Horses retire on a lovely spread

Lee Farm's horses have it pretty good in their retirement.

Nestled just below snow-topped Black Butte is Lee Farm's retirement ranch for Appaloosa horses.

Spanning 60 acres near the Head of the Metolius, the ranch offers plenty of open space for the four geldings to roam on. This is part of Becky Johnson's property and she lets Lee use this portion for Ben (age 16), JJ (25), Skeeter (23) and Spot (30).

Johnson likes to keep the area looking pretty and in the summer the horses keep the area grazed down allowing wild flowers to thrive.

During winter months, Lee drags out 70 pounds of hay each day and spreads it out on open ground for the horses to feed on. Water is available from the nearby pond in this idyllic setting.

Sam Johnson, Becky Johnson's deceased husband and a former Oregon legislator, built the old ranch barn on the property. Sam used it with friends while hunting cougars.

The horses get loving attention and exercise from local riders. Kelsey White rides Skeeter, Kathryn Godsiff on Ben coaches Kelsey and Sandy Marlow rides Spot.

The Camp Sherman community has helped care for the horses.

"JJ got hoof rot (a fungus disease) while eating new shoots down in the swamp and couldn't walk," Farm said. "I might have put him down but the women from (housing) Tract C wouldn't hear of it. They offered to help and Julie Dohrmann offered to pay the vet bill for treatment."

JJ recovered and now roams with the other horses.

JJ and Lee are old friends. They have been on the Chief Joseph Trail Ride for many years, completing the 1,350 miles through Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

"JJ is the second horse to have done the entire trip," Farm said.

The trail retraces the flight of Chief Joseph and 800 Nez Perce Indians towards Canada in 1877 after several battles with U.S. troops.

"My favorite area on the ride is outside Cook City, Montana, and down the east side of Yellowstone in Wyoming," said Farm.

Farm completed the 1,350-mile trek in 1992 and has participated six more years since then. His last ride was in 1999.

Lee and his wife Betty live in Camp Sherman. She participated in trail rides as the back-up team, with pickup, camper and horse trailer.

For the older horses, the ranch is a friendly environment and obviously a labor of love between Lee and his horses on this retirement ranch.