The Animali Farm started in 1999 when Jennifer purchased a 70-acre property in north Santa Barbara County. Miles into a remote canyon the land is steep with many magnificent oaks. Tepusquet Road. runs through the property, the mountain on one side of the road and the farm on the other. It is quite the funny farm, and we enjoy every moment of living here. Below are some pictures and a little bit more about the farm.

The first Australian Shepherd at the farm was Rosie. She was a little black tri, full of love and energy. She was also the beginning of Animali’s Australian Shepherds. We raised Australian Shepherds for over 20 years, finally retiring in 2022. We have had the privilege of living with many amazing Aussies. Our puppies went to families all over California and many other places. We enjoy hearing about their lives and getting pictures of them with their families.

The morning after a big rain! There is a seasonal creek that runs through the farm. Many years it does not flow at all, or we just get a trickle. Occasionally it floods and then it is amazing! The trees turn emerald green with moss and everything bursts into life.

Cats have been part of both of our lives for as long as we can remember. Kristin grew up with cats and at one point her father had a big black male Maine Coon. Jennifer struggled with cat allergies as a child, but that did not stop her love of cats. Later while living in Santa Barbara, Jennifer rescued kittens who were in trouble. She would bring them home, get them healthy have them spay/neutered and then find them good homes. It was fun and a great way to play with lots of kittens. We have always had cats at The Animali Farm. Some were feral who decided it was better to be tame pets, others came to us as tiny kittens born in a friend’s barn.

Some of the gang of 8. They were feral kittens trapped by a neighbor. I set up the unused chicken coop for them and spent weeks taming them. They are our current group of farm cats. They roam the farm in the daytime and about 3:30 each afternoon show up at the house asking if maybe they could go to bed and have their dinner. We sleep better knowing they are safe in their beds at night and enjoy their companionship during the day.

For 20 years this property has been the home of The Animali Farm horse rescue. The Animali Farm primarily worked with horses that were a byproduct of the Pregnant Mare Urine industry. Pregnant mares’ urine is used to produce a human drug called Premarin. It is mostly used to treat symptoms of menopause. Many of the foals that these mares carried were sold to slaughter at weaning time. The Animali Farm found homes for these foals, and when the farms that they were born on closed we also found homes for their mothers. As many as 100 horses lived here at a time, although these days there are only a few. Over 2500 horses were placed into adoptive homes in a 12-year period.

A group of Fjord cross weanlings that had just arrived on the farm. These are the cutest little draft horses ever. Lots of different breeds of horses were used in the PMU barns. We saw Percherons, Belgians, Clydesdales, Shires, Quarterhorses, Paints and Appaloosas, even Tennessee Walkers.

Jennifer wanted to learn to make cheese using raw milk. Sourcing raw milk proved to be expensive and difficult, so she got a few goats and learned to milk them. The cheese is good, and it is fun to have lots of milk available to do things with. Goats are fun, comical creatures.

Tiny babies just a couple days old and already planning mischief!

There are also some sheep at the farm. They are sweet, gentle creatures. They do a fantastic job of clearing the weeds and reducing the fuel load for fire clearance.

The first lamb born on the farm. She is now a grown-up ewe with lambs of her own.

For many years the farm was home to a large flock of chickens. Sadly the last hen passed away a couple years ago. The chickens were great. They produced fantastic eggs. Nothing is better for pest control. The free ranging flock devoured bugs kept rattlesnakes at bay and helped keep the rodent population down. All that, and they were beautiful too! Hopefully a new flock is in the near future.