Jasmine

Ginger

Again we would like to welcome you to McKuster Ranch, LLC (dba McKuster Ranch). We know that horses by nature are free roaming range animals; and we feel they should live a life untethered in open pastures being part of a herd. McKuster Ranch is located on Walla Walla River Road, 3 miles east of the town of Milton-Freewater. We are only 15 miles -a twenty five minutes drive- from the Walla Walla, WA city's center US Post Office, ~ map to our ranch neighborhood ~ from Pendleton, OR we are a forty minute drive. You will see by our website that we love horses, ponies, goats, cats, and horseback riding around our NE Oregon neighborhood.

Kittee Custer and Dale McKain call the original 140-year-old homesite of the Demaris Farm -an Oregon Century Farm- their home. A portion of our house (that was not consumed by fire) is part of the original Demaris family home built in 1863. Our #1 saddle partners to get to our cattle range, on the north side of the Walla Walla River are Nugget on the left and Derby on the right. Above are our ranch mascot-pony-sisters, Jasmine and Ginger. You will find that our web site is full of pictures, so it may load slowly. We're glad you drop by, next time we hope you will bring your horse.

Our 58' round pen and 100'x 220' riverside arena, are covered with Lake Missoula sand making great footing for training/ working horses.

PLEASE NOTE: our arena and round pen facilities are for the enjoyment of our horses, our boarders, their immediate family members, and their insured/ certified equine trainers.
McKuster Ranch is not a public equine riding~training facility, and we do NOT rent horses.

In our five years here we have set up our ranch with counsel of area equestrians and equine veterinarians to accomplish the goal of maintaining a safe place of natural well-being for horses. We provide a place for horses to run freely and their humans to have fun riding / working with their horses inside / outside our round pen and arena areas. We provide a place for those equestrians who enjoy a casual walk, a trot along a back country trail or, a canter along hillsides, through meadows, viewing the local wildlife and our northeast Oregon landscape. We provide a place for those horses that want a natural, free range lifestyle as all domesticated horse should have. It is an indisputable fact that horses are living longer, healthier lives when allowed to walk, run at least 10 miles a day, graze freely, and have regular health / dental maintenance.
At McKuster Ranch we believe this whole-heartily, and our clients see the positive difference in their horses after they have been here for only a few weeks. We find it is a joy to watch the spirit of a horse, our herd of horses grazing peacefully, lying down sleeping under the sun, or running freely. We feel the Great Spirit did not create Equus caballus to live in a box. August 1, 2007 Fugly Horse of the Day recognized and recommended our horse pastures, so we feel we are doing things right to keep our herd health and safe.

As the sun sinks slowly into the west, many evenings Kittee, Dale and the herd enjoy a run and a buck.mpg around the ranch...
thundering hooves, flowing tails and manes, a beautiful sight of free equine spirit.

Our neighborhood elk herd

Within a twenty-minute ride out of McKuster Ranch gates, you can find yourself atop hills in wide-open wildlife habitats. Our ranch neighborhood trail rides offer views of hawks flying overhead and below us in the canyons. On horseback we encounter deer grazing the meadows around us, coyotes running the fields, and sometimes the neighborhood elk, who show themselves when we are enjoying life, sharing their space on their schedule. Yes, McKuster Ranch offers you and your horse much more than pasturing, round pen/arena training time, and life in a stall. McKuster Ranch offers you and your horse a place with space. Time with your horse for work and play. You need not hitch up a trailer or burn high-dollar fuel to enjoy back country horseback riding when pasturing your horse at McKuster Ranch. We are only a 25-minute drive from downtown Walla Walla, and a 45-minute drive from Pendleton. Watch out... those pheasant cocks running around here can be spooky.

Saddling up and riding out of our ranch gate we find there are miles of this type of trails to enjoy.

A 20-30 minute ride from the ranch will give you a view of Milton-Freewater and Walla Walla, as on the right. You can explore more than 50 miles of back country unpaved roads and trails on horseback when you saddle up at our ranch hitching rails. Most of our neighborhood rides are 2 - 4 hours long.

A no-name back country harvest road w/o motor traffic. Background view here is the tree line of Walla Walla, WA.

If you would like to have us for a riding partner when riding out of our front gate, let us know a few days in advance, and we will try to accompany you if our ranch/work schedule allows. McKuster Ranch does not offer a riding/guide service, but Dale or Kittee will offer time as a ride-along companion on our back country - foothills trails.

Here at the ranch we consider it a matter of fact... horses are grazing animals of herd instinct. They thrive best in open spaces with good year-round grass grazing opportunity, exercise, and a herd connection (even across fence lines). Again, our goal is to provide a safe place of natural well-being for horses, a place for equestrian enjoyment of hours in the saddle. A clean box stall, an arena/roundpen, a few of flakes of hay a day is not the same as life for a horse at McKuster Ranch.

If you are interested in reading of what we are talking about, what we have seen and learned concerning stalled horses - full time pastured horses and horse attitude, checkout this article- Not So VICE? pages 60-67 in November 2006 issue of Horse&Rider magazine.

Here your horse will have a herd experience, fresh air, clean well water, and sunshine, with more green pastures than they will know what to do with. Un lugar sequro para los caballos. If you think your horse would like to join our herd for green pasture grasses this summer, you can make application for pasture boarding at any time.

With the sound of the Walla Walla River behind them, horses sleep soundly during their morning nap. Our natural range environment allows the herds to rest in peace--while some graze, others will stand watch.

We hate the thought of barbed wire, and feel there is no reason for a horse to find them self in a pasture of barbed wire! Our pastures are double-fenced, the interior pastures being one bottom strand of electric poly-rope, four-strand electric 12-gauge smooth wire (lower strands) with 1½-inch electric Hot Tape (top strand). Our cross-fencing is three-strand electric smooth wire, with 1½-inch electric Hot Tape (top strand) and all T-posts are capped to prevent accidental injury (having a horse skewered). Our entire off-road pasture perimeter is circled by another 6-strand electric smooth-wire and electric-tape fence for additional protection for horses and to fence out potential predators. Our barnyard paddock is no-climb fencing, with electric Hot Tape across the top. We change out our 40-60 gallon water troughs every other day if not more often during warm/hot weather, and at least twice a week during cool weather. At McKuster Ranch horses do not drink river irrigation or ice water from their troughs or an irrigation ditch. Our horses drink only fresh well water, with winter water heaters to maintain no icing water troughs when the temperature drop below 40° F.
Yes, we do maintain dust bowls in our pastures for horses to lounge (take their regular dirt/dust baths).
To prevent foundering, we provide a midday meal of hay - grass and/or alfalfa, to dilute the equines intake of our sweet spring pasture grasses through the month of May.

~~~
Because people have brought injured horses to McKuster Ranch... and expect us to provide daily care for them, we wish for all to know
that we do not accept into our pastures, horses that are being medicated for illness or injury, that are blind,
cut up by barbed wire, etc. We will only accept sound, safe, healthy horses into our pastures.
We give special care to injured horses, but we are a green pasture haven for horses not a hospital.
Thank you.
~~~

Our Mission Statement ~~~ We care for horses and cater to equestrians who want the best in managed intensive grazing (MIG) pastures and concerned daily care for their equine in a natural outdoor setting. We will provide a place for equestrians to enjoy their horse, in enclosed training facilities and riding outside our ranch gates through the scenic wide-open-spaces of our northeast corner of Oregon.

---

 We feel McKuster Ranch life makes a difference in the horses' well being, for those that are boarding here.
Some other area pastures in Northeast Oregon point this out rather clearly.

August 1, 2006 @ 100° Many horse pastures around here tend to look like this	or this...	with barbed wire fencing, T-post skewers, sand "grazing".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is not how we keep horses at McKuster Ranch, LLC. If the horse pasture like the ones above will satisfy you; your horse's pasture grazing needs, you need go no further, those folks are for you. We thank you for your time, and hope you will consider McKuster Ranch's irrigated green pasture boarding in the future.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 1, 2006 @ 100°, a view of one of seven irrigated boarding pastures with cool Walla Walla River showers at McKuster Ranch .
This is what we are about at McKuster Ranch, LLC.

Our pasture fencing, with all T-posts capped for horses' safety.

You find no new barb-wire cuts and scars on these horses' throats.

---

We pasture year around. During the summer season we rotate horses among seven managed-intensive-grazing (MIG) irrigated pastures, providing every horse with green pasture grass grazing enjoyment. You will need to regularly ride or longe your horse to keep it trim and fit when pasturing at McKuster Ranch. With seven MIG pastures, we are able to accommodate up to twenty-five horses (mares, fillies, colts, geldings -no stallions) for spring-summer-autumn pasturing on Pacific Northwest all-purpose and dry land pasture grasses.

We will pasture board six horses (in addition to our own eight) with barn access during the frost-to-frost winter season. These horses will need to be compatible with our barnyard herd at the heated water troughs.

Our pasture boarding fees gives your horse:

· Daily maintenance care: fresh well water, general health inspection, human voice and handling contact
· Mineral/salt blocks in every pasture
· Immediate notice when your horse might need special attention/veterinary care - or we react accordingly per pasture boarding agreement.
· Once-a-day grain feeding, when requested (horse owner to provide grain, storage bin, and a 12-quart hook-over feeder , as pictured below)
· Fly mask as needed (horse owner to provide mask) - most people are amazed at how very few flies there are at McKuster Ranch
· Winter season: Blanket as needed during winter pasturing (horse owner to provide blanket)
· Winter season: Daily hay ration to accompany pasture grazing (McKuster Ranch provides all hay--best-quality grass hay or alfalfa, depending on weather. Winter feeding is twice a day without snow cover, three times a day went snow covers the ground. We feed alfalfa once a day -at night time- when temperatures are below 40°; if alfalfa is requested more often add $50/ month to rent.)

Our individual horse pasture boarding fees are:

$65/ month for the period of May through October, for the first ten pasture grazers

$75/ month for applicants thereafter. We close our pasture entrance gate with twenty (20) horses at McKuster Ranch.

During mare's high heat season/estrus, we create separate herds. The mares are separated from the geldings through most of the summer.

Subject to availability, if you do not want your horse(s) blended into the herd, we will rent one seasonal pasture (1.5 to 2 acres) for 1 or 2 horses for $200/ month from May through October, or two adjoining summer pastures for 3 to 5 horses for $350/ month. These pastures and horses will also be rotated, but your horse(s) will be kept separated from our year-round herd.

Our pasture boarding rate is $125/ month during the winter season, and we provide all hay (alfalfa/grass mix and grass hay).

Services such as vet care, farrier service, weekly longeing, special daily care (feed and medication disbursement), etc. can be bought through agreement with McKuster Ranch, LLC. When pasture boarding here, you and your horse's trainer (with active equine trainers' liability insurance) are always welcome to work in our barnyard paddock's 58' round pen or the 100'x 220' riverside outdoor riding arena. We won't get in your way!

When you are not available to be with your horse on a daily/ weekly basis, we are here on a daily basis (almost year-round) and can provide, for a small fee:
· Twice weekly brushing/currying (add $10/month)
· Twice weekly -30 minutes- longeing in our 58' round pen (add $20/month)
· Weekly hoof cleaning (add $10/month)
· Weekly fly spraying -horse owner to provide fly spray- (add $10/month)
· Extra grain feedings and hay supplement to our pastures will be billed @ our winter boarding rate
(horse owner to provide grain, storage bin, and a 12-quart Hook-Over feeder, as pictured here & available in most tack stores)

For an additional fee of $35/month, we will feed grain to your horse daily using our McKuster Ranch northwest grain supplement of biotin, sweet feed grains, and a fat-bran additive for winter energy (18-20 oz. daily total).

· Other extra care needs not listed here that may arise over time can be arranged individually at the rate of $15 per hour + items needed.

· Only with your written request, we will mid-week ride your gentle* horse within our riverside riding arena or round pen
* Kittee and Dale will not ride racing/rodeo/performance horses, hard-to-manage horses, or hard-to-catch horses.

Email us or call today if you have any questions or wish to make reservations to pasture your horse at McKuster Ranch in 2008.

When summer weather gets hot, our horses would rather graze in a Walla Walla River shower than stand around in the barn. Wouldn't you?

Our pasture irrigation is done with five sets of Nelson Big Guns. They work great, keeping our pastures cool and green.

Our friends at Oregon State University say, "Keep your horses in a pasture, because pasture-kept horses rarely have colic."

If you are interested in pasture-boarding your horse on green pasture grass this spring, summer, or fall at McKuster Ranch, please follow this link to our Pasture Boarding Application and Equine Veterinary Health Standards (an "every horse" standard of good health maintenance).

If you have any questions, you can drop us an email from here or give us a call by dialing 1-541-938-6271. We would like to hear from you.

A TIP to share here: A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down in a most delightful way. We have found that if you have difficulty with your horse taking a wormer, try putting the correct dosage into 4-6 cups of sweet grain combo, add 1 tablespoon of molasses, 3-4 cups of alfalfa leaves and stir. All of our horses try to lick the bottom out of the bucket, with all wormer gladly ingested.

Is there anyone out there that has a working formula for dosing a horse with bute (phenylbutazone) in a most delightful way? Please email your tip.

During our everyday riding season May through October we provide for your comfort a fresh port-a-john next to the barn.

"I used to think that mounting blocks were for sissies. Now I think of mounting from a block as polite horsemanship." John Lyons

We have mounting blocks available for you at the front hitching rails, the barn hitching rails, the round pen and at our riverside arena. You are more than welcome to use any of these blocks to make mounting easier for you and your horse.

The picture below is from Derby's point of view. Kittee and Nugget standing in our cattle range on the north portion of McKuster Ranch looking towards the breaks of the So. Fork Walla Walla River. This is one of the views from atop our backyard bluff.
Have you seen the world from horseback at the top of Bowlus Hill? Wow, what a view on a clear day... overlooking the Columbia/ Snake/Walla Walla river basins from these Blue Mtn. foothills, to the Palouse to the Cascade snowcaps, a 200 mile vista, from the saddle.

If you have not returned from your ride within a half hour after sunset, we will come looking for you. You are not alone out there, when you ride out of McKuster Ranch. We strongly suggest that you consider carrying a sidearm and/or a cell phone when riding through this corner of the wild west. There is wildlife in our neighborhood.

Maybe you have given thought to this... if you were pasture boarding your horse(s) at McKuster Ranch, this riding range is available to you without having to hitch up your trailer. Now, how much towing fuel would that save you each month? Where will you be riding this winter? Our riding range doesn't change very much on a year round basis--after a snow melt or rain, the ground is dry for riding in a few days of sunshine.

A note here: Once we leave the Walla Walla River canyon -McKuster Ranch- we find there is excellent cell phone reception from almost all hilltops around our neighborhood riding range.

Day riders will not be asked to provide clean bill of health/vet records and will not enter our pastures, riverside arena, or round pen areas.

Front gate hitching rails w/step-up block and fresh water trough. Our 58' round pen -also shown here- is inside the barn paddock

Day riders: Your secure parking space awaits you behind our pasture gates after off-loading your #1 riding partner at the front hitching rails.

Some people say that at McKuster Ranch we "have way too much fun." You and your horse are welcome to join us.

We hope to see you soon along the back country riding trails available to you and your horse from our ranch's front gate, when you are pasture boarding your horse at McKuster Ranch.

This is how we have designed McKuster Ranch, LLC. We are developing a beautiful place for ourselves, our horses and those that wish to join us.

Happy Trails to You...

McKuster Ranch hosted a second Equine Dental Clinic in November 2006 with equine dentist, Dr. Sarah Metcalf, DVM. We will be setting up another dental clinic for fall 2007. This year we completed a lot of corrective dental needs for several of our horses. You can follow this link to our Equine Dental Clinic to witness some of Dr. Sarah's work, which we discovered was much needed by Nugget. Just like with humans, good dental care for horses only makes a positive difference, in their life and their smile.

If you are interested in reading more about the importance of comprehensive equine dental care see Equus magazine Issue 350-November 2006 Healthy Teeth-Health Horse pages 29-50. A valuable and interesting source of information.
Every time we see a fake equine tail we wonder... what kind of condition is that horse's teeth in? When was the last time it saw an equine dentist?

Around the Ranch

The rest of our equine family

Our Arabian alpha princess  - Shaiela - daughter of the Scottsdale, US, Canadian, and World Champion - Simeon Shai registered AHA	Everyone on the trail calls her pretty. We call our Paint mare  - Misty - she leads the herd on most p.m. runs registered APHA	Our dappled palomino Quarab filly - Goldie - follows us around like a loving cute blonde puppy registered AHA
Please follow the above links if you would like to meet each mare individually at their web page.

With the purchase of our three mares Shaiela, Misty, and Goldie in 2006, we hope to be producing some fine quality horse and pony foals by 2009. Our ranch stock links below will take you directly to their pedigree web page, if you would like a quick look of our background.

Shaiela is our full blooded 12-year-old Egyptian Arabian - AHA registered daughter of Simeon Shai. The Simeon Shai story goes like this; he is the winningest show stallion in the history of the Arabian Breed. Winning the Arabian Horse Shows as Champion Stallion at Scottsdale, Canadian National, US National, and World Champion Stallion at Salon du Cheval - France. Shaiela's dam is SF Sage.
Misty is our 12-year-old Paint, a beautiful, most gentle and willing mare. Sired by Indios Obession and her dam is Rose Holiday.
Goldie is our 5-year-old Quarab filly, great granddaughter of Doc Bar. A beautiful little palomino blonde that loves everyone she meets. Sired by Arabian-DV Daahnte and her quarter horse dam is Goldie Catbar .
Shai Al Bey is our 2008 filly born to Shaiela. Visit her webpage for more details, photos, videos.

We have 54+ acres of range land on the north side of the Walla Walla River, that was used by the Demaris Family for grazing cattle. We plan to do the same in a few years in order that we can offer some great quality natural free range beef - no hormones, no chemicals, all natural beef - to our local markets and work our geldings, Derby and Nugget as per their outstanding quarter horse breeding and cattle work training.

Quads Derby - gelding - is our all business minded quarter horse. His great grand sire was the one and only Poco Bueno, son of King.
Nugget -gelding - is our 1000 pound -like golden retriever- from Vern Lonsberry's cattle ranch in Alberta, with all Skip/ Skipper breeding in his background.

...and then there is Rusty

Our 8 year old mild mannered ranch stallion - AHA registered
- Adrenaline Rush -
son of Fire An Ice

A TIP to share here... unless you are buying a pasture pet, invest in an equine vet check when buying a horse for your long term riding partner.

This is who we are...We have both been exposed to the city life, Honolulu, Portland, and Charlotte. Individually we have attended les universités in the vicinity of Paris and Rheim, France. Now together, as one we find that we love our Oregon country life with cats, goats and equines, most of all. We spend many warm afternoon hours in our yard, sitting, talking, petting ponies, watching the wildlife, or just listening to the country and river sounds around us. Most summer evenings we go out amongst the herd and spend hours petting, scratching horses bellies, brushing, just communing with horses until after sunset. Most full moon lit nights, year around we are out communing with horses, regardless of the season's temperature. We do not have television, we have horses, cats, reading for our entertainment, and equine education. When time and temperatures allows, we often ride in the arena or hit the trails around here for an hour or so for the joy of in-the-saddle time. If you are inclined to stop and chat, please feel free to do so, maybe we can plans to make a ride together. Please follow this link to find our credentials for trusting your horse with us.

---

Not only does Kittee practice law, she also train ponies to draw... a cart.mpg and soon our buckboard wagon.


Whether in the paddock or in the pasture, sisters Ginger and Jasmine love to kick up their heels, go into gear and pony race.mpg. A joy to watch.
This is another reason we know that an open pasture - free roam life style is the best life for an equine.

Goldie and Derby

Our horses and boarders have come to accept us on a daily basis without the feeling of equine flight.

Misty

Dale usually checks on his Goldie, Derby, Ginger, Jasmine, Misty, cat Sylvester, and the rest of the herd at least twice a day.
Kittee gets to bond with Nugget while working together, with her kittens while playing, with her Shaiela and the rest of the herd when grooming.



In 2007 we acquired four totally organic in-pasture parasite/ weed control/ fertilizing devices.
We got goats.

We would like to introduce you to our pasture management team, comprised of Petunia on the left and Pierrè on the right. They assist with weed and parasite control for our groomed horse pastures. These guys are sister - brother French Alpine goats and are most congenial pasture pets for the horses, ponies, Kittee and Dale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was not too long after discovering the joy of having Petunia and Pierrè as pasture pets, that we decided to acquire a couple more goats to create a small herd. We were very fortunate to have found Hans (with horns) a Swiss Oberhasli and his young companion Andrè, a French Alpine, which were a local family's goat back county pack team.  These guys are just as friendly as herd mates, Petunia and Pierrè A joy to have around the ranch.

Living above the 45th Parallel we have about 16 hours of sunshine - 18+ hours of daylight during summer, and the skies are not cloudy all day.
This gives us a lot of riding time in our pastures, riverside arena, and back country trails around the ranch. We love it here.

Come ride with us this spring, summer and fall to view gorgeous open country sunsets like the one below from your horse's back.

---

Our summer sunrises look like the above coming over The Blues. A great time to saddle-up and getty-up. Let's go riding before it get hot.

---

Sometimes after a spring rain the clouds over The Blue - on our eastern horizon - can become quite fiery at sunset.

---

Derby and Dale

We have found our riding helmets to be lightweight, well ventilated with great sun visors, just good comfortable headgear. There are plenty of good horseback riders that know how hard it is when one hits the ground. A head is a terrible thing to waste. You might remember that it was not Kryptonite that was the demise of Superman, but a fall from a horse. The link below has a few words about equine safety from the American Medical Equestrian Assoc. "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Your call... We do enjoy a cantered breeze in our faces, the smell of fine leather seating, fine tuned steering, and open sunroof over our heads. Yes, we love horses.

Nugget and Kittee

McKuster Ranch, LLC we care about our horses and we cater to equestrians who feel the same concern for theirs, in a natural sort of way.

The 1863 Demaris Century Farm, now known as McKuster Ranch

Copyright © 2004-2008 by McKuster Ranch, LLC. All rights reserved for and by the owner. NO text/photo/image copying without permission from McKuster Ranch, LLC Last update: October, 2008 Webmaster/ Website owner - Dale McKain Website design - mckaincomputergraphics

About Milton-Freewater, Oregon