Deer Haven Farm of Kentucky

Diana Charles, Farm & Training Manager

Cooper, #1 Farm Dog

We adopted Cooper from the Aussie Rescue folks in 2004, when he was about a year old.  He had been found wandering in Indiana and spent 6 weeks in a shelter there until being discovered by Aussie Rescue.

As Aussie’s are prone to do, he takes his job very seriously.  And he learned the hard way which end of a horse is the safe end!

He’s Rachel’s constant companion while he keeps close watch on everything and everyone on the farm.  He loves going with us on trail rides, chasing cats (only to play, of course!), playing in the creek, napping in the barn and riding in the Gator and in the cab of the tractor during mowing season.

At night, after a hard day’s work, he looks forward to curling up with his ‘sister’, Tiffy, in the family room!

He’s a GREAT pup to have around the farm.

 

Tiffy, Cooper’s Wing’man’

We adopted Tiffy from Aussie Rescue in 2003 when she was a little less than a year old.  Tiffy really prefers being slightly more pampered during the day, choosing to stay indoors out of the farm fray!

She does thoroughly love romping around the farm with Cooper when the farm activities are over for the evening.  Tiffy’s trips around the farm frequently end in the wash stall as she has thrown her femininity to the wind and found something really stinky to play around in!

She watches Cooper’s back while he does farm patrol but she leaves the hard work of an Aussie to him. 

©2007 Deer Haven Farm of Kentucky, Inc.

The Deer Haven ‘night patrol’ — our barn cats.

Every self-respecting horse farm has to have a herd of cats and we’re no exception!  We don’t propagate the cat population — we have a strict spay/neuter policy.  We do welcome the unloved, homeless feline into our barns and our hearts.

These guys have a pretty cushy life — they all have beds (heated in the winter, of course), fresh water and an abundance of food, provided by their humans as well as Mother Nature.  In return, they keep the rodent population invisible and the horses company at night.

Squeaky is the veteran — she lived here when we bought the farm.  She let us stay.

Autumn is the newest addition.  She spent 6 months in a cage at the animal shelter — they asked us to adopt her and we did willingly!

Tux is the main man.  He watches over all of his ‘girls’ and stays underfoot most of the day when we’re working with the horses.

Tux (top), Autumn (middle), Squeaky (bottom)

 

The Deer Haven ‘couch patrol’ — our house cats.

Now here are the really pampered felines!  We’ve accumulated this part of the family in various ways.  They all live inside, except Pumpkin who spends part of his time visiting with the barn cats.  Pumpkin lived here with Squeaky when we bought the place and somehow made his way indoors!

Rocket and Jazzy were the originals and moved here with us.  Rocket came from an animal shelter and Jazzy was dumped in our backyard along with her 4 brothers as very tiny kittens. We found homes for the boys but kept Jazzy.

Goldie and Rickie were born on the front porch shortly after we moved here.  We relocated them and their mom inside to save them from being dinner for the raccoons and they never left! 

Spice was found wandering on our friends’ roof as a kitten.  He’s into everything all the time —

We’re pretty sure there’s an underground newspaper for cats that lists our address as a warm and safe place to live — where strokes are doled out liberally and the food dish is never empty!

We love each and every one of them — there’s nothing quite like cuddling up with a cat on a chilly Kentucky night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top to bottom:

Goldie & Rickie, Spice, Jazzy, Rocket

Diana is responsible for all things horse-related at Deer Haven.  In addition to managing horse training, wellness, breeding and overall care, she personally trains our higher-level horses and rides them in the show ring.

Diana has over 40 years of horse experience.  She has trained Morgan champions in Dressage, Hunt Seat, Western, English Pleasure & Driving, as well as instructing the students who rode them.

In college she studied Equine Farm Management and Equine Reproduction and then put her knowledge to use as the manager of 3 large Standardbred breeding and training farms.

She has studied dressage under 3 Olympic equestrians and has personally ridden up to 4th level dressage.

Because we are committed to the best care and the best training we can find for our Haflinger family, we have assembled a terrific team of equine professionals.  We have a full time Farm & Training Manager, Diana Charles, who has been with us since close to the beginning of our Haflinger adventure. She works hard side-by-side our farm staff to ensure our horses are fed, groomed, trained, exercised, bred, doctored and, of course, loved.  They keep our facilities and equipment in tip top shape with safe fences, good pasture and spit-shined-and-polished barns.  Oh, and there are a couple of farm mascots hanging around, too.

In addition to our full time staff, we bring on specialists for particular training or other expertise from time to time.  That way, we can ensure we’re always working with the perfect top notch professionals ... in driving, jumping, reining … whatever we need to get our Haflingers started and trained just right so they’re ready for their adoptive homes.

Rachel King, Owner

After spending 25 years in the corporate jungle, I moved to Kentucky in 1999 to pursue my dream of owning a horse farm and living with horses. 

I’d had a lot of experience owning and breeding Quarter Horses in my younger days but they always lived at somebody else’s farm! 

I fell hopelessly in love with the Haflinger breed several years ago and have proceeded to fill up the farm with them ever since.  As any Haflinger owner will tell you, “if owning one Haflinger is great, then having a couple dozen must be pure heaven!”   And it is!

Though I have many responsibilities around the farm, my favorite is being Chief Haflinger Hugger.

 

Our Farm Team