Know yourself, Heal yourself!
... Discover Magic in the Okanagan Valley of Supernatural BC
to excel at anything, the mind body and spirit have to work as a team
Let's help each other align to our better selves as we share songs and stories.. we'll start.
February 6th, 13 year old shepherd husky cross was rescued from Carney Pond after falling through the ice. He had been hanging on for over 40 minutes with his front legs on some ice, while his most of his body was submerged in the water. I am his person and happy to say that he made it to be 14 years old.. his birthday was March 21st. I am sharing this now because it made the front page of the local Kelowna Capital News , and made a feature of Kelowna Live internet as a feel good story. (3) Kelowna Live - What a save! The Kelowna Fire Department with an... | Facebook The sad thing is, the police and fire crews go to way too many not so good calls, often for drug overdoses. I have heard stories where they have gone multiple times for the same person in the same day or week only to have the last time being too late to revive. Getting people hooked on healthier lifestyle habits has been the goal of this webpage... bringing peace and fun back to the valley is not magic, but maybe some stories of Magic and his herd can help! KIng and I are part of that herd... and we are recruiting! Meanwhile, huge thanks to the rescue folk. Didn't Brittany Webster get a great photo!
Next.. Mandy and Me website is back.... www.mandyandme.com will slowly put memories of Mandy and Me in there, is the plan, and maybe use it to post some live video things. Have to figure how but, will start working towards spending time on learning... New Year's Goal...
rejoined the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, in the fall of 2023. Planning to align with goals of Okanagan Gold. We have been members with tourism using horse trailridng as the primary trail. Now it is more about tale telling and tilling through songs and stories!
Fort Socs Trading (kelownachamber.org) (brings you back to here, but much easier than loading the chamber logo)
Super Ram is a story that is in the book "Peace in the Valley" . As of December 19th, 2023, Grey Hearts Denim at 1615 Pandosy Kelowna and some at Pizzamoreh 2565 Main Street, West Kelowna! They are $40 but they will include a chance to have a story of yours in the next edition, and/ or pic of your pet on the Mandy and Me website Probably working it into a membership of sorts with a Mandy and Me TNT badge (tale telling and tilling) badge (via Grey Hearts Denim most likely). So grateful that Grey Hearts and Pizzamoreh owners are gracing their shelf space. Mosaic is worth the commission, but .. The rest of the stories are on the next page of this website, but please read about SuperRAM and his origin on this page. Planning to do a $10 gift certificate draw for Midtown Station or the Train Station as a draw among the first few people that buy the book or at an official book signing. Shaun, from Grey Hearts Denim, is interested in pitching in one too! A $10 GC for Peter's Independent was given in July for people who bought the first edition from a venue in town, but there were no entrants, so the GC went to Fiona Griffith who graciously allowed Silverado to interview her. A short story of her life is in this second edition of Peace in the Valley and is shown on the second page of this site.
I have noticed 2 big errors in the second edition. I forgot to give credit to Jackie Taylor from Mountain Girl Editing and Coaching! Thank you Jackie. I met her through "the Mom Link" group that i found through a phone app called Clubhouse. There are many amazing organizations out there... hard to know who to trust, but i think i found some keepers! There are a fair number of errors in it still, but i take the blame for Jackie was in a move. I got the main frame to be much better than the original book and learned about ISBN's. Very important. The second big error was that the printed copy had the name misspelled for Fiona Griffiths. She was the one that noticed this, making it even worse. So sorry Fiona!
A friend has noticed that I did not give credit to the artist of Charming and Butterscotch of the last page. A friend did this based from a photograph. If you read carefully, you might be able to read that her name is Brenda Barrass. I am not sure i have spelled her last name correctly, but know she was an incredible person who passed before her prime. That is a story in itself that should be done by someone. Her fate was physically self induced, but we have had and still have severe shortcomings in our healthcare systems. I will leave it there for now. Meanwhile, RIP Brenda, Charming and Butterscotch. I will share a good story about Charming. He lead a pretty good life. He basically adopted us and came along on trailrides for the first several years or so of Mandy and Me. He loved to fetch and when we went to Rose Valley lake, we would sometimes chuck a stick for him into the lake. He would jump of a ledge of a few feet to go into the water to get it, come back and do it again for as long as we tried to play! I am not sure how Butterscotch came to be, but that picture of them was a keeper, for sure.
I brought the poster pictured in the following story around with me today. Not as heavy as a live big horn sheep and it can be brought on the bus. Big kudos to Jack Wolf for making it!
Okanagan Super Ram saves Christmas by Silverado Socrates
I had a day dream some time ago of a ram I met along a road. In the dream he said to me, “I’ve got a secret you need to see!” He was majestic. I fell completely under his spell. I sat and listened and watched as he spoke to me without talk.
He said, “In 1999 i was in my species prime, when I heard that St Nickolas needed help with his Christmas list.” I told him, “I am your ram. I know these hills I know this land.” “I could help you in the dark. A blizzard? A walk in the park!” Santa said to me “thank you son, I think you will be the chosen one. Who will save Christmas day, from me not coming its way!” He said “drink this magic tea, you will never have felt so free. To thank you and perhaps again use your special skills, you will live forever in the Okanagan Hills.”
He led St Nick’s reindeer throughout the valley spreading good cheer. Though he hasn’t been needed since, he rides shotgun with Santa and is like kin. The dream wasn’t done. SuperRam asked me if I wanted to have some fun. I said “Sure. I’m into that.” He said, ”Jump on my back!”
I vaulted on and he took off, flying over all the tree tops. We flew over Bear Creek and Esperon Lake, up to Lake Country I wished I’d never wake. When we landed, I said to him “Thanks so much for being my friend!” He said, “No problem, you'd do the same, and by the way, Super Ram is my name.” I woke up from my dream and I swear to you it seems, that it wasn’t all illusion. You can draw your own conclusion.
These illustrations are thanks to Jack Wolf. The photos are not as good at the real poster, but give an idea. Thank you Jack Wolf!
Pretty sure that i made this story in 2011, on the way home from Kekuli Cafe in West Kelowna. It started out with a tune I wrote the words out after arriving home, in the comfort of the wood heat of my west Kelowna home. It was inspired after an evening of experiencing local Sylix traditional music and food with friends. I had seen a ram on Bear Creek road and even had a really good picture of it, so the story definitely has some truth in it.
The image below is a mascot for the SuperRAM story. The horns are real and solidly mounted on thanks again to.. Jack Wolf.
Where to start, on how the story of the Steel SuperRAM is originally a bit of a love story about two horses. I think, since it was inspired by a made in the Okanagan Christmas story, that we should start with the fact that SuperRAM started out as a paper mache donkey. A friend and i saw this donkey while at a store near Falkland which sold Christmas items 12 months a year. We were returning from a trip to get a horse named Darby. This is where the bond between Darby and her stable partner at the time is shown to be pretty strong. Darby had been there on a free lease, meaning that the person who was keeping her, paid for her feed in trade for having her. Times were tough and Linzy wanted me to get her, so another friend, Cori offered herself and her vehicle to bring Darby home in the Mandy and Me trailer. I am not sure if my truck was on the blink or what the reason was, but it was definitely nice of her to offer. We got there on the day I said we would, but my friend was not answering the door when i knocked, so I assumed she was either out, sleeping or busy. I gathered Darby and loaded her into the trailer. Not long after loading, Linzy came down her driveway on her quad and told us how Trigger was going crazy.. she was concerned that he would break something. I let Darby out of the trailer and let her go. She raced back up the driveway to where Trigger was. Cori and I started back to West Kelowna with a still empty trailer.
On the way back, we stopped at a Christmas tree store. No point in wasting the time being up that way, and it was a definite novelty to check out the store. I wasn't interested in any of the Christmas items but saw a paper mache donkey on wheels. Seems it had been used in a parade once, i suspect the Falkland Rodeo parade, but am not sure. The owner said it would cost $100 and i basically said "sold". I didn't want to bring the trailer home empty and figured it be a fun story. The owner's name was Dave, so that became the name of the donkey. People would ask about Darby and i said that we didn't get her, but that i got a donkey and he was a really easy keeper. I just left him in the barn... the person looked around and then realized the joke. The donkey would go in Rutland May days parade within a few years. It was used again in the May days parade in 2012, but needed some new paper mache and painting.
Earlier this year, 2022, i decided that the damage to the paper mache was too much and it needed to be taken away-there was a very sturdy metal frame. I spray painted it gold and Dave was now STEEEL! The story of this name change will have to be another chapter, for this section is about Super RAM, Darby TJ and Lady Jane...
The funny part of Dave the donkey, not eating is because Dave is not alive. The best part of the story, I think, is that the story of Trigger Joe, Darby and Lady Jane are remembered through it, and live again. They were all amazing horses.
You could ask why do I include Lady Jane in this story? The thing is, she is the original Mandy of Mandy and Me Trailriding, and she is now buried with Darby. Her first person had named her Lady Jane. It was switched to Mandy when she was 1 year old, the same year she was moved to the Okanagan. When looking to for a name for the trailriding stables, i remembered how someone had said that Mandy looked after a foal whose mother would let no other horse near. I used to babysit someone full time over a couple of summers while I was a student. Her parents ran a book and comic store. We mostly played games and rode horses. I had already started doing trailrides as a hobby to help cover the bills. I would take her and others and i thought it more fun than work. Later I thought it be great to add the babysitting to the trailriding and make it a business- Mandy and Me trailriding and Babysitting began! Thing is, the kids were so fun to work with and got to know the horses so well, that i dropped the babysitting. Mandy always had attitude about horses near her hind end, so i later thought it be fun to call her Lady Jane again and say that she had gotten attitude because the place was named after her. She did seem to act more like a Lady after getting her name change back though! Maybe we treated her differently too.
Fast forward to March 2013. TJ and Darby were living in Peachland, but TJ died suddenly. I had hoped to have them live at Mandy and Me again, but food and finances were limited in the fall of 2012 when they had to move from Falkland. I had hoped to help Linzy and them out in the spring, but there was a call from Linzy that TJ had died. I remember that day to have been walking along Bear Creek rd and some kind of freak story had come through within the hour of her calling to tell me. I helped her to figure what to do but also started plans to get Darby back. For some reason, she had been very thin. There had been at least one big tick on her and later it seemed that there were a lot of little ones. I think this may have been the cause and i can't help but feel TJ died in part to get Darby attention. Call me crazy, but that is what i believe. With lots of good food given a couple of times a day, and the help of Lady Jane leading her to the orchard to graze all day, Darby recovered her weight! She followed Lady Jane everywhere.
In 2014, there was a time that Darby had trouble getting up. The vet had already suggested i think of putting her down before the winter, due to some leg challenges she had. I had the vet scheduled to come soon after witnessing her struggle, so called the vet and had her prepare to euthenize Darby. The day or the day before the vet came, she was lying down when i came down, saw me and then got up without an issue. I can't help but feel that she knew but was not ready to go yet! I put off the death decision. Months later, Lady Jane would be off of her food. I was in regular contact with my vet about her, and within a day or two of the start of not eating or creating anywhere near her regular manure amounts, I noticed blood in her manure. I would call the vet and ask her to come prepared to euthanize both Darby and Lady Jane. Darby would have been lost without Lady Jane. I guess you could say that Lady Jane had become an eternal Darbysitter?
one last add... a facebook link of a story /video i made showing the original Dave at the home of the original Mandy and Me. (3) Facebook
Trigger Joe, and Anna at Rose Valley Lake
TJ and I looking at a bear along Mandy's ridge
LJ had gotten her teeth done in July 2014.. i had hoped she would have another 10 years left.. turned out much less. Darby, her loyal friend, was by her side.
Darby and I in our prime trailriding days.... she loved to run.
Watching Roy Rogers as a young child and the 1976 Olympics ultimately shaped Silverado's life. The desire to be a good influence while riding horses and singing songs, came from the Roy Roger's TV program. The spirit of the Olympics, at a sad point of her youth, would create a goal of being in the Olympics. These two things would lead to Canadian national running records that would last over 30 years, and to helping serve several thousand people to magical horse tours in the Okanagan. Comments made in the induction into the Uvic sports Hall of Fame in 2013 sum up the ingredients to these accomplishments well: focus, and a fun team atmosphere with members committed to the teams overall well being.
IN 2019, Silverado, was inducted into the Canada West Sports Hall of fame. Such an honor to be one of the 100 inductees enshrined in the CW Hall of Fame . The Canada West Hall of Fame was established in 2019 to highlight excellence in university sport across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. She purposely stayed in Canada to help raise the bar for Canadian athletes. Ironically, she dropped out of running early to start the trailriding business as she felt that was a better way for me to give back. With Fort Socs, she is hoping to expand the western down home welcome feel to Okanagan tourism, raising the bar for peace overall. From world pace, to world peace may sound kind of crazy, but that is the new goal. We could use some help here!
You can see and hear some of the 2013 induction in the following web link: https://govikesgo.com/hof.aspx?hof=39
Welcome to the Fort Socs Trading website! At Fort Socs, some of us have been together over 22 years.. longer if you think about the horses before that were related to some of these guys and gal. There is a lot of history here and a lot of love... peace!
Please make sure to watch and listen to the animated video of the song "Let's sing together." It was based on a true story of a rooster named Sundance who used to bully people.... working towards many of the songs being recorded both with vocals and Karaoke style. Planning to eventually translate many to French as well.
Feel free to submit feedback to Silverado_socrates@hotmail.com Thanks for checking this out!
First.. an aside to introduce a book intro and the idea that Fort Socs Trading is a school of compassion and conscious action. Silverado has plans to explore the US and Canada, starting with going up and down highway 97. The Okanagan itself crosses into both countries, but the 97 extends from California to Alaska! Fort Socs Trading is all about swapping stories with teachers and students from other schools of life virtually and in real time. We do this all the time, but without really thinking of the priceless and infinite value.
"For forty years, Parker J. Palmer has worked on behalf of teachers and others who choose vocations for reasons of the heart, but may lose heart because of the troubled, sometimes toxic, systems in which they work. Hundreds of thousands of readers have benefitted from The Courage to Teach, which takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with themselves, their students, and their colleagues, and toward reclaiming vocational passion.
The Courage to Teach builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique, but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms, but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, deeply connected with their students and their subject. These connections are held in the teacher's heart--the place where intellect, emotion, and spirit converge in the human self.
Good teachers weave a life-giving web between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students learn how to weave a web for themselves."
The Buck Starts Here!
The Fort Socs Calvary Theme Song
Working with horses, all the day long Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs
working with horses you’re wild and you're free; you can be yourself, at Fort Soc Trading!
Put a smile upon your face, a little hustle in your pace, you'd be amazed what you can do
You can get a lot of things done, and have a lot of fun; Just when you sing this tune:
working with horses, all the day long; Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs riding the horses you’re wild and you're free you can be yourself, at Fort Socs Trading!
The Mandy and Me Theme Song
Riding our horses, all the day long Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs
riding the horses you’re wild and you're free you can be yourself, at Mandy and Me!
Put a smile upon your face, a little hustle in your pace, you'd be amazed what you can do
You can get a lot of things done, and have a lot of fun Just when you sing this tune:
Riding our horses, all the day long Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs riding the horses you’re wild and you're free you can be yourself, at Mandy and Me!
The following link is a virtual tour that was made at the first home of Mandy and Me.. where it was between 1981 and 2016 (although officially Mandy and Me about 1990, the riding tours started as a hobby that started while I was in high school). We have changed our focus as well as location but the video gives a good intro to a few of the guys now and some of our past regular people folk. Planning to exponentially extend both our 4 and 2 legged family by making some virtual connections as well as real time talks, straight from the horses mouth with no 'neigh' talking, so to speak! Stay tuned, but meanwhile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukoq9OfLgG0
Faith was born in 1996 in west Kelowna. His mother, Moonlight, was born on the original Mandy and Me property. Faith spent 19 of his first 22 years there. He learned to give kisses from watching his mom who learned from her mom, who learned from her mom! He is half Tennessee walking horse, 1/4 Arabian and 1/4 quarter horse. The top photo middle photo is of Moonlight as a foal with her mother Breeze. The one on the right is her as a young mare full of spunk- inspired our motto "The Buck Starts here!" The one on the top to the left is of our bucking barrel "Morris" with some guests. Morris was made by some cowboys that told how they rode with the former world champion bull rider Lane Frost, who the movie 8 seconds is inspired from. I thought i should start with him, since he is the grandson and great grandson of two horses that traveled to the Okanagan from Saskatchewan with Mandy, aka Lady Jane, in 1981. The picture below is Faith with our friend Teri.
Serandipity is half Tennessee Walker and half quarter horse. His mother Cody was born wild in a southern Okanagan on Okanagan band land. Serandipity was born in West Kelowna. Side note, I literally traded Cody for the original Mandy and Me web page! Also 20 years old, he is half brother to Justice and Faith. He will be in a western film called "the Woods family". It already is a bit of a reality series.. but maybe more called Serandipity Springs or Silverado springs. I think it should be Serandipity springs, but the vote is still on!
While riding Serandipity one day, I wrote a jingle called... "Riding Serandipity"
Riding Serandipity, all day long, Riding Serandipity
Riding Serandipity, all day long, Riding Serandipity
If i could be, doing anything. I'd be, riding Serandipity all day long, Riding Serandipity
Like how in the song "Some Beach" by Blake Sheldon, he thinks of the beach when life throws some curves, I tried to capture that feeling of freedom, destiny and peace of that period while riding Serandipity. He is very special to me for many reasons. He is currently the leader of Magic's herd. He and Faith often flanked Magic when at the fence to get attention and treats as they grew into their teens. The above picture on the left is of a lady who has been riding with Mandy and Me for about twenty years. One of her daughters is in the photon in the background.. they are like family to us, though we don't see them a lot since they live on the coast.
Justice was born in 1997 and is a Tennessee Walking horse. He has been with Mandy and Me since he was about 2 years old. He is particularly amazing in that he could not walk when we first got him and had to be supported by a sling. He was in the sling a total of about 6 months. Through lots of care but mostly his own determination, he not only walks but has even been taking riders for most of his life. He is even the lead horse in the Woods family film. Maybe one day he will be part of a film of his own.. quite the life he has lived already, and sure glad he has been part of ours!
Longer version of his story:
The story of Justice is pretty amazing and I am so glad to have been able to be a part of it. It was about 1999 that a neighbor, Karen Abramson, called me about a horse that she was boarding who was had been lying down and she hadn't seen him get up for a long time. His owner lived out of the area and had no car to be able to get out to see him for herself right away. I went over to see if I could help, but it was beyond my knowledge, so I recommended a vet. Dr Sheila McDonald from Okanagan Equine Veterinary services did come, gave him some dewormer, lent a sling she had to get him off the ground and suggested some supplements for him to get his strength back. I believe he was about a year and a half old at this time.
We got him hung from the shelter that was there and then started a routine of coming up at least once a day to feed him, give him snacks, and help him with massage or stretches. Within the first week, some worms came out with the manure! I was holding him at the time and a friend was either stretching his leg or picking his feet at the time. I warned her so they didn't land on her. At least we knew we got them out!
Sometimes the sling would break and it would take a few people to hang him up again and a neighbor came over with his tractor at least once too. It was definitely a community effort. Eventually, the sling we had was too far gone and a new one needed to be made. The owner said that if we bought the new sling, we could have him. Diamond H tack made it for us pretty much within a day.
< pic of him in sling>
SInce he was now officially part of the Mandy and Me family, we brought him home soon after having the new sling made. We managed to get him in the pack of an chevy S-10 and he quietly rode the km or so between where he had been and where we are. This made our job much easier to look after him since we didnt have to ride, bike, run or drive to see him. We hung him from a stationary spot initially, but then a friend of mine rigged up a cable system that allowed him to have a 20 meter length to excercise. It was quite ingenious really. I will never forget his first day on it. He pretty much flew to the one end as he lost his balance and it carried him. I was worried the end would come loose and he would hurt himself worse then ever! It managed to hold and he soon got the art of strutting back and forth. Can you imagine the freedom that would have meant for him after being confined to one small area?
We were busy with rides and people that came to ride would often see him. One was a person who believed in acupuncture treatments and paid for one for him. This is something we would not have done as just putting the money up for the sling was a challenge at first but that was a must. Dr Susan Wales did a treatment for $100. When I emailed the person to say Justice was continuing to improve and that we had given him a treatment, she sent us another $100! We also had a gentleman come fairly regularily to practice his education from a horse massage and chiropractic course. It is hard to say what did what, but he did keep getting better, which is a great thing.
There came a point where the new sling was getting in pretty bad shape. Justice was getting bigger and stronger. Winter was coming and it was just not an easy thing to look after him where he was. THere is a distance of about 100m between where he was and our arena- it was our goal to have him walk there. He managed to get half way without falling, but with support he was able to get up again and walk the rest of the way. He would fall occasionally or somehow manage to lie down in a way that made it hard for him to get up, but he was able to get up on his own for the most part.
As he got a bit stronger, two of us would ride as we led him. My partner in most of the efforts to heal him, including this next episode and the one with the worms, was my friend Kay. It took two riders because he was just too frisky for one to handle. We would lead him from either side so he could not jump on either of our horses. One time, the road was quite icy when we were doing this when we decided to take him in the near by orchard. As we got to the bottom of it, he ripped the rope out of one our hands as he lunged into the snow to have a good roll. I seem to remember being the one to get the rope again when he jumped up and then took off towards home, tearing the lead line away from the other rider. We both started running after him. It was surreal. On one hand we were laughing that he had done this and happy to see him be able to run so fast, but on the other hand we weren't sure we could get him stopped before the icy road he would have to cross! I don't remember what happened, but he did make it home safely. We were more careful when leading him after. He is a cheeky guy and who could blame him for wanting to roll in the fresh snow?
Justice started to want to jump the fence to get in with the pen of the main horses. Sometimes he would get hung up on it, so it became time to get him gelded. The extra steroids had probably helped him to heal, but we didn't need a stallion around or need him to hurt himself again. He just continued to get stronger and healthier. We tried to help with different things including taking him to a lake to swim a few times. After a year or two of his walking on his own, we started to ride him. He was seperate from the main horses for this time period, but eventually we had him in with the guys and he does fine with them now. We do let him out to get snacks but he will get tired of them and then let himself out the main door to go eat grass in the orchard. He wanders back on his own. by supper time.
< eventually a picture of toe touching, yoga move maybe we the caption " We have turned the stretches we had done with him into a trick">
His healing journey was not a one girl or one horse effort. It took the help of many people and companies to bring his story to a happy ending. Dr. Macdonald would have to get the most thanks for giving us that first sling and then Diamond H Tack, for making doing such a great job on the next one. The neighbor who called us and let us come to see him every day, Karen Abramson was amazing. She has since made that horse shelter into a music studio/guest house. Dr Susan Wales did the acupuncture and the people who voluntarily gave him massage treatments all gave efforts that I am sure did not hurt his progress. In fact, I do believe that these extra efforts may well of healed him sooner. Burt Jaegli was the person who let us use his chev S-10 to move him and who rigged up the cable system that supported him. Many people from the stables helped with his recovery in the day to day extra time that was required. Most important to this was Kay. She was his most special helper thru his full recovery and look what thanks she first got!.
< later a picture of his bowing as thanks to everyone>
His story is my reward. He never gave up on himself and is so cheeky that it is hard to not love him to pieces. Only yesterday he had let himself out to graze and I later rode past him in the orchard while riding his half brother, Serandipity. I was well past him when he turned and ran towards the stable. My horse caught the excitement and wanted to run that way too, proving how his energy is contagious even if a bit wild. He is a free spirit that knows his home yet appreciates his freedom (note, this last paragraph must have been written 3 years ago or earlier, As I write this detail, it is September of 2108 and Serandipity and Justice were both doing riderless runs and bucks after returning from an hour grazing in a nearby field. So beautiful and intrinsically invigorating to see! I have the video in my head but wish y'all could see it. In between bucks, Serandipity would do some rolls on the ground that would end with another rodeo show. So fun. Faith and Sambucca were running around too, but Sheba and Alexander remained more stoic, which was fine by me since I was riding Sheba. I was content to watch the excitement without being a part of it. )
The picture on the right was taken in the summer of 2018 when some people were visiting a farm that Justice stayed at for a week. They helped brush him and then took turns sitting on him for a quick picture. The picture on the left was taken a few years ago. The lady on Justice in the picture on the left now lives in Alberta and is looking after Justice and Serandipity. Her name is Aima and has been a great friend over the years.
Alexander is a mustang draft cross. He was born in 1997 in BC but he is a descendant of the Suffield horses out of Alberta. He has been a part of Mandy and Me since he was about a year old. Quite a character.. perfect that he will be playing the part of the marshal's horse in the Woods family western horror film that should be out one day. We have a joke.. what's the difference between Alexander and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist! He has been known to stand down a car or two. Great guy. Faith and Alexander are great friends, like bro!
All about the Peace is the song I chose to go with Alexander. He started off a little guy.. and seemed to became a bully to many as he got older. Now, he is only a bully if you are a stranger that he thinks you are dangerous. He is like a big teddy bear to his friends. He and Faith were separated from the rest of Magic's herd that you see here, for about a year due to our losing our farm. Since being back, Alexander changed from picking on Sheba to being her protector! Alexander is a descendant of a herd of wild horses from Suffield, Alberta. A group of people had bough horses from an auction to save them from being pet food. We are very happy to have Alexander be a part of our team..
All About The Peace
My grandma petterson once said to me "there were horses in Rose Valley running wild and free My horse retired to the Kelowna side of the lake in the spring was with the wild ones (He must have swum, for peace sake!)
It's all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble It's all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace
Eddie Sable liked to rodeo and horse around but his wife did not like to live so far away from town so he left the gate open and his 16 horses to free and that is why there was a wild herd in Rose Valley!
The're all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace.
The Magic peace park is one of the past, Blended with present and future to make a model that will last . From fur brigade trail to a Furever after kind of place to honor and help the pets, distressing us in the human race.
We're bringing wild horses back, to the valley and we're counting that, you'll want to rally To help make fact out of a folly and create some fruitful windfall out of a crazy kind of dream
We're all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble We're all about the peace, 'bout the peace, no trouble all about the peace, 'bout the peace,
We have a story and karaoke form about the song from the following video in a separate page called "Lets sing together". Made this song in 1996, recorded it in the spring of 2018 and the video was ready before the winter of the same year. Have been having lots of fun with it at open mikes and karaoke since then. Been developing some interest in getting more of the songs recorded and in a combination of animated and real video.
Sheeba is a mare that was born in 1996. She is the daughter of a horse named Galaxy who was cousins with Moonlight, who is the mom of Faith. She is pretty special. Not only is she the only mare (female horse) of the horses at the Fort Socs in Kelowna, but she was named after a horse named Sheba who had passed on the year before Sheeba was born. Sheba was a pretty stellar horse who had come from the Hector Camp of the Rocky Mountain YMCA. We only had Sheba a few years and Sheba had had cancer when we got her, so we had made a deal that we would pay $100 for every year she was alive rather than trade her for another horse . The original plan when the horses came through from the camp, but we had a vet that checked the horse soon after she arrived and said she had a tumor. The camp people had said she wasn't the same since another horse had passed and wanted to swap, but were fine to leave her with us when they heard the news. I think that there were only two payments made and soon after the last payment, Sheba passed on..... yet she lives on in Sheeba! It has only in 2023 that we have added the e to Sheba to showcase the difference. Sheeba is about the age Sheba was when she arrived with Mandy and Me... both will be eternal gems to the story. We don't know if Sheba ever had foals, but we know Sheeba hasn't. Regardless, they are both very cool mommas, so our Cool Momma story is perfect to have after writing about them!
This is Sheeba and I, Silverado, at a forestry campsite on McCulloch lake in the summer of 2017.
This is Arisa and Sheeba. Arisa, her mother and brother came for a farm tour in Jan 2019.
Cool Momma
Cool Momma was a horse, a very fine horse
a very fine horse was she
but she didn’t feel a part of, anything,
at Mandy & Me.
So she went out on a ride, one day
problem was she didn’t come back!
She thought she’d make, her own trail,
she‘d make her own tracks.
She was a good looking; lame legged, blue roan horse;
a good looking, lame legged, blue roan horse;
a good looking, lame legged, blue roan horse;
and Cool Mom, was her name!
It was Mother’s day, when we found out, it was a permanent tour;
It was not till Father’s day, that we could lure her
In the mean time, she crossed hill and dale, on trails she never had been
and thru a mighty swollen creek, she nearly had to swim!
She was a good looking, lame legged,peace seeking horse
a good looking lame legged, peace seeking horse,
a good looking lame legged peace seeking horse,
and Cool Mom was her name!
to a ranch one summer, our Cool Momma, ‘Mandy and Me’ did lend,
on return, one of her eyes, needed somebody to tend.
6 months of medication, did not allow it to heal,
so to a professional, horse eye doctor, we did appeal!
well She was a good looking, non-limping, eye hurting horse
She was a good looking, blue roan, eye hurting horse
She was a good natured, blue roan, eye hurting horse
and Cool Mom, was her name!
Well, the verdict of the vet, wasn't very good,
but at least now we found out, exactly where we stood.
He diagnosed a tumor, got the eye out as soon as he could
all the cancer was gone, ...knock on wood! Now we say:
She was a one eyed, blue roan, cancer kicking horse;
She was a good looking, blue roan, peace seeking horse;
She was a good natured, blue roan, legend of a horse
and Cool Mom was her name.
yeah
She was a good looking, one eyed, cancer kicking horse;
She was a good looking, blue roan, peace seeking horse;
She was a good natured, blue roan, legend of a horse
and Cool Mom, Cool Mom, Cool Mom...was her name.
Sambucca is morgan arabian, we think. Hard to say for sure how old he is or his breeding since he came from an auction over 10 years ago. Pretty sure he had never been ridden, and was not trustful of people when we first got him. He would definitely rather kick you than pick up a foot! There was something about him though... turns out he was a keeper and loves going on rides now!
He is mostly a guide horse but also does pony rides. Sambucca was once bit by a rattlesnake on his nose! Crazy thing, he was not afraid of rattlesnake after, but for awhile he was afraid of some shadows and quick movements from lower down. The antivenom is made by horses so a bit is not normally lethal, but the swelling can cause trouble. We iced his nose and gave him a couple doses of adrenaline to help get it thru his system quicker.
Ralph was a rattlesnake, who lived in the rocks
and if you ask me, he wasn't a jock;
you see he liked to hang around, near every day,
just lying on the trail and soaking up the rays!
We said, 'hey snake, what are we to do
you frighten us, you do to!
we just want to ride along the trail
so move along, and don't be a snail!'
He said, 'hey man, have no fear,
if you don't wriggle jiggle, I'll no longer be near.
I'm going to writher and slither and move right away
if you don't threaten me, ((RATTLE)) I won't want to stay.'
Now this arrangement worked for a while
but not everyone would smile at a snake on the trail
so we got a stick and moved him away
and that's why you don't see him to this day!
but, if you see a snake... ( this side if you want to pretend to be the snake. )
hey man, have no fear, hey man, have no fear,
if you don't wriggle jiggle, he'll no longer be near. if you don't wriggle jiggle, I'll no longer be near.
He's going to writher and slither and move right away I'm going to writher and slither and move right aw
if you don't threaten him, ((RATTLE)) he wont want to stay! if you don't threaten me, ((RATTLE)) I wont want to stay!
Prince
Prince was a lab cross who was born July 19th of 2009. He is now buried at the Fort Socs site near the Kelowna airport. He lived to be 12 years old but he was in stage 4 kidney failure- poor guy.. he would have gone one until he was crawling and it was an awfully hot summer for his end of life days. Definitely safe to say he is in a better place. Prince had been with Mandy and Me since a puppy- a friend and I jokingly say that we traded for a guitar. I had given her the guitar and he was the last of a batch of puppies she had. King and he are great companions so I figured I would share a picture of both of them..and then a couple of my favorite of each. Baby Guinness is a bunny that Prince had found as a baby. It was cute how sometimes Baby G would go missing and I would say to Prince "Go find Baby Guinness!" and he would lead me straight to him! I decided to use the song Peace in the Valley for him and how he found Baby Guinness.. and from the story of the original Prince-(but that is another story).
Peace in the Valley
Do you want to live a life, you'll be happy to have lived?
do you want a legacy that will forever give?
we can make it happen, we can find a way
to find peace throughout the valley, starting here today
Gotta stop consuming things, and start producing thoughts
gotta live for what we have, not forget those we've lost
the truth is here and now my friends, the future will never be
until we learn to live, in peace in the valley, in peace in our own valley
How you treat your common man, how you treat your common beast
do you lend a helping hand, or on them do you feast?
we're in this world together, we all have a common fate
let's end war and hate forever, and lets not hesitate
Gotta stop consuming things, and start producing thoughts
gotta live for what we have, not forget those we've lost
the truth is here and now my friends, the future will never be
until we learn to live, in peace in the valley, in peace in our own valley
when you see a stranger on the street, ,say "how are you today"
give a gently nod, send a friendly wave
takes such a little time, yet gives a lift of joy
lets make the world a better place, for all ages girls and boys
Gotta stop consuming things, and start producing thoughts
gotta live for what we have, not forget those we've lost
the truth is here and now my friends, the future will never be
until we learn to live, in peace in the valley, in peace in our own valley
Fire Within
Few people ride when its raining, few people ride when there's fire outside;
they want to ride when they want to, they want to follow their desires;
But when you want to race, doesn't matter what the weather does,
doesn't matter whether folk think you are nuts ,
you know you have to run, when you know you have to run;
know you have to try, to quench the fire inside.
Seems like I've been running and riding in circles
for most of my life it seems
the only time that I don't
is when I go into dreams
'cause when you have a dream doesn't matter what the weather does
but its nice when others believe in it too
I know I gotta do what I know I gotta do
know I have to try, to keep the fire alive
there is a trail I've wanted, to ride on most of my life
Seems circumstances won't let me, I'm hoping thru music they might!
cause when you have a dream, doesn't matter what the weather does
doesn't matter whether folk think it won't work
I know I have to do what I know I have to do;
I know I have to try, to share the fire inside
So, Next time that it is raining, you can ride with us in your dreams;
explore the valleys and mountains, travel the rivers and streams;
when when we have a goal, doesn't matter what the weather does;
only matters we believe we can be;
anything that we want to see;
...peace of mind is free,
anything than we want to be
... peace of mind is free
King (born with the name Hank but changed to King as a show name and later for good after Prince passed) has been with us since about September 2013. He was born March 21st, 2010. He was about 3 when he arrived and still acts like a pup much of the time. The picture below is from the summer of 2018. We adopted him from a young girl who had raised him. She could no longer keep him when she and her grandparents moved to a new farm that did not have fencing for him, or was safe for him to be loose. He has been a great companion to Prince, and his first person sees updated pics and info on him via facebook. Not the same as having him around, but at least she gets to know he is safe and she can visit anytime.
Last, but not least, Apple Jack! AJ, or Lady J was born January 21st, 2022. She is a Flemish Giant Rabbit. The Flemish Giant breed is also known as the Gentle Giant because of its serene personality. Despite being huge compared to other breeds, they are relatively calm and sweet animals. She is considered a fawn color.
AJ and I, Feb 5th, apx 2 weeks old!
Feb 15th, eyes just starting to open.
Feb 23rd, with Gimpy a slightly older relative.
April 13th, at a neighbors "Catio" with Face
King and Apple Jack, April 14th. AJ is one week shy of 3 months in this photo, She will grow some more still!
Thanks for visiting our website. I thought would conclude with the full recorded song of Discover Magic. Magic was a horse originally from a reserve in the southern Okanagan. He inspired our logo "Smiles Every Mile" because he trained us to give him treats when he smiled. He became the leader of the herd but would often jump out of his corral to graze in the nearby orchard- inspiring the Magic peace park idea of a retirement home for pets that have run their course so to speak, but still love to 'horse' around. The idea of the song was not just about him though, it was with the idea of discovering the Magic of the Okanagan Valley in supernatural BC. It was made with the goal of having an international peace park and chapter of the international institute for peace through tourism (www.IIPT.org)
We have had very many made in the Okanagan magical memories. Looking forward to swapping tales with others. This site will be sharing some of our favorite pet stories and those of others too.
Made this song in about 1996.. found the poem on a piece of paper in some song sheets and thought to copy it on here.. was a trying time. Ended up selling him to help cover other bills but was not happy to do so. Had hoped to have him for my life .. he was a sulfur crested cockatoo and was thinking that he could well of outlived me, unlike any of my other pets! There was a time that I had his cage at the foot of my bed. I remember him jumping off the cage onto the bed , then walking up the bed next to my pillow. Pretty sure that i had been reading at the time and i know that a 4 legged pet of mine had died that day. I think that somehow MYLO (Make Your Luck Omnipresent) had known something was off. He bowed his head, knowing i would pet him. My mood lifted for sure. Serandipity, Sheba, and Faith would have been born within a year of this time too. Was planning for the future yet not really being prudent of practical finances or partners to get there. The pets were key of course.. but can only do so much!!
Two little Pens sitting on a desk
'til MYLO comes around
the oh what a mess
He likes to take them apart you see
It is a game Tee hee hee hee One little pen sitting on a desk
Life is no fair, I say to myslef. I have to work while he ruins my house!
Why can't he play more constructively. Can someone help me please, please, please?
At first it is funny, i have to admit, but I sure wish he knew when to quit!
I do not want to put him in a cage but that is better tha my being enraged!
I'll take him out when I have the time to clean after him and his pantomime.
When I can watch him and teach him how to behave so neither of us have to be slaves.
