Deepwater Ranch

11/18/2024

Please be aware. No haul ins for the time being here.

There have been two confirmed cases of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in Spokane County. EHM is the neurologic form of EHV-1 (rarely caused by EHV-4), which can cause fatal neurologic disease. The signs are often fever, ataxia (wobbly gait), lethargy, nasal discharge, urinary and f***l incontinence, but can also progress to being down and unable to rise. This virus can also cause abortions, most often in late pregnant mares, as well as respiratory disease. If your horse is possibly exposed, please contact your veterinarian; horses should be quarantined per state veterinarian guidelines, and temperatures taken twice daily.
This disease is spread by contact with contaminated surfaces such as feed and water buckets, on tack or human clothing, nose-to-nose contact, and there is airborne spread.
There is no vaccine to prevent this form of EHV-1; however — in an exposed premises, the vaccines for the other forms of EHV may decrease viral shedding and help prevent spread of infection. We recommend limiting hauling for non-emergent reasons and reducing stress, especially in immunocompromised horses, as this can increase risk of spreading the disease.
Here are links to resources regarding EHV-1/EHM:
https://aaep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EHV_FAQ_for_Owners_Final.pdf
https://www.equinediseasecc.org/handler/managedfilehandler.ashx?id=4&ext=pdf

10/13/2024

Love to see our facilities used to further all levels of horsemenship! Today we have Jennifer Ballard and Supercharge Performance Horses conducting a clinic! One of the best in our region passing it on down!

07/06/2024

Loving the new brand of our little ranch.

07/06/2024

Got our new logo!

04/01/2024

It's gardening season! Are you looking for horse manure to use in your garden? We've got it for you! And it's free! I'll even load it for you! Just DM us and we'll arrange for a time to load you up!

03/14/2024

Well today is an end of one era and a beginning of another. If you've been out to our little ranch in the last 3 years, well then you couldn't have missed our Ranch Hand, Jonathan Rouleau. Jon showed up with skills, experience, a friendly handshake, a ferret and a ukulele and not only quickly became an asset to the ranch and the Birch family, but he quickly became part of our family as well. Today we don't say goodbye, but we do say good luck and see ya down the road a bit as Jon heads south to take his services and his horses on a new adventure down near Lewiston Idaho.

I can't tell you how much Jon, or as we call him "That's Our Jon!", has done for our family and our ranch. I honestly think it would take all day for me to list the things. But I'mma gonna try. Jon taught our kids how to ride dirt bikes, how to fix those dirt bikes. He taught them how to move dirt with a tractor and so much more.

We put 70,000 miles on our two rigs and two trailers last year alone going to barrel races from Tenino Washington to Las Vegas Nevada, AQHA shows from Corvallis Montana to Eugene Oregon and trail shows from Nampa Idaho to Cle Elum, Goldendale Washington and more. Every single trip Jon made sure our family was ready, our rigs were safe and our horses taken care of. I don't know how we would have done it without him.

Jon helped us install lights in our outdoor, build an entire apartment, finish a tack room, build fence, buck hay, drink wine, take care of the horses, picked up kids from school or wherever, heck he even watched them for a week while we were gone. He rebuilt my old .22 rifle, worked on every single rig we own, helped us pick out new ones, drove equipment to get serviced, plowed all our roads, raked all our arenas, fixed water lines, organized our shop and so much more. Seriously, it was tremendous.

Jon was always just a call away. Whether I was broken down with a flat tire on our LQ and couldn't figure out how to get it off, or my wife was broken down with horses in Spokane. Jon was right there. Literally - drove an hour to take care of her, our daughter and our horses.

Jon came in with a job to do, but he leaves as a brother, an uncle and well, family. We will sure miss seeing him out there making sure we can pursue all the things we want to achieve and to know that everything is taken care of at home.

We'll miss having someone so handy around, his "Very Special" wine or whatever that was, our random Tuesday drinks on the porch during the summer, or rowdy conversations over a glass of wine in the kitchen, and so much more. But time moves on and we all get to pursue our dreams, even our Jon.

Thank you Jon for doing so much for our family. The next ranch is so luck to have you, they probably don't even know how much. Looking forward to seeing you down the road brother.

If you met Jon, drop him a note to congratulate him on his next adventure!