Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary

 

Back in 2009, thanks to my niece Lauren, we stumbled across a horse sanctuary.  Diana asked that day if I minded if we stopped to check it out for Lauren's sake.  I did not mind at all.  We got out, talked to someone and made a decision to come out for a day to do some work.  I blogged about that day  here: Helping at the Horse Refuge.   What I did not know that day was how much the place would stick with me and draw me back for more.

Last year, as soon as I realized that we were in fact going to stay in one spot for a bit and that my last child was leaving home, I decided I'd better find something to do that would help me adjust to both things.  I remembered how much I loved the "feel" of Sixteen Hands and started there.  Then a series of health issues and a computer crash halted my attempt.  Still, I knew I needed to get going with something or it would potentially be a very ugly scene when Austin did in fact move out.  I thought maybe I should find something closer, something I had experience with, something that fit our lives when we started moving around again.  So I looked around at my options.  And kept coming back to Sixteen Hands.  I'd tell Nathan that I still wanted to do it.  But just did not get around to doing what I had to do to make it actually happen.

The first week I set up a booth for Thousand Trails at Friday Night Live in Wauchula, I see the lady next to us setting out items with horses on them.  I say to Nathan, "I still want to do volunteering at Sixteen Hands" and then set out to go be friendly and talk to my neighbors just to make nice.  I get to the front of the booth and am shocked to see it is Sixteen Hands.  I most likely overwhelmed them with my excitement as I talked to Robin and Diane.  I get the information again and this time, I know I'm going to follow through no matter what.  I do.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

 I always knew I liked horses, but was not what I'd consider a "horse person".  I wasn't obsessed with them like my niece Lauren or my Mom.  I thought I'd enjoy being around horses.  I had no idea I'd fall head over heels in love with them though.  Or that I'd want to spend as much free time as possible with them.  Or that I'd talk endlessly about them until poor Nathan's eyes rolled back into his head from sheer boredom.

I still love the 'feel" of Sixteen Hands.  Probably more so than our first visit, because I know all that is involved with what creates and preserves that peaceful environment.  I'm honored that they let me come out, completely green and stupid in all ways, and so patiently allowed me to find my way during this new chapter in my life.  I'm guessing you will see lots about the horses and SHHS because it is where I spend a good bit of my time while we are temporarily planted!

Living the life in FL!

Finally~The Lions, Tigers and Bear

Finally, some pictures of the stars of the show-the lions, tigers and bear.  Oh, and panthers.  Words can't really ever truly give these majestic animals due justice.  So I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The lions.  A male and female.

 

The tigers.  There are four here.   Two of them, Samson and Delilah, are siblings and are 20 month old toddlers.

Beautiful.  Just beautiful!  Well worth the wait, right?  If you are in the area, go and visit them.  They are even better in person.

Animals at Lions, Tigers & Bears

Like their name implies, there are in fact lions, tigers and bears...well, actually *a* bear at this neat place.  There are many other animals there too.  Some of the first ones you see are the emus.

You can get very up close and personal with them, but they do not recommend doing so because they bite.  While I was trying to get better pictures of the emus, the donkeys decided I was there to see them and wandered over.

Without meaning to, I did get up close and personal with them.  Hello, there!

Same thing happened with the deer.  They must be paparazzi friendly creatures.  "This is my better side!"

I did not get up close and personal with this hybrid wolf/dog breed.

Or this hybrid cat.  Although it does look nice and cuddly, they assured us that is not usually the case.

And who could resist this sweet face?  Apparently not it's former owner that spoiled it rotten until it got to be too much to handle.

I could resist these not so exotic creatures because I still have flash backs to being sent out to collect the eggs and having to fight with the feisty animals to get them.

I know, you want to see the lions, tigers and bear.  They will have to wait for another day though because I still have to edit their pictures!  In the meantime, can't you just picture a place where chickens and tigers share space together?  Ok, I couldn't either before this visit!

Living the life in warm Florida!

Lions, Tigers & Bears Animal Sanctuary Tour

We have been so fortunate to visit many animal refuges since we began our full time journey.  What we did not know until recently is how many are located right near where we are this winter.  Today we visited one that was another short drive from the campground.  Like the Great Ape sanctuary, this one was very hidden and is not open to the public.  You can only come with a group for a scheduled tour.

We had a group of ten or so people that headed out first thing this morning and visited this neat place.

 The refuge is named Lions, Tigers & Bears and we saw all three of those animals in this beautiful country setting.

 There were many other interesting animals living here also.

We did a tour with one of the dedicated owners and she shared many neat facts about the animals as a breed and their individual stories.  One of the things I love about these tours is seeing the animals interact with the people who dedicate their lives to the cause of saving animals.

It is clear they know them well and it is also clear they know where their food source is.

I think we all enjoyed this tour, and some of us were really entertained by the animals.

Or maybe it was some of us were really entertaining to the animals.

Or maybe it was both!  Either way, we enjoyed our time here and stopped and had lunch at the Pioneer Restaurant on the way home.  I will try to share more pictures of the animals over the next few days.

 

Living the life in animal loving Florida!

Center for Great Apes Tour

  When we were doing volunteer work for Reach the World, I wrote about a sanctuary that is nearby that houses a famous chimp.  Michael Jackson's chimp, Bubbles, lives there now.  The kids really got a kick out of that and asked me lots of questions about him.  Unfortunately at the time, I couldn't really answer because I hadn't been to the place he lived so I couldn't tell them.

  This past week that changed because we not only visited his home, we saw him in person and saw he is doing well.  I can't even describe how excited I was to visit where he does live, The Center for Great Apes.  It is very close by where we are this winter, but because it is not open to the public, you would never know it was there.  It is very discrete and on land that allows a beautiful place for the animals to live in a peaceful environment.

The center was started when it's founder agreed to take in an orangutan and it grew from there.  You can read the story here: History of the Center for Great Apes. In short, it is now a sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees. 

 We had a very small group with us from Thousand Trails that went for a private tour.  We rode over with new pickleball friends, Garth and Rosemary.  Since our group was so small, it made the visit feel very intimate.

 We were allowed to take pictures, but they asked that we not share them on the internet so I won't post them here.

 I can share that this was one of my top favorite things to do since we hit the road full time.  It was so much better than I ever expected.  So many times when we visit places where animals are housed, I have conflicting emotions.  I am glad they are safe, but at times it doesn't seem to be a way of life that I'd think is truly enjoyable for an animal.  That was not the case here at all.  This was the most impressive sanctuary we have ever visited as far as the thoughtfulness they put into the environment for the animals.

 On top of all that, we were able to get much closer to the animals than I had expected.  So close that it was overwhelming to me at times, because of the emotions that welled up inside of me.  I didn't even edit my pictures for a few days because of the swell of emotions that I was still feeling from the visit.  If you are in the area, get a group together and GO visit this place!  You won't regret it!

 We have been enjoying gorgeous weather here this winter which makes things like this even more enjoyable.  Living the life in Sunny Florida!

Lions, Tigers and Bears

Or maybe it is more panthers, otters and bears.  I love that the Wildlife Refuge is right across the street.  Even though it is quite small, it is great that I can scoot over there and visit for an hour or so and spend time watching animals.  They are all so beautiful in their own way.

There were two bears, but only one would come out to let me take his picture.

I told Nathan that I was going to see if I could get the cats to talk to me here too, after my experience in Hershey's Zoo.  Sure enough, the cat did the same thing here.  I talked and it would talk back.  I thought maybe there was something to me being a cat whisperer but then another lady walked up and the cat did the same thing to her.  Guess that is not my superpower after all.  I still enjoyed chatting with the cat, even if it was not exclusive.

What?  You have problems with your male leaving his dirty socks on the floor too?

The otters were surprisingly lazy today.

I'm not a fan of the above animal, but they are everywhere so I have to include some shots of them.  I am hoping to get over to visit this place more often this year, and hope to revisit the Lipizzaner horses too.  We missed both of them last year since we weren't here.

Living the life in Florida!

Such a Flirt!

Each time we visit the Wildlife Refuge, the ostriches amuse me.  They can be busy doing whatever, and when they see us they always make their way over to the fence.  Which is quite different than every other animal there.

They remind me of Ambir when she was young because they just move closer and closer posing for the camera.

And with their beautiful lashes, they end up looking like quite the flirt!  I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Deville!

Living the life in Florida!