The Animals

Here at Hilltop Farm we have a whole gang of animals!!

See below to meet the crew and learn more about my oversized pets!

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-CHINA

China (Harlem Heat) is a previous National Champion halter Arabian mare. Several years ago she broke her hind leg and was sent down to UC Davis to have plates put in. During her recovery China continued to stay on large amounts of steroids and developed an auto immune disease called Pemphigus. Students and vets at the VMTH determined China was no longer breedable but could however live a normal life if kept on the corticosteroid called Prednisolone (not to be confused with prednizone). Years later the mare ended up with me by fate or by luck, thats up for you to decide. China has gone on to become quite the celebrity. She has spread hope for both horses and humans all over the globe by her inspiring story and assistance in equine advocacy. Look for our upcoming book "A Horse With A Purpose".

-BLUE

Blue is a 15 year old Thoroughbred/Paint mare. Nobody really owns her right now but like many sick animals, she managed to wind up in my barn. During the 1st week in July Blue developed an enterolith stone in her digestive tract that caused a life threatening colic. After recovering from surgery to remove the stone the owners realized they were not physically able to handle the 17 hand mare through her daily care over the next 3 months. They called my vet and asked her to euthanize her. It may sound cruel however the alternative of not knowing where this horse could have wound up was much more cruel than peacefully letting her go. Well after going through all she had the vet decided to take her on. But soon after she realized she too could not manage her practice and take care of the mare. Where upon she landed herself at my place. Blue wears a hernia belt, is given Ace, is handwalked 3x a day, and fed 3x a day now and is on her way to a good recovery!

-JACK (RIP)

Jack was a young quarter horse stud colt who I rescued from auction at approx 5 months old. The poor guy was thin, wormy, and generally unhealthy looking. They had weaned him far too early. I ended up with him after a telephone miscommunication with my father where I had thought he had said yes to buying him. In reality he had said no... He was less than thrilled to find the colt waiting in the barn that afternoon. Jack went on to prove himself to be an incredibly athletic horse of beautiful silver grulla coloring. There was just one problem. He never grew. At 13.3 hands the horse quit growing and became the laughing stock of the neighborhood. The racehorse who never grew they called him.

Jack always had a reputation for jumping pasture fences. As a yearling I watched him jump in and out of his 5 foot pasture fence for pure enjoyment. There were several times when he had gotten out or opened the gate in the night and engorged himself on feed. But overall he was a good boy.

In late June Jack ran through a barbed wire fence and died of a fractured hind leg. He will be deeply missed. <3

-MILLY

Milly is a spoiled rotten dairy goat full of youth and trouble. As my father says, there is nothing worse than a friendly goat. For the first 2 months Milly lived inside my home, slept with me at night, wore diapers and a onesie, and absolutly destoryed everything in our home. She still periodically comes for visits inside the house and I'm working on potty training her which is not as easy as it sounds! Milly loves people. About once a week we get a call from the neighbors that the goat is looking through their window. She also loves car rides, walks, baths, playing with the dogs, and napping in the hammock. She is my baby!

-ABEL

Abel is my dads brahma bull. A VERY bad one. He enjoys running me down very much so. I cannot get near the thing! After struggling for a name we decided on Abel because he is "A Bull". Names around here have proved to be a difficult thing...

-CUPID

Cupid is our family milk cow! We bottle raised her from newborn and are proud to report our girl is milking good and in the process of getting bred for her second calf! She is a pet and enjoys baths, walks, and yes, even rides. The kids at fair take turns riding her each year which attracts quite a crowd! But she loves the attention, silly girl!

-COCO

I got my first milking cow without adult consent. Her name was Minnie and Coco proved to be a much better cow than she was. I came home from helping a friend sort cattle and informed my parents I had purchased a milking cow. I had never milked a cow before, I had no equipment, and no knowledge as to how it worked. They expected a friendly cow to come home and give us fresh milk. They were wrong. Minnie proved herself to be the worst cow EVER. Known for her backwards "Karate Kick" as the neighborhood called it, there was no safe zone to work on the animal. Worse than that she was born on 3,500 acres and was never handled. She seemed to have a chronic case of acidosis to some degree. And she was blind. Some days it took over 3 hours to run her into the milking chute. I remember one time when she flipped the entire chute over with me stuck between it and the wall and the cow kicking violently for over 30 minutes before help arrived. Our dairy farm has since sold Minnie and come quite a long ways.

Coco however, is a very friendly heifer on her way to delivering her first calf!!

-COW COW

Cow Cow was our very first cow ever. I paid $50 for him while in line for fair regestrations. He was born on my birthday and just a day old when we got him. What my mom and I didn't know was that Cow Cow was a steer who would be beef one day.

4 years later Cow Cow is a 2,000 lb Holstien steer with no value at all what so ever, well except emotionally of course! Cow Cow will forever live on our farm as a pet. And even though his back is approx 6 feet high now he still walks like a puppy! He enjoys baths, walks, treats, and on occasion running through my neighbors yard when he escapes. He also wears a pink zebra striped fly mask and gets daily petting. We are the joke of the community but I love my Cow Cow!

-KITTY

Kitty is my 3rd dairy cow purchased. After slipping her calf last year she caught this year with twins! She is also a pet like the rest of our brood. She enjoys baths, walks, and being ridden. Our cows seem to think they are horses!

-CHRIS

Unlike Cow Cow we prepaired for Chris to be meat. He is Cupids first calf but there's not much to say! We tried much harder not to get attached this time around!

-PENNY

Penny is a regestered Berkshire sow! She recently farrowed an easy birthing of 12 piglets! Congrats to Mrs Penny!