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Laurie Henkle & Mike with Debbie
Last year when I went into the desert to get some hay, I met with John
McCann. Mr. McCann and his family are going out of the agricultural business, and first sold me a
large load of grass hay at $7 per bale (about $2 per bale cheaper that I’ve ever found it) and then
actually gave me approximately $1000 worth of grass hay. In exchange, I took Debbie, their
quarterhorse mare, approximately 20 years old, who had been in retirement on their ranch due, I
think, to some severe injury to the left side of her body. Debbie is about 15 hands, and with some
treatment by Laurie Henkel, I think will be a useful addition to TGC. She came with her own goat
family,
Arnold, Jamie Lee and Angie. (See the goats' photo below)
Most interesting of all about Debbie is how she has caught the attention of Orion. For all
the years Ori has been with me, he has steadfastly stood by the side of first Andy, and then Falcon
when Andy died. I was certain he was gay. He never expressed any interest at all in the mares, even
when they went into season. But Orion is essentially a caretaker, and taking care of Andy had been
his self-appointed job. Falcon is far too sturdy and independent - he would allow Ori to follow him
around while he played bite-my-face with Navigator and Buck, but didn’t really care if Ori was
there or not. When Debbie showed up, Ori’s need for someone to watch over was met. The
two were inseparable from about Deb’s 3
rd day until Orion died.
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