He is with his sweet friend Chexy, who we lost 2 years ago.

This is the hardest part of loving our horses, but at least we can end their pain and send them over the Rainbow Bridge. Maybe one day we'll see all our beloved pets again and we'll all be young and pain free! What a thought. In the meantime Diane is grieving Sam's huge loss.

Files coming soon.

Gitana

Gitana was our daughter Rochelle's mare and she lived at the ranch for several years, on and off. Rochelle took good care of her. We occasionally used her as a lesson horse for young kids. At 29 years old Gitana was sore in one front foot, her teeth were bad and she was losing weight - and even though we fed her high calorie feed and alfalfa pellet mash with beet pulp, she really did not respond to whatever we fed her. In August 2024, Rochelle made the hard decision to put Gitana down.

Photo is of Gitana, the palomino mare at the feeder, with Chexy and Sam in the background.

Miss Chex Point, aka Chexy

Chexy was without a doubt the kindest sweetest mare you could ever know! She worried about her long time paddock mate and best friend Dolly - who could care less about Chexy, unless Chexy wasn't there, then all hell broke loose with Dolly! Chexy was kindness itself and was a wonderful mother to 8 foal's over her lifetime. Her last filly is shown in the photos and she's gorgeous! After Dolly died in 2020, Chexy kept close company with Sam, a Thoroughbred gelding owned by Diane. She was as devoted to Sam as she had been to Dolly. At the age of about 32 years she suddenly started to loose a lot of weight and had leg issues, so we turned her loose every day to wander around the ranch, squeal at some of the horse inmates, rub her butt on her favorite tree, and just do whatever she wanted to do, and she started eating much better and gained some weight back. She was extremely content to be loose and have choices where to spend her days. When a visiting APHA mare named Aries came here while her human Mom was on vacation - Chexy made it her job to stand with her every day to keep Aries company. That was our beautiful kind Chexy! At night she had a paddock alone so she could eat and not have other horses steal her food. She really had no teeth left to chew, so she got all kinds of Senior feed as soft pellets and soaked alfalfa hay pellets - but she always preferred her leafy alfalfa- leaving the unchewable stems.

On July 31st 2022 at 5.15 am I found her flat out on the ground! She wanted to go out the gate and she walked straight to a soft area and lay down flat out again! No rolling or looking at her flank - as a typical colic, so I decided to leave her alone desperately hoping whatever the issue was, it would resolve itself. I called the vet and she examined her and found Chexy had a twisted colon. She had a stoic nature and didn't thrash around at all, as is usual. We did the only thing we could do to end her pain. We will never forget our kind and so special Chexy!

I know horse lovers will agree with me - if the world had more humans as nice and as kind as our Chexy there would be no more crime, no murders, no more hideous wars!!

**Humans could learn an awful lot from the animals we are privileged to care for, love and enjoy, and have in our lives. They have no negative agenda, they just want us to feed them and care for them so they can please us. They love us - no matter what!

Miss Chex Point, aka Chexy. We had no choice but to make the decision to euthanize her July 31st. 2022 to end her pain from a twisted colon

Chexy and Dolly who were devoted paddock mates for years. Dolly is shown here at 35 years of age. Chexy 31 years.

AQHA Ivanhoe Munequita, aka "Dolly".

Ivanhoe Munequita, aka "Dolly". She was the last living daughter of our stallion Doc's Sneaky Pete - AQHA Reserve World Champion Working Cowhorse .

Dolly was an NCHA money earner in her own right. She had 3 foals, two colts survived and both are still with us, Twobluesneakers and Lilbitblue Sneaky, but her first baby, a perfect filly, was sadly born dead. Dolly was a phenomenal mother!

At the ripe old age of 35 years we made the hard but necessary decision to euthanize her on May 18, 2020, because she was in endless pain from arthritis. She doesn't hurt anymore. We have such a treasure of memories of this "little giant" of a horse. She was the smartest and most broke horse I have ever had the privilege of riding. Dolly is the reason we built our ranch! Whenever I see a green pasture I think how much Dolly would have loved her life there!

We loved and respected her and she'll never be forgotten!

* Photos below are of Dolly and her two boys and her devoted paddock mate Chexy. One photo shows Dolly winning a major cutting competition at 17 years old.

Dolly winning a major women's cutting competition at the age of 17 years.

Our much loved big boy "Beau"

August 3, 2018 We had a very sad day at the ranch today.

We had a very sad day at the ranch today, August 3, 2018. Beau the gentle giant of a horse we all loved - had to be euthanized, because he was suffering with no prospects of any improvement. He may have had a fractured hip or a dislocated hip, but as he was so large the scan was not clear. He weighed about 2,300+/- lbs. and he fitted the nature perfectly of the gentle giant Percheron. He was the gentlest and kindest horse I've ever known. Holly rescued him 4 years ago from a kids camp in San Diego County. He came here with a muscle wasting disease and was extremely thin. When he arrived here I thought he was going to fall with every step he took off the transporter. It took us a long time to figure out the ideal diet for him and stop his endless diarrhea. He had horrible dental problems and we had two teeth pulled. We fed him soaked timothy/alfalfa cubes and shredded beet pulp with Rice Bran Pellets. Within 4 months of arriving he gained approx. 800 lbs. Holly absolutely loved Beau! We all did. He was 26 years old. The last 4 years of his life Beau was treated with respect, caring and love. He gave more than he received. His companion Atta Girl, a lovely little AQHA mare with horrible arthritis, who came from the same camp, will miss him terribly. Photo shown is Holly riding Beau on the trails with friends.

August 3, 2018

Atta Girl Doc

Atta Girl Doc was one of the loveliest little AQHA mares to be around. Gentleness was Atta Girl! She was in pain when she arrived at the ranch with Beau - both had been rescued from a local dude ranch where they had been not cared for well. She had extreme arthritis in her legs. The pain showed constantly on her face. Her rescuer Holly gave both horses the retirement they both deserved and we loved both of them. Atta Girl outlived Beau by a few months, but euthanizing her was eventually the only way to end her awful pain. She had several foals, and she was 29 years old when her pain finally ended.

Atta Girl Doc was the sweetest easiest little AQHA mare. Superbly bred - Doc Bar, King Fritz. She suffered from horrible arthritis.

Lacey

LACEY

With great sadness we made the decision in September 2015 to have Lacey euthanized. She no longer wanted to make the effort to stand up, and at the ripe old age of 30 years, we took care of her best interests, fed her a big last favorite meal and said a sad "Goodbye" to a real character, a loved, grand old lady- who I will always remember. She lived here for 6 years.

Caroline.