DONAHUE

Crossed Rainbow Bridge 29/12/2020

Although Our Donahue has crossed Rainbow Bridge, he was beginning of our equine herd and my very first horse. He became my dearest friend. An amazing, gentle man who was my most patient teacher and greatest mentor of all things ‘horse’. He was my extremely wise and compassionate beloved elder who presented a very self assured Thoroughbred herd leader.
He was the catalyst for our Maggie’s Farm equine herd, and as such remains in memorial on this page. He was indeed an amazing being and is very much missed BUT his presence is still very much felt!

A true healer in every sense of the word!

ROGER

Roger is an ‘off the track’ ex racehorse and having been born to the life of racing in 2007, he has experienced much…. even winning first place in a race.

​This boy is a sensitive, inquisitive and curious fellow, and he is usually the first to say hello. Always friendly, he absolutely loves to run and it is always a pleasure to watch him prancing around the paddock, cheekily pestering our Wrangler to get a move on as well. An absolute character!

FIREFLY

Like her mother, our treasure Firefly just loves up close and personal attention and will run whenever she gets the opportunity.

​As Mother and daughter are very close and have never been apart, you had better be prepared to have a close and very personal attention with each of them at the same time! Both girls have never had a saddle on their back nor a bit in their mouth and their natural loving and unspoiled characters come from their genuine desire to be with you and that in itself is magical!

BILLY

Billie is our gorgeous and very kind Quarter-horse boy who came to us via a local family who kindly adopted him when he was left with them when they purchased their farm.

Since joining us, he has managed to become an integral member of two herds – with his Houdini trick – when he decides that he has finished his hard feed and eaten the hay with Ellie and Bentley, he then ducks under the fence and joins Danny’s herd in the main paddock and helps them eat their hay.

He is also a great conversationalist and lets you know when he is wanting to have a chat.

JOSEPH (JO JO)

Our Joseph was an active racehorse named Josephus, who had quite a successful career, but has now thankfully retired.

He is a handsome young fellow who loves to run has settled in quite beautifully with Danny’s herd.

He is a very independent fellow who is learning that nothing is expected of him here other than just being himself.

He has definitely settled in since joining in with the herd and is quite a confident fellow who has now become 3rd in charge fellow, living the quiet life of Maggie’s Farm.

GOLDIE

Goldie came to us from a ‘Riding for Disabled’ facility at a slightly advanced age and is a gorgeous lady who lives up to her name.

The sheen of her coat is indeed reminiscent of gold.

Although no longer a youngster, she is indeed full of ‘vim and vigor’ as well as just a remainder of anxiety in her temperament.

There has been a reported suspicion that she may be beginning to experience some eyesight issues, which could explain her sometime shying behaviour.

Other than this, she is a bit of a sweetie.

BUCK

Buck is a character who has definitely traveled a very difficult and highly abusive road.

As with Wrangler, we have no knowledge of his history however, we do know that he had experienced a major accident/incident early in life that left him to be diagnosed with a severe Ringbone condition in one of his forelegs

The most amazing thing is that once Buck bestows his trust upon you, he shows the capacity to be very affectionate and loving to those who win his confidence and respect.

DANNY

Standing at a rather large and impressive 16.3hh, our big boy Danny has earned an affectionate description of being a gentle giant when it comes to interacting with people.

Danny is yet another member of our equine family who is extremely kind, affectionate and very loving and he just loves attention and is generally very eager to come and say hello. He possesses a very sociable personality who is more than happy to meet new friends and give them his own special and attentive devotion.

ELLIE

Ellie started her life as a racing thoroughbred but due to an injury, that part of her life thankfully passed her by.

Her story, as related to us by her previous family, was that the beautiful Ellie was, for whatever reason, dumped and then found in the Watagan Mountains by rangers who transported her to safety.

Unfortunately due to her experiences, she became very shut down and apparently it took some time before she would trust a human again. Thankfully, the family who adopted her were kind and loved her back to the gorgeous girl and loving girl she is today.

JETHRO

Jethro is the most adorable older member of our equine herd and is such a kind and loving fellow.

He loves to receive as much attention as you may be willing to give and isn’t backward in coming forward when it comes to accepting such treats as banana, which is his favourite.

When a description of ‘not a mean bone in his body’ is suggested, Jethro is the true epitome of such a statement.

He is affectionate, loving and always looks forward to saying hello.

SURPRISE

Surprise’s known history has been one that was active, athletic as well as therapeutic. After sustaining a life changing accident early in life, being a valuable teaching member of a natural therapies equine teaching college, Surprise joined us to become a much beloved member of our herd and has proven to be an outstanding instructor in the ways of patience, gentle approach and being totally in the present.

​Surprise continues to show that understanding, RESPECT and trust continue to be the most important conversation that anyone can have with such sentient beings.

LADYBUG

Ladybug is an absolutely stunning young lady of a heritage breed and gives the best horse hugs that you will experience. Like her daughter Firefly, she just loves to run, run, run and to watch her is to experience pure joy and love!

​An exquisite and loving personality that possesses just the best of natures and always looks forward to saying hello – in fact, she will run across a paddock in order to do so!

CHEVELLE

Chevelle or more affectionately called Chevy came to us early October 2019 from a severely affected drought area near NSW Glen Innes.

Her previous family love her dearly but just couldn’t sustain what was needed to keep her healthy and so we are blessed to have her join our amazing and much loved family.

She is a Hollywood Hoges Palomino girl with the life experience of 20 years and is an absolute treasure.

She is soft, kind and extremely loving and is an absolutely beautiful addition to our Donahue’s herd and we are so very thankful.

BENTLEY

Mr Friendly Conversationalist is our Bentley and full of personality and affability. He loves to connect and say hello, even if he feels he needs to be holding you up on the drive way. A handsome stock horse, Bentley came to us, accompanied by his best friend Ellie.

Bentley’s story is that he is of good bloodline and unfortunately was caught accidentally in an electric fence overnight, consistently being zapped by the wire fence voltage. Although his injuries have left their mark on his physical body, his wonderful personality and character continue to be larger than life.

He and Ellie, cemented their friendship and hey are never too far from each other.

OUR WONDERFUL GOATS

As a learning and healing facility, it only seems fair to share some “heads up” factors about goats.

This education was quite quickly discovered when the first of our goat family, Bruce Almighty, joined us a number of years ago, and the learning continues to this very day.

Firstly, contrary to general beliefs – goats actually won’t eat just anything. In fact, they are quite selective in what they do eat and it will usually be the flora that you are very attached to – such as roses, frangipanis, succulents (any form of succulent are absolutely delectable to these guys) and whatever other prized vegetation that they can wrap their lips around.

Goats are browsers not grazers – They prefer bushes, trees and hay and are not mere lawnmowers. They are ruminants: They have four stomach compartments and regurgitate.

They will eat, chew their cud (the green stuff that comes up regurgitating their food) and repeat that process all day long. They do not eat tin cans and do not like to eat any food that has been soiled, contaminated or can be a bit selective to what is discovered on the ground.

Each goat definitely possesses their own distinct personality and character and ours are cheeky “little’ minxes but very affectionate. They are very loving, loyal and incredibly demanding as well as noisy, especially when it comes to food! They are also extremely smart and curious as well as being excellent escape artists.

If goats like you and trust you, they respond to your voice and come when called. They also call out to you when they see you but this only occurs when you have earned their love and trust. Fortunately for us, we experience the joy of them running over to us whether or not we are carrying feed buckets.

FLIRT

Part Boer and Kalahari goat, Flirt was hand raised by a client of mine and was very kindly offered to be a young female friend to our one original goat member Bruce.

​A real personality and attention seeker, she is always happy to be the centre of anyone’s attention and tends to be a real ‘piglet’ when it comes to ‘hogging’ the food. She runs from one bucket or hay pile to another, rudely pushing the others out of the way, which is probably the only real exercise that she gets.

MAX

Our very cheeky Max is Maggie G’s youngest son and is even more shy of people he doesn’t know than Chili. However, when he does get to know you, he becomes a very curious boy who is a lover of nibbling on your hair, clothes and fingers. Very sweet natured, he also loves to play chasings around practicing his head butting with his mum, or jump from dog come goat house to goat house. However, when things calm down you will usually find him snuggling up to his mum. Two ‘peas in the a pod’!

MAGGIE G

Maggie G is a lovely suspected part Nubian part Alpine girl and is mother to our 2 goat boys Max and Chili.

Travelling up from Victoria with her boys, Maggie joined our growing goat herd and it didn’t take long for the supremacy antics to settle and all fur balls become a solid family.

​Maggie can be just a little stand offish at first with any new people that visit, but usually her curiosity takes over and anyone entering her paddock tends to get investigated quite thoroughly.

She is also known to be a wonderful alarm system when anything is amiss! A noise that is to be heard to believed.

DIVA

Diva will happily follow you around, waiting for her chance to receive much deserved attention and affection. As a hand raised and treasured indoor baby goat Diva prefers human attention and is an extremely affectionate and gentle little lady who will happily give you her best loving. After all, she just loves being petted and receiving the much needed and desired individual focus.

It is always interesting to watch the dynamics of this little herd and we just love watching them at play as they bolt around the paddock, jump upon their furniture and happily have a game of headbutting.

CHILI

Chili is the oldest son of our Maggie G and is definitely a huge lover of sun baking, eating and playing. Like his mum, he tends to be a little shy of new faces and takes a little time to gather the courage to actually come and introduce himself to new comers. But curiousity take over and it is in no time that he quietly moves closer to check out any visitor to his paddock.

CC-CRUZY CRAIG

When CC joined our goat family, he hadn’t been around other goats for a while so he tended to be a little shy of Flirt, who can be very bossy.

However, after only a little time, he has managed to cement his place in the herd as the head honcho! Even bosses Flirt around with great ease.

He is also very much a conversationalist and will happily come up for a pat, tickle between the horns and a chat!

A very friendly and loving young fellow with very long horns..

OUR TREASURED DOGS

All of our dogs over the years, have been and still are rescues and it has been our practice to do our utmost to adopt those who have been overlooked, are too old, too rambunctious or have not been adopted for a myriad of other reasons.

Each and every member of our delightful canine family has given us so much joy, love and companionship, that we have determined that we will continue to adopt and do whatever we can to ensure that those lives will always receive the deserved attention in order to remain happy and healthy and each day is filled with love.

And in return we are the recipients of their undivided attention, deep love and consistent adoration. Something that they will happily bestow upon anyone new who ventures close enough into the vicinity of their immediate licking range.

MADDIE

Maddie is one of our most full of energy and cheeky young ladies who was adopted through Wally’s Dog Rescue.

Although so ready to get into whatever mischief whenever she can, our part Staffie, part Whippet rascal very easily melts your heart with the sweetness of her face and cheeky character.

She is a sweet natured, carefree and very enthusiastic young lady, and we are always amazed at the antics that she can get up to.

Maddie is also another easily made friend who will always be more than happy to make any new visitor feel extremely welcome and loved!

GEMIMA

Gemima is the most beautiful as well as soft and loving girl who is always happy to give you all of her licks and attention.
Her main mission in life is to please and she is always ready to give you every inch of her attention.

She is the young mum to Belle and was rescued as a very pregnant street dog in a country town.
Now she is our gorgeous girl who is also happy to continually be by your side. A very welcome addition to our family!

GRACE

Grace came to us as a young stray housed at the Taree pound facility, after being found playing with the children at a local primary school.

Her history is unknown, but her character and temperament is a definite joy to this household.

No sooner had she been introduced to the other members of our canine family, than there was much joy in playtime. Noisy and boisterous but definitely fun to be had by all.

BELLE/PUP PUP

Belle is our gorgeous, very mischievous and full of fun young daughter to Gemima and we are blessed have adopted mother and daughter together through TIkki Rescue.

Both are very close and are constantly entangled in rumbles, games and chewing!

Such a sweet little lady and she loves snuggling and being in your face with that long tongue of hers.

There is nothing for her to greet you in the morning with her face in your face.

Full of life, Belle is always in to whatever mischief she can find.

OUR CHEEKY CAT FAMILY

JONESY

Crossed Rainbow Bridge 25/09/2023

Although Our Jonesy has crossed Rainbow Bridge, he remains forever in our hearts as our longest living fur baby.

Jonesy was the most mellow fellow who was always just happy to just sit on the couch with you and share your space…. but never expect him to be a lap sitter …. this was just not his style.

He lived to 24 years – a long life for a cat and was definitely the most amazing personality and gentle soul.

A huge part of our lives was shared with this outstanding boy and he remains forever a part of Maggie’s Farm Sancuary

LUCY LU

Lucy’s origins remain a mystery to this day, as does most of our adoptions. She came to us as a lone kitten through a friend, and is one who will run and hide.

She’s tiny is size but makes up for it in her attitude. A true feline and when it is in her tolerance, she will condescend to allow you to give her attention and affection.

Never an outside cat, she luxuriates on whatever soft bedding attracts her at the time.

Really, who wouldn’t want to be a cat in this household?

NOT TO FORGET OUR CHICKEN FAMILY

Many tend to think of chickens as wonderful producers of eggs, creators of great fertilizer and we will definitely not even venture into the food style of thinking!

​Our chicken numbers have thankfully grown since we initially adopted them on our move into the ‘lifestyle farming’ surroundings and environment and they are most definitely valued and much loved members of our extended Maggies Farm family.

​Getting to know each of their personalities and seeing their happy little characters shine just gives us great joy. They are cheeky, spontaneous and full of spirit and they make us laugh every day.

​And yes…… even inclusive of those early morning celebrations from the roosters of being awake at those ‘ungodly’ hours of the morning!

​We love each and every one of them and continue to be thankful that they teach us about the feathered variety of life.