United States
Favourited 773 times
My husband Jim (64) and me (Donna/59) are happy, upbeat folks with good positive energy. Jim is a world class musician who toured with such legends as Isaac Hays and Edgar Winter, and has also produced, composed and arranged music alongside other well known greats. Donna is a self-employed mortgage broker who originates loans in California and Montana.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Animal Care
Help with Computers/ Internet
Our ranch is for someone who loves the mountains, outdoors, nature, trees and animals. Our 20 acre property joins up to the US Forest Service land, with endless trails and roads to hike, ride (horses/bikes) and explore.
We have a 20 acre property bordering the US Forest Service land with 5 horses, 3 dogS, 40 chickens, and 3 cats. We also grow and bale hay for the horses once a year. There are always fencing, staining, painting, gardening (organic)/weeding, tree removal, housework (laundry, dishes, cooking, organizing, cleaning) feeding and watering the animals, horse area maintenance (including poop, poop and more horse poop and also dog poop), some furniture to refinish, plants to water and other projects. Did I mention weeding? ;-) I would love particularly to have a person that enjoys and is experienced riding and exercising horses, and Jim would love to have someone help him with property maintenance projects, so someone willing to help with just about anything would be awesome, but riding/exercising the horses (other than feeding and poop) is not necessary if you don't have experience. We can usually accommodate someone whose desire is to enjoy the horses during the warm weather months of April (sometimes very chilly) through October (October is also sometimes very chilly), although if you want to come in the winter, Jim loves having someone feed the horses/clean up poopoo and riding in the cold and snow is okay as well. Since I'm always tied to my desk, Jim usually handles most of these chores but he is recovering from a brain injury since May 2019 and frankly can't handle much any more! Also, the horses will just sit around because Jim can't ride again yet and I don't have time due to my mortgage business. I absolutely love, love seeing people enjoy our horses and the putting them to work and the horses love it too! We have a large riding arena and small round pen for working with the horses, plus both English/dressage saddles (for arena work, although we don't have horses trained for dressage) and Western saddles (for trail rides). There are endless trails in the forest straight from the back of our property, plus we have a 3 horse trailer to go to other nearby trails, including crossing creeks, etc.
English: Fluent
There are queen sized beds in two private bedrooms on the main floor (one with a TV), a queen size bed in a private basement bedroom with a TV, one twin sized bed in another basement area with less privacy, plus a camper with a queen size bed (you have to come into the house to use the bathroom however). There is one shared full bathroom and a bathroom with a toilet and sink off of the great room where there is a 70" HD TV with surround sound, fireplace, play room with pool table and poker table and amazing views.
There are abundant rivers, lakes, hiking areas, fishing, and a ski area 30 minutes away. Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are within a reasonable driving distance as well (4-5 hours). Please note that we are in a rural area about 10 minutes from the small town of Darby, 30 minutes from the larger town of Hamilton, and 1.5 hours from the City of Missoula. There is no public transportation, so we are happy pick up/drop off our workaways at the Missoula, MT, airport (or send a workaway to drop off/pick up). If you have a driving license and insurance, you can borrow our old ranch truck to go exploring. I am always intensely working in my home office in the loft above the kitchen so you won't see much of me during the work week, but Jim loves to chat (particularly in the kitchen at meal time) so beware! ;-)
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
More than two
25 hours per week with 2 days off
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
