Meet Our Animals
Horses
Leadership is hard. Thankfully, we’re not without hope or help through Christ Jesus. The Bible talks a lot about leadership and Jesus gave us a perfect example. A good place to start is “let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,” Philippians 2:4. There’s nothing like riding a 1000-lb. animal to teach you a few things about leadership, both over the horse and over your own emotions. Whether the horse is giving some subtle–or not-so-subtle–feedback about how it’s responding to the student rider, or something else, there are countless parallels between what happens at the barn and what happens in the rest of our lives.
Interested in helping support our horses? Click on Contact above or visit our Donate page (which will redirect you to https://wvr.org/online-giving/). You can also find our Wish List if you click on the Horse Sponsorship tab above for more specific needs.
We’ve seen our share of horses through the years and they’ve all taught us something. We have a much better idea of what horses serve our program though, true to form, sometimes they surprise us. If you’re interested in donating your horse and would like to see if it might be a fit for our program, click here or Contact above to contact Mr. Ryan.
To see our horses and read their biographies, click on Our Horses above.
Find out more about Wears Valley Ranch @ wvr.org
Other Helpers
Cattle
We got Longhorn weanling calves. Why Longhorns? They suit our property and our programming better than some other breeds. They are used to teach traditional ranching methods, as well as developing our riders’ horsemanship. Herding cows around the arena or across campus gives a great application of horsemanship lessons for both the rider and the horse. All levels of participants can learn to influence the calves from on foot, along with beginner roping skills on the roping dummies with some advancing to trying to rope the calves. Also our campers, many of whom have never ridden a horse before coming to Camp Arrowwood, love the experience on horseback of herding the cattle around our arena. With the goal of low-stress handling of the cattle and horses, we raise quality, grass-fed, grass-finished beef which is both served to our students and for sale to the local public. For more information on beef and lamb for sale, you can order here.
Sheep
The Bible has a lot to say about the Lord as the Good Shepherd and us as His sheep. Seeing our sheep firsthand helps bring these illustrations to life. They also help with land stewardship as they eat some different plants from the cattle. We enjoy the meat on our campus as well as selling some to the local community.
Muscovy Ducks
While not known for their good looks, muscovy ducks are known to be voracious fly predators, as well as for their meat and eggs. And as you can tell, their gregarious personalities are sure to bring a smile. The students and campers have also enjoyed watching the process of new life unfold as ducklings hatch and grow. They compliment our chickens in their role reducing our fly populations. They’ve made a significant impact on our horse fly, bot fly, and Japanese beetle populations. For more information on duck eggs for sale, you can order here.
Chickens
Our egg-laying chickens serve several functions. They are an integral part of our multi-species grazing program, helping eat fly larvae out of manure, and helping spread the manure in the process which makes it more readily available as fertilizer. We also harvest their eggs. The students get to help with the chicken chores, feeding and watering the chickens as well as practicing their math skills as they count eggs. For more information on chicken eggs for sale, you can order here.
Dogs
They’re called man’s best friend for a reason. Duke makes the commute with Mr. Ryan every day from their home to the Ranch and back again. Duke loves to greet everyone at the barn with a full-body smile! He is a great example of going to work with enthusiasm. He helps with the cattle and the sheep around the Ranch.
Cats
What’s a barn without a barn cat…or two. Our current cat, Midnight, is very social and will greet our visitors. The kids love to see her!