Pura Vida Ranch

02/11/2025

This amazing young woman gave us the most beautiful gift! Claire, (one of our incredible 4H kiddos Tracy Gibbons) made this absolutely gorgeous wood cutout of our sweet boy Rio. She designed it, cut it out, stained it and assembled it into this amazing piece of art! We have proudly hung it above our fireplace in a place of honor. Thank you so much Claire! Love you bunches sweet one! Keep on being the most incredible you!

02/04/2025

This Saturday my sweet hubby and I spent the entire afternoon digging out our paddock gates. For anyone who has ever worked on a farm in winter, you know that gates buried in snow are horrid to try and get open and closed. And we have had over 10 feet of accumulated snow just in January! One of my great pleasures in life has now become free swinging gates in the winter! Oh ya, baby!

I think that yellow ball in the sky is the sun? It's been so long I'm not sure if I remember that correctly? Can someone please confirm?

That blue circle shows Rio the supervisor of all things paddock related. Or maybe he is just trying to figure out if it's worth the effort to make a run for the open fields.



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01/13/2025

STARTING THIS SATURDAY! Come on out! Leave your cell phones at home and learn about horses, ponies, mini-horses and mini-Highland cattle! Different activities every week! Register online at Vida Ranch.

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas to all! Wishing you much joy this advent season! 🎄✨️❄️❤️

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from all of us at Pura Vida Ranch! Wishing you all the joys of this advent season!! 🎄✨️❄️❤️

12/10/2024

The Nose Knows! Your challenge is to match the nose to the horse! The noses included are (in alphabetical order :) Belle, Brooke, Dan, Meadow, Molly, Paddy, and Rio! Good luck and may the nose be with you! 👃🐴🤠

12/08/2024

Grateful:
This ranch. I never, ever thought I would live in a place this beautiful. When my job at the pregnancy centre in Guelph came to a close. I knew in my soul that there was something more that God wanted me to do. Then my brother passed away and life took some unexpected turns. And now, here we are living on this land that has been in my family for years. This land that surprises me every day with its beauty. I am overwhelmed by the gift this property is to me, my family and the people that come to visit. They feel the difference here. They feel the presence of God here and the peace that He brings to this place. We are so very, very blessed. Thank you Dad, for leaving this land to me. I think you knew that one day it would bring honor to God, to you and to our family.

12/05/2024

Two additions that came to us in February of this year are Sadie and Luna. After losing Crosby in September of 2023 at 14 years old and Gracie in November of 2023 at 15 years old, our house seemed really empty. We were fortunate enough to get these two crazy sisters from Timeless Companions in Elora. They are Bernese/Poodle mixes and they fill our house with joy, fur snowballs and lots of cuddles. The girls have been into the hospital to visit momma and now they visit her in longterm care and they are absolute angels while in there. Greeting all the residents with gentleness and kisses. They are truly special these two girls and a huge blessing to our family!

12/04/2024

Momma and daughter. Brooke (the bay mare) and Meadow (chestnut mare). These beautiful girls came to us from Count Your Blessings Farm (yes there is a theme here, lol). Brooke is a 15-year-old Canadian/Arab mare and Meadow is a 13-year-old Canadian/Arab/Paint. Brooke and Meadow are a bonded pair that had never been apart before being sent to auction and picked up by CYB. When they arrived they were terrified when separated. They are now learning to be a part of the herd and that being apart is okay. I'm so proud of these girls. They are kind and willing and figuring out that life here on the ranch is a good thing.

12/01/2024

Grateful for my momma. She's a woman of faith and a believer in family and community. She overcame a massive heart attack in 2018, that left one side of her heart paralyzed. She walked out of hospice because she was in a state of recovery, not death. She has outlived her husband, her son, her brother, one sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law. Not to mention recovering from a broken hip and moving from a retirement home into long-term care. She is 91 years old and continues to be a miracle. One of the toughest ladies I know she is an inspiration to many and still has a very snappy sense of humor when least expected! She supported us in building a Horse Facilitated Development program and is always telling people about the horses and her two "grand-puppies". I am grateful for the lessons learned at her feet. Lessons in strength, loyalty, faith, perseverance, love of country living and the importance of family. Momma Jewel you are amazing!

11/29/2024

The last two members of our Candy Crew have arrived! Jellybean is the little black mini-gelding (about 9 years old) with the blue eye and Cinnamon Hearts is the little pinto gelding (about 3 years old). They came from the same herd as Snickers and Taffy and will join in on visiting retirement homes and working with people who may be intimidated by the biggies. We are thrilled to have them as part of our healing herd!

11/27/2024

Meet Snickers! Snickers is a 9-ish-year-old mini-gelding, that came to us from Count Your Blessings Farm. He LOVES food, especially treats, but he's not so fond of human contact. We are slowly working with him to learn that humans are okay and he doesn't need to be afraid. Once he has become more comfortable here, Snickers will join the other ponies and minis visiting retirement homes. He really has the sweetest eyes!!

11/25/2024

Grateful: I'm so grateful for this man. Juan's dream was to live in a condo and have no outdoor responsibilities. When I suggested moving back to where I grew up and running a Horse Facilitated Development Ranch, he didn't even blink. Just said, "Yes, of course". He had never even been around horses before we brought Honey and Paddy to the boarding stable. And then Paddy broke out in abscesses from having Strangles and he was such a sick little pony. We took over caring for three equines in quarantine and disinfecting everything, every time we went. Juan never complained. He saved my life when he realized I was going into shock from a bleeding ulcer and called 911 with about 10 minutes to spare or I would have been gone. He has stood by his children and my girl too. Through some pretty rough stuff and never stopped supporting us. I couldn't do what we are doing here without him. He stands beside me through it all and believes in what we are doing here. A nicer guy you will never meet, I promise you that. He is the best second chance I have ever had and the only one I will ever want. Te amo mucho bebe! Gracias for always supporting me, no matter how crazy the plan gets!😍

11/22/2024

Everyone meet Taffy! He's an adorable grade pony with the sweetest personality. He came into Count Your Blessings with a group of mini-horses and he is around 2 or 3 years old. A friend's daughter will be working with him over the winter to help develop his manners and also to help him learn the kids are cool and can be lots of fun to hang out with. Taffy along with the other minis will hopefully be making their way to area retirement homes as therapy ponies.

11/20/2024

It's been a bit since we chatted about our Herd, and we have some new additions. Let's take some time to update who is new and who is just flat-out amazing! (They are actually all amazing, but I am a wee bit biased :)

Please meet Lennox Lewis our 7-month-old mini Highland bull calf. He is blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. But that doesn't stop him from being totally adorable and completely evasive when he doesn't want to be caught! He is a gift to my sweet daughter who loves Highlands and never actually thought she would have one. She is a big believer in "cow cuddles" and their therapeutic value to people who may be a bit fearful of horses. So that will be Lennox's job when he's older. We will be looking for another mini Highland as a buddy for Lennox so if you know of any that need a home please let us know. 🐴🐮

11/17/2024

Gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

We are so grateful for these horses that have touched our lives so deeply, in the time that they were here. We have promised all of our equines a soft landing and when the time comes they will leave us, grazing beside their best friend. It's the least we can do.

11/16/2024

We have had some amazing light shows here at Pura Vida Ranch! Maybe that's why I got distracted from keeping y'all up to date on what's happening! I'm working on doing better folks!

11/07/2024