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Tales from the Ranch
by Earlene Cole, Director of Longmeadow Rescue Ranch
Welcome to another issue of Tales from the Ranch! You may be curious about what goes on at our Longmeadow Rescue Ranch and how all the animals are doing. We plan to give you recent updates from Longmeadow. We will post new updates every week, so come back to the website often. Ranch life is never boring at Longmeadow!
May has been a very busy month for the Ranch with all sorts of exciting events and new things taking place. Here is a sample of some “special happenings” at Longmeadow during the month of May. As you can see, something new seems to happen almost every day!
 Our friendly domestic pig, Snortin Norton who weighs 1000 lbs, had his tusks trimmed. He let us use piano wire to cut through them. You can sponsor and visit Snortin Norton through our Barn Buddy program.
On May 2, Tim Ezell from KTVI Fox 2 in St. Louis did his segments for the morning show here at Longmeadow starting at 5:30 a.m. Tim fed the 13 Potbellied Pigs in Rest well Stables their breakfast and asked people to adopt one or two of them.
On May 6, we had another successful Adoption Day (held on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month) with 60 people coming out to see the animals available for adoption or to visit their Barn Buddy.
We had a big surprise that morning when we went to feed: Mustang Sally finally gave birth to her foal. She had a black filly with a small star and a Right Hind Sock who we named Portia. Later in the day, Dr. Mrad came out to check the baby over and draw blood to test that her antibodies were at a safe level.
Martha Seng, a Board Member for the Houston SPCA, came for a visit that day. They are launching a campaign to build a horse and farm animal center on land that was recently donated to them. Seng said, “You have a wonderful facility and deserve to be very proud of everything.” Longmeadow is very proud and thankful to all of our supporters. We have started raising funds for Phase II of our expansion, which include renovating the older barns and building a new facility for the smaller farm animals.
 Elbert, a 20-year-old black gelding, went to a Mid Missouri Stock Horse Association show May 7 and got second place in the Gelding halter. Quintana took him to the Walk/Trot class for experience. He doesn’t know how to neck rein, but is quiet about things going on around him. During the rest of the night, Elbert stood at the horse trailer munching on his hay and keeping Tana, a sorrel and white paint filly, company.
On May 11, we delivered Hershey to a foster home outside of Columbia, Missouri. Melinda had adopted Winslow, a Gruella yearling colt, and felt that she could train an older horse for riding as a summer project. Melinda said that Hershey is doing well and is a very quick learner.
We took Amigo (mini horse), Mini Moo (mini cow), Mama  Llama, Pepe (sheep), Tag-A- Long (goat), Isabella (chicken), Quackers (duck), several chicks and ducklings to Bark in the Park May 13 at Forest Park near the World’s Fair Pavilion. This event is the Humane Society of Missouri’s biggest yearly fund raiser.
It was nice to have so much room for displays, exhibits and demonstrations. There was a good turnout of dog walkers and we are always a hit with the canine owners. However, some of the dogs weren’t excited about being introduced to the farm animals. We want to thank our volunteers, Lauren, Kim, Linda, Kathy and Christine for all their help that day!
On May 14, Sesame, a yearling palomino filly, and Cricket, a
4-year-old dun paint filly, were picked up by their new adopters, Megan and Richard. We thank them and wish them well.On May 16, Our Lady Queen of Peace 2nd grade class came to see their Barn Buddy, Quackers (a Cayuga duck), and also to have a tour of our facility.
The Daisy Troop Tour #1414 from St. Louis came for a tour of Longmeadow May 21 and is now sponsoring Isabella, a chicken, through the Barn Buddy program.
We have begun our media tour of Missouri by appearing on Channel 12 in Cape Girardeau on May 22. We want to let people in all parts of Missouri and adjoining states know about the great animals available for adoption and that they can sponsor animals rescued from abusive situations through our Barn Buddy Program. Lauren Keith conducted the interviews and presented us in a wonderful light to their viewers. Mini Moo, Mama Llama, Lysol (goat), the Crested brown Female Ducks, Luna (pony) and Topaz (horse) got up at 1:30 a.m. to head south. We want to thank  Jeane Jae, Director of Communications at HSMO, for setting up the media tour and traveling with us. Employee Teresa and Volunteer Kim traveled to the Ranch at midnight to help load animals and did a great job showing off our animals. We received calls from Illinois and Missouri and we are excited to have them come visit Longmeadow and find an animal to adopt. Our next stop on the media tour will be Kansas City, then Springfield and Columbia.
There is always something to do here at Longmeadow. Please volunteer and help us care for these animals that have been rescued from horrible conditions. They appreciate all the volunteers’ efforts!
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