Tracey Barnes-Priestley: Hi, I'm Tracey Barnes-Priestley, and this week on "What's on your Bucket List?"

Tracey: A kind-hearted woman gets a chance to tour one of our county's most beloved animal rescues and sanctuaries, and then it's love at first sight for our guest and a 1700-pound horse as we join them on their trip around Eureka.

Tracey: Coming up next on "What's on your Bucket List?"

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Tracey: I met my first guest Sandy Greenleaf at Miranda's Rescue, a menagerie of animals, compassion, and goodwill.

Tracey: What was it about this particular topic that really appealed to you?

Sandy Greenleaf: The passion for animals.

I have this love for animals, for all kinds of animals, wildlife and domestic.

I have dogs and cats.

I've had a ranch and had lots of animals on the ranch and-- Tracey: Well, specifically on your application you talked about wildlife or rehab or rescue.

What is it about that kind of involvement with animals?

Sandy: Well, I have empathy for the animals, especially animals that are in distress, and I like to care for them and be with them when they're in distress, even if it's a little bird to, you know, a larger animal.

Tracey: Sure, throughout your years on the ranch did you ever rescue any animals or?

Sandy: I rescued a featherless turkey.

Tracey: Oh, a featherless turkey.

Sandy: A featherless turkey.

I had a tom, and the tom turkey was just very lonely, it was huge, and he followed the geese all around the ranch.

The geese hated him, would peck at him.

And so I knew he needed a wife.

Tracey: Yes.

Sandy: And so I got a phone call, and a local rancher said, "I hear you want a turkey, but she's been under a lot of stress and she has no feathers."

So I went over there, rescued the turkey, brought her back home, and they fell in love and had little turk-ettes.

Tracey: Did they really?

Sandy: Yes, they did.

Tracey: You actually applied for the second season of "Bucket "List, and family commitments got in the way, caregiving got in the way, but I really wanted to hang on to you not only for the experience but also because I think it's so common for women in our caregiving roles that it's sometimes hard to put ourselves first and get to do some of the things that we want to do.

Sandy: Well, I'm glad you asked me to, so.

Tracey: Let's introduce you to Shannon Miranda, and he's going to give us a tour of this amazing place.

Sandy: Wonderful, can't wait.

Tracey: Okay.

Tracey: Please tell me and our viewers the history of this incredible place.

Shannon Miranda: So it started off years and years ago that I was coming here as a kid.

I used to ride horses.

And the lady that lived here, the Tanferani's--Bonnie and I would rescue a horse here and there and a turkey or dog or cat or--so just kind of got me into the whole rescue thing.

And obviously I've had a passion for animals my whole life, and then, like I said, would drive by all the time and think, "Wow, one day this would make a great animal sanctuary."

And here we are 23 years later.

Tracey: But in terms of your own personal history, you didn't start out to be an animal rescuer.

Shannon: Did not.

I was working at a lumber mill in Scotia.

And it was '94, 5 days after my son was born, I fell through the floor 30 feet and was in a wheelchair for almost a year.

Tracey: Oh, Shannon.

Shannon: Yeah.

Shannon: So it was a long, hard road recovery back, but I had put on a whole bunch of weight and I thought, "I've got to do something besides just sit and eat."

So I made myself get up and I started doing a little bit of rescue here and there with a few dogs and few cats.

And I said, I promised no more than four or five dogs or three or four cats.

I promised, and I didn't keep that promise.

Here if we don't find a home for something, it just gets to stay here.

Tracey: It just lives out its days.

Shannon: It just lives out their days here.

The only way we put something to sleep is if it's--medically there's nothing we can do or it's so aggressive it's a harm to itself or other animals.

I live on the site.

So if something happens--and it's good and it's bad because in the middle of the night somebody shows up with a dog-- Tracey: Oh, no.

Shannon: Or we have horses tied up to the gates in front.

So we get a lot of animals.

They--we get a lot.

So we've got four thrift stores that are really what funds the rescue.

I do it because a life's a life.

It doesn't matter if it comes from here or I get dogs from LA.

Shannon: It's-- Tracey: Do you really?

Shannon: Yeah.

But we also send them all over.

I just sent a dog to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Tracey: And now I think we've kept Sandy waiting long enough.

Let's give her the tour, shall we?

Shannon: Let's do it.

Tracey: All right.

Tracey: My pleasure.

Sandy: Hello.

Shannon: Hi there.

Tracey: Shannon, I'd like you to meet Sandy Greenleaf.

Shannon Miranda.

Shannon: Nice to meet you.

You too.

Tracey: Thank you so much for having us.

Shannon: You're welcome.

Thanks for coming.

Tracey: Yeah, we are looking forward to the tour.

Shannon: The tour.

Tracey: Yeah.

Shannon: You ready go feed some horses?

Sandy: Yes, let's go.

Shannon: Let's do it.

Shannon: Okay, so you're going to throw him-- Sandy: The flake?

Shannon: Yeah.

Shannon: You're going to throw him one of those to start off with in the feeder.

Sandy: In the feeder?

Shannon: If you miss, it's okay.

Sandy: Oh, okay, all right.

Well, let's see if I can-- Shannon: Careful with the hot wire.

Just throw it in.

Perfect.

Tracey: Our next breakfast stop was at Molly's corral.

Sandy: Okay, hi, Molly.

Ready?

Let's see if we can get past the wire.

Ready?

There you go.

Tracey: All righty.

And she, again, is a what?

Shannon: A zebu, miniature brahman.

Tracey: Next step were some hungry horses.

Shannon: Okay, so what you're going to do is grab-- Shannon: Is that too heavy?

Sandy: No.

Shannon: Grab that and just come down here and throw it over there.

Sandy: This whole thing?

Shannon: Yep.

Oh, yeah.

Throw it as far in as you can.

There you go.

And remembering that's a hot wire.

Sandy: Yes.

Shannon: It will remind you.

Sandy: Yes, so can you tell us how you get the horses?

Shannon: I can.

So this mare I've had for years and years and years.

I had her since she was a baby.

A friend of mine had her for quite a few years, and then I got her back, I've got her foal, son, up at the barn.

This was a horse I took from a friend.

Very nice horse.

Just needed a home.

He was an old ranch horse.

Just too much for him to be going on 10, 15 mile to gather cattle.

So he's been great here.

So what we're going to do right now quickly, thank God they closed the gate, is you're going to take this and follow me.

Sandy: What's the name of this one?

Shannon: This is Cisco.

Sandy: Hi, Cisco.

Shannon: And just throw it at him.

Sandy: Ready, Cisco?

Shannon: Perfect.

There you go.

Sandy: Can I go up there and pat?

Shannon: You can.

Sandy: What's this one's name?

Shannon: Cisco.

Shannon: This is my daughter's horse.

Sandy: Aren't you pretty.

Yes.

Shannon: His scratching spot that he can't reach is right here.

Sandy: Oh, there we go.

Shannon: You know by the lips you got the right spot.

Tracey: All right.

And who's next?

Shannon: Feed water buffalo and all that fun stuff.

Tracey: We're going to feed a water buffalo?

Oh boy.

Sandy: So where did you get a water buffalo from?

Shannon: People get things and then just think, "Oh, this is fun--" And realize that they're not so much fun.

Tracey: A water buffalo.

Shannon: Yeah, she's actually very dangerous.

Oh, yeah, she's on her fourth water trough.

She plows them with her horn and just splits them in half.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Sandy: As much as I can carry?

Okay, we can try it.

Shannon: --but she'll be happy if you throw her a whole bunch.

Sandy: Look what I got.

Shannon: Oh, yes.

Sandy: There you go.

Shannon: She's beautiful.

Sandy: And this is a yak?

Shannon: This is a yak.

So he came from Arcata.

He's the guy they called him the Yak Man.

Tracey: The Yak Man.

Shannon: The Yak Man.

Tracey: I remember him well.

Sandy: Oh, okay.

Shannon: So the vet's coming.

I don't know how they're going to trim her feet.

They're going to have to tranquilize her, but they're coming to trim his feet.

And he needs a haircut.

Tracey: Yeah.

Sandy: Yeah.

Shannon: So.

And I don't mind doing him.

He's pretty friendly, but I'm tired of getting hit.

He's actually really friendly.

Do you want to throw him some?

Sandy: Sure.

Shannon: Sandy, you can grab some of that, if you can get it, and just throw it in.

Sandy: Okay.

Shannon: There you go.

Shannon: And you're hired.

You got this, you're down.

Sandy: Yeah, I used to feed our cow, so.

Tracey: Shannon explained what happened to the yak when his owner decided he wanted to travel.

Shannon: Well, he was going to the Philippines on vacation, and he took him way up in the mountains in Arcata and just left him up there-- well, he wandered down.

And CHP called me one afternoon and said, "Hey, there's a bunch of people up at the park.

They were doing birthday parties.

And they said there's this huge yak in there."

So I hooked up my truck and trailer and I went up there, and I had grain.

And he--then he knew I was going to catch him.

So I had to, like, grab him and wrestle him, throw myself on the ground while my kids threw the ho--once we caught him, he was, "Okay, fine, you got me."

Tracey: Then Shannon had a sweet-feathered surprise for Sandy.

Shannon: But you have to hold a baby duck.

Sandy: Is that a Muscovy duck?

Shannon: Yes.

Hi.

We're going to--yes, we're going to--I know, I know, I know.

You're going to--we're going to hold a baby duck, aren't we?

Okay, all right, all right.

Tracey: Oh my goodness.

Shannon: They're wet from swimming, but.

Tracey: Look at these guys.

Hi there, beauty.

Sandy: Hi, baby.

Hi.

Tracey: Hello.

Shannon: Aren't they cute?

Tracey: Hi.

It's okay, it's okay.

Oh, yeah.

Shannon: They're adorable, aren't they?

They're so cute.

Sandy: I had one duck-- in my hand, and it was-- Shannon: Yeah.

Sandy: And it was mine for, like, 6 months or more.

Tracey: Oh.

Sandy: Yeah, put it in your pocket, go everywhere.

Tracey: And then it was time to go see all of the exotic birds.

Shannon: Ideally, I'd love to have a place where you could just let them go and they can fly.

Tracey: Yeah, a big-- Shannon: 'Cause they've gotten out before.

And it's awesome seeing them fly around.

Tracey: Next, we were off to visit the cats.

Sandy: Hi, kitties.

That black one.

Tracey: Yeah.

Sandy: Yeah, we got you.

Tracey: We finished up our tour with the dogs and puppies.

[dogs barking] Sandy: Oh, you don't want this one?

Tracey: This has been an amazing tour by my estimation, but more importantly, what do you think, Sandy?

Sandy: Oh, this was so fabulous.

It was so neat to see all the animals and pet some of them, and he's just been a wonderful host.

Shannon: Thank you.

Tracey: It's been great, huh?

Shannon: I'm honored you chose us to come out and see what we do out here.

Tracey: It's a pretty remarkable operation, Shannon.

Shannon: It's--it really is, we're kind of one of a kind here, you know, it's just kind of us.

Tracey: Yeah.

Shannon: We love it.

Tracey: Doing amazing things.

Shannon: Thank you.

Sandy: So many amazing animals too.

Shannon: Now, you can come out anytime.

Sandy: Yes.

Shannon: You know around.

Sandy: I know.

Shannon: Yes.

Sandy: I will.

I'll come back for sure.

Tracey: Well, Sandy surprised me on the drive down with a little something for Miranda's Rescue.

Go ahead.

Sandy: There's a donation for you.

Shannon: Oh my gosh.

Thank you.

Sandy: You're welcome.

Shannon: Thank you.

Tracey: And she-- Shannon: Thank you very much.

Tracey: She also brought-- Shannon: Dog and cat food.

Tracey: Dog and-- Sandy: It's all dog food.

Shannon: I think they have a few dogs we can feed.

Sandy: Yeah, of course, there is, yes.

Shannon: Thank you, guys.

Yeah, thank you very much.

Sandy: You're welcome.

Shannon: Truly.

Sandy: You're welcome.

Shannon: It was fun.

Tracey: It was a great, great bucket list.

Sandy: Yeah, it was my pleasure.

Yeah, thank you.

Shannon: Good, good, good.

I loved it.

Tracey: To watch this and other episodes, go to keet.org.

Tracey, Sandy, and Shannon: What's on your bucket list?

Tracey: I met my next guest at the very special Blue Ox Millworks, but this visit had nothing to do with all of the restoration trades Blue Ox is famous for.

Tracey: You're not going to believe what we're doing today.

I am here with Annie Bolick-Floss at--why don't you tell us what we're checking off your bucket list?

Annie Bolick-Floss: Well, I'm super excited.

I get to learn how to harness and drive a carriage horse.

Meet the beautiful Pearl, and she is gorgeous.

She's Percheron, and she belongs to Old Town Carriage, and she's fabulous.

Tracey: When I read your application, I thought, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

But you come from a long horse history, correct?

Annie: I do, yep Tracey: Yeah.

Tracey: What was that about for you in your life?

Annie: My mother happened to be a horse person, luckily for me, and so we rode on trail rides.

And I have pictures of me being very small on big horses.

Always liked the bigger horses.

And then I was fortunate enough that my mom was smart enough to buy a horse when I was a young teenager, so.

Tracey: And the rest was-- Annie: History.

Tracey: A love affair.

Yeah.

Annie: Yep.

Lifelong.

Tracey: Yeah, And you had a very special relationship with one horse.

Annie: I did.

Tracey: Who was that?

Annie: So I was fortunate enough to ride my trainer's horse, a big 16 hands, 16'2" Arab Anglo.

So he was half thoroughbred, half Arabian.

And I rode hunters and jumpers.

So I got to compete.

And ultimately I took all my college savings and bought him.

Tracey: And you lived happily ever after.

Annie: And we did live happily ever after.

Tracey: But with all of that, that's such an extensive history with horses, but you never did this.

Annie: Never.

Tracey: What was the appeal of learning this piece of it?

Annie: Well, I'm just fascinated partly because it's very complex in terms of how you dress the horse or tack the horse up and all the different parts of it, which I'm going to get to learn about today, and the whole concept of driving a horse versus riding a horse I think is fascinating.

So something I've always wanted to do.

Tracey: Well, I'm so glad you applied.

I think it's wonderful, you're going to give all of us a treat.

As you have gone into the--entered the aging process that we're in, has your attitude changed much about trying new things or different things?

Annie: Oh, I think I'm very fortunate I have my good health and a wonderful husband.

And I'm kind of a let's-go-for-it.

Tracey: Yeah, all right.

Well, I think you're--Pearl, are you ready to go for it?

Look at her.

Isn't she-- Annie: I know.

Cameras on.

Tracey: Yeah.

I think it's time.

I think let's get you and Pearl going, shall we?

Tracey: All right, lovely.

We're going to go.

Tracey: Annie was happy to help Brendan Fearon, owner of Old Town Carriage Company feed and groom Pearl.

Then he showed Annie how to dress this fine beast.

Brendan Fearon: Well, this is how we start, as I indicated before, unto the forearm.

Good spot.

Grab it.

You are doing very well.

Walk straight up the stairs.

One, two steps.

Swing.

There you go.

There you go.

That's in the right spot.

Then just throw that on.

Now you can get back down on the ground.

And ideally when you're looking at a horse that's pulling, this stra--the strap here should not be down on the muscle, part of the leg there.

No, it shouldn't be here and it shouldn't be there.

This just--and this strap needs to be sort of parallel to the ground.

Okay, the next to come is the collar.

I would suggest--there you go.

You got that.

You want it upside down.

There you go.

We're doing well with that.

Annie: Come here, pretty girl.

Brendan: You can put that on her without actually releasing the rope yet, past the ears.

All right.

There you go.

That's in right place.

It'll sit right back on her shoulders.

Yep.

The weight will take it.

All right.

Just keep--yeah, the weight will drag it into place.

Now, it's all about symmetry with the horses, you know.

So it's got to look equal on both sides and it--the only thing you might notice is this little ring here sometimes traps.

So that one.

And you're right.

You're perfect 100%.

Now, you drop that through there.

Tracey: Brendan then placed the straps and bridle.

After one final inspection, it was time to hook Pearl up to the carriage.

This was a detailed process that ended with the driving lines and finally backing Pearl into position.

Brendan: Now she's set to pull.

Tracey: With Pearl ready, Brendan changed, and I took the opportunity to ask how this Liverpool, England native ended up in Humboldt County.

Brendan: I became involved in the horse drawn carriage industry in Central Park, New York and drove carriages in Central Park from April of 1981 until March of 2013.

And how did I come to Humboldt?

The previous owner of Old Town Carriage Company was a close personal friend and he was visiting New York Christmas of 2012.

I started moaning about the weather, the impatience, the noise, the pollution.

He said, "I have a solution to your problems."

And I said, "What is that?"

He said, "Buy my business in Eureka, California."

To which I promptly said, "Where is Eureka, California?"

So I came out here in January of 2013, took a look at the place, decided to move here, and I've been here since June of 2013.

Tracey: Oh my goodness.

Pearl is a gem.

Tracey: No pun intended.

Brendan: Yeah.

Tracey: And I think we should get you and Annie on the road.

Tracey: Ready?

Brendan: Certainly.

Tracey: All right, you ready, Pearl?

Yep, all right.

Okay, let's do it.

Brendan: All right.

First, use your other-- Tracey: Then it was time for Annie to climb up into the driver's seat and take us on a tour of Old Town.

Brendan: That's pretty simple.

And-- Annie: Oh, yay.

Brendan: Get up.

Come on, girl.

That's about it.

You see these.

We are on the stop.

Some people always stop for you.

And people annoyingly stop when they don't need to stop.

Annie: And that was going to be my next-- Brendan: That was our right-- It was--we have to stop technically.

Annie: So we follow the rule.

Brendan: I follow the road rules, but everybody else, when they see a horse--what's that?

Annie: You just let go of those 'cause she knows where she's going.

Brendan: Oh, I gave them to you.

So I--like I told you, this horse is not-- Annie: Doesn't need to be bothered.

Brendan: Now, when we go down here, this is the only thing that's a little--is that people want to pass us, and there is room for us both.

So what I do is I will pull to her to about here, and there's enough room there for a truck or a car.

There will be times when all of a sudden the horse is like--your barometer are the ears.

If the ears do anything that are like--get rigid in any way--like, right now she's totally, totally chill, but if the ears go rigid in any way, you've got to be looking to see what the problem is.

The key on this road is to remain as close to this curve as you possibly can.

And I'll start to stand up and I'll just let the guy know that he can get past me.

He could actually get past me as is, but he's choosing not to.

Annie: I'd rather have that kind guy.

Brendan: Yeah, but you got the--you know, we just got the-- Annie: The impatient guy.

Brendan: The impatient guy with the bad muffler.

Annie: Right, right.

Making a ton of noise.

Brendan: They always have bad mufflers as well.

Like, the impatient people have always had bad mufflers.

She's used to right here, going in a straight line 'cause we're going to work.

That's right.

But we're not today.

What we're doing today is we're going up to the mansion.

Annie: Okay.

Brendan: And I go good and wide.

Brendan: And she's used to-- you know, she knows that.

I'm going good and wide.

And then you're looking at--she'll walk right over that plate.

Just a little bit of a touch.

She's not unaware of where she's going right now.

She's just like, "This is slightly different from my morning usual ritual."

She has been up this hill many, many, many, many, many, many times.

So she's not like--and, again, a little bit more pressure right then left till you get to the point where she's in about the middle.

And she's returning to the middle, why?

Because that's her comfort zone.

Now, when we get up to the top of the hill here, she will pull over to the left, and she's going to pull over and she will get her nose just beyond that lamppost.

♪♪♪ Tracey: At the top of the hill, Pearl executed a perfect and well-practiced U-turn.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Tracey: Brendan handed the reins over to Annie.

Brendan: Just keep to the right-hand side.

We technically have a stop, but I just keep rolling her until-- Annie: I was just going to say did you go to school to learn how to do this?

Brendan: Well, you actually have to take a test.

Annie: Oh, okay.

Yep.

And so you drove more than just in Central Park.

Brendan: Oh my Lord, yes.

Annie: Oh my goodness.

Brendan: I went to--I've driven all over.

I've driven in heavy six-lane traffic.

I've driven in--trucks, trailers.

What I did learn is you can't expect the rest of the world to accommodate you.

Annie: Good morning.

Morning.

Thank you.

You too.

Brendan: How are you doing.

Annie: Isn't he though?

Brendan: How are you doing?

How are you doing?

Annie: She's good.

Brendan: Now, you can either-- Annie: Come on.

Brendan: We're almost.

Annie: Attagirl.

Brendan: Yeah, obviously she's not-- Annie: She goes, "I know how to take care of myself."

Brendan: Yeah, so what I would do here is I don't want to surprise anybody.

So I'm going over there.

Annie: Right.

Tracey: We arrived at the gazebo, and it was time to park the carriage, which Brendan accomplished from the street.

Brendan: But basically she knows where we're going.

So back.

Back, girl.

Back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back.

Annie: This is so cool.

Thank you.

Brendan: Back.

Back.

Tracey: How about that?

Annie: Yay.

Fabulous.

Tracey: Well, it's been a wet ride, but it was a fun ride.

What do you think?

Annie: It was fabulous.

Tracey: Well.

Annie: It was really fun.

Tracey: Really?

Tracey: How hard wa-- I mean, she's so big, but she's so gentle.

Annie: She is.

She's so sweet.

Annie: Such a good girl.

Tracey: Hard to drive?

Annie: No.

It was kind of exciting.

Annie: Yeah.

She knows what she's doing.

Tracey: Yeah, yeah.

Anything surprise you about the experience?

Annie: How heavy the gear is.

Tracey: Yeah, well, what would you say to other people about asking to get things checked off their bucket list?

Annie: Go for it.

It's fabulous.

Tracey: Glad you joined us.

All right.

Annie: Thank you, my favorite part, of course, was sweet Pearl, she's wonderful.

Tracey: To watch this and other episodes, go to keet.org.

Tracey and Annie: So what's on your bucket list?

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