"In riding a horse we borrow freedom" ~Helen Thomson
The horses of Sleepy Creek Farm feed our souls and quench our thirst for adventure. They provide us with a means to explore the mountains, canyons, beaches and deserts of Oregon. Elk Camp marks the summit of a summer full of horseback adventures. Every fall we pack in all our gear on the horses and set up camp for a few weeks in the Hells Canyon wilderness. It is not unusual for a project horse to spend a summer getting started under saddle and then be brought into elk camp to put all that training to work.
We have replaced some of our saddle horses with mules; however our Haflinger mares "Sweet Pea" and "Peach" are here to stay. The traditional Haflinger horse is a small draft breed from the Alp mountains of Austria. Sweet Pea and Peach are amazingly strong and hard-working horses who can safely carry any rider from the small toddler to a large man. They are at home packing heavy loads through the backcountry and carrying game out through the lodgepole pines and canyons of Elk Camp. Our Haflinger mares are now helping us with another endeavor - creating our own line of strong, stocky mules! We are hoping to have foals on the ground in 2015.
We occasionally have horses for sale. There are many good horses out there that just need a little training and some trail miles put on them. As we have room, and money, we will take on a 'project pony' and then rehome it. We want the horses we sell to go to the right people; there really is no profit to be made in selling horses these days - our interest is in making the horse a usable animal that can serve a functional purpose to its people, which will hopefully keep it out of places like the kill pen auction. As of May 2014, we do have a nice APHA gelding available for sale who is a good trail horse with lots of 4-H / OHSET experience, he would fit in well with a family looking for a horse everybody can enjoy.