CHAPTER THREE
Black Mountain Ranch And Pack Station
Most noteable was the day they swam across the Klamath River to graze in the neighbor's alfalfa field!
I ended up catching my mare and Petie one of the mules and leading them from the pick up the 2 miles back to our road and then 3 miles up the dirt road back to the ranch!
We stopped traffic along the way and had the help of a few good samaritans along the way
(After they quit laughing at the unfolding drama on the highway!)
I met the owners Jack and Kathy Matheson at their home in Martinez while riding my horse Mariah to town one day.
Kathy stopped me asking if I was the person who brought my animals to homes for Birthday Parties.
When I assured her she had the right party, she hired me to do her granddaughter Brianna's birthday party in a few weeks.
When I arrived at the house with Floyd, my pony stallion and the rest of my menagerie
(Donald and Daisy my Mallard Ducks, Henny Penny a Rhode Island Red Hen, Stanley and Oliver my pot-bellied pigs, Golem a 13' Albino Burmese Python, Dolly a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and other critters;
They had decorated the front yard and sidewalk with several bales of hay.
During the course of the party I asked about the bales of hay & was told they would take them "Up North" to their "Ranch" in Northern California.
The conversation went to them needing a trainer st their ranch, and over the next few weeks we discussed my moving up there.
I had already sold some of my ponies and other animals & arranged to sell the remaining ponies, and moved North with my dog Brutus, My mare Mariah, my Cockatoo Dolly and my albino Burmese python Golem.
A month ot 2 after arriving, the caretaker and his wife left and I took over their duties along with training.
While living there, I met someone on line and after a few weeks of phone calls & internet chat, she agreed to move out here from Colorado.
Things went well for a few months, then a power line fell & killed Petie the paint mule the owner & I had gone halves on purchasing.
Vickie (my internet romance) the owner's wife & grandaughter & I were extremely upset at the loss of Petie; but when told of the event, Jack, the owner's only concern was "How Much MONEY will the power company pay us"?!!!!!!
They ended up paying us $3,000 (3 Times what we had paid for him!) and when it came to splitting the money, there was a problem between Jack & myself.
After finally coming to an agreement, we mutually agreed that I would leave my position there.
Hence the next chapter in my book ........