Matriarchs
Horses, cows, and pigs live in a matriarchal society. It is typically the smallest, oldest, and mightiest female that will lead the family to safety, food, and water. She will nurture the…
Teaching People Kindness and Compassion to Animals, Each Other and our Planet.
Love
February brings Valentine’s Day and with it, flowers, romance, and great appreciation for our loved ones. I will definitely be spending some special time with Jay and adoring…
Dealing With Change
Years ago, one of our wise mother cows, Witness prepared to make her transition. The entire cow family gathered around her and took turns stepping forward, laying their heads on her side to pay their respects. Once the entire family said their goodbyes, they…
A Thousand Reasons
With the fires, evacuations, and deep concern for our oldest animals came lack of sleep, missed meals, fatigue, stress, the flu, and in the end, a three day hospital stay; it…
The Greatest Movement In History
In the style of the late Harvey Milk, my name is Ellie Laks and I want to recruit you! I’d like you to join me in the greatest movement in history! The atrocities…
A Warrior
Bonsai was an enormous, mighty, strong, brave, courageous, opinionated, and feisty giant who ironically came to us in a miniature horse’s body. He was the victim of severe abuse for his first six years of life until he was…
Twenty Years
It feels like a lifetime, and it’s gone by in a blink. I’m so grateful to have served the last 20 years and I am excited to…
Kindness Always
Having a sanctuary is amazing; hearing the animals’ soft noises as they eat and rest, smelling the earthy grass and fur aroma from the barnyard, and of course, getting to spend time with all these mystical creatures is pure magic. Living…
Little Details
This week we brought another one of our horses to the hospital. Caesar is now thirty-two years old. He has overcome past abuse, has opened up and come out of his shell, has become the…
Warrior
Our miniature horse Bonsai has been in and out of the hospital now for about three months. Initially, he had a very painful impaction and over time caused an infection in his intestines. This took a very long time to heal. Horses have bacteria in their gut, including salmonella, which is dormant when they’re healthy and strong, but when they have an elongated illness that bacteria can take over. Bonsai was diagnosed with salmonella last week, which has caused a lack of appetite, severe diarrhea, and extreme weight loss. There is no way to directly treat the salmonella, however with supportive care, like Sun Chlorella, acupuncture, massage therapy, energy work, fluids, tube feeding, probiotics, daily visits and love, and great vet care, Bonsai is finally getting better, slowly.
There was a time where Bonsai had lost so much weight, was so uncomfortable, and was feeling so weak, that I was wondering if he had had enough and wanted to transition...
There was a time where Bonsai had lost so much weight, was so uncomfortable, and was feeling so weak, that I was wondering if he had had enough and wanted to transition...
Upcoming Events
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A Gentle Thanksgiving 2020 - California
Tickets now on sale!
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A Gentle Thanksgiving 2020 - Missouri
Tickets now on sale!
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A Gentle Thanksgiving 2020 - Tennessee
Tickets now on sale!
- Tour The Gentle Barn - Missouri with Steve-o!
Spotlight Sponsor of the Month
Puremedy Animal Wellness products are here! These long awaited formulations have been hand crafted, refined and perfected over many years and put to the test by pet owners, trainers, Veterinarians, show barns and animal sanctuaries. Now these powerful natural remedies are available for your beloved animals.
The entire Puremedy family is proud to support The Gentle Barn, the gold standard for animal rescue. 10% of all top line revenue from the sale of all PAW products is donated directly to The Gentle Barn.
Why Gentle Barn + Puremedy? About 10 years ago, one Autumn morning in Topanga, CA I sipped my tea and turned on my favorite show, CBS Sunday morning. Little did I know my world was about to change forever. Ellie Laks, the founder of The Gentle Barn just glowed as she introduced the television audience to some of her animals and told us their stories. She talked about how she started The Gentle Barn organically, giving a home to some severely neglected petting zoo animals. Within 2 hours we were face to face. I had met a true soul sister. I brought her several cases of my Original Healing Ointment to use on her rescued animals to help them heal. Since then, all of their animals use Puremedy when they have a cut, wound, burn, stitches, infection, insect bites, fly bites, skin rashes, inflammation, or just a spot that the Veterinarian is unable to diagnose. Not only do all of her animals use Puremedy, but her family and friends do as well.
Joni Siegel
President, Founder