My husband, Mark and myself, Connie live on a 5 acre farm in Beavercreek, Oregon. We have lived here almost 30 years.  We moved here from the city mainly so we could bring our horses home and not have to board them.  Our property backs up to several thousand acres of forest land, so that was the selling point. 

When we moved here we had two horses, two dogs and two cats.  A reasonable number.  At that time we were not into aussies.  We lived to ride.  However, one night 25 years ago, changed all that.

On a rainy, dark, windy night in November, we were traveling close to home with the horse trailer loaded with horses.  As we made a sharp turn on a very steep  road, we spotted a dog sitting off to the side of the road.  We could not stop, so continued on to our destination.  When we came back several hours later, the dog was still there.  A very wet, cold, red and white Australian Shepherd.  We continued home, unloaded the horses and returned to the spot with treats.  After several minutes we were able to lure him into the car. He was an elderly boy.  No one responded to our searches for his family, so we became his family. 

We named him Ben.  He worked his way into my heart and soul.  Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer 6 months later.  We loved him with every inch of our being.  This was meant to be and so started our journey with Australian Shepherds.

We now have four Australian Shepherds, one horse, one pony, a bunch of sheep, goats, ducks and two cats.

Although I spent 10 years running my aussies in agility, I have devoted the last 10 years to stockdogs.