Herd & Critters
At Mystic Mountain Training Center, our vibrant horse herd and friendly farm critters create an enchanting backdrop for campers and visitors.
Horses + Critters
Meet the Animals
Mystic Mountain Training Center is more than just a place to learn and explore—it's a home to our beloved horses, spirited dogs, playful cats, and curious goats! Each of these amazing animals plays a special role, welcoming campers and creating unforgettable experiences. Join us and meet our animal companions!
Mystic's Lightning Flash
Mystic’s Lightning Flash was born on Mystic Mountain in the spring of 2000 during one of the worst thunder and lightning storms of the season. He is an American Bashkir Curly and is a classic buckskin color with a tan body and black leg stockings along with his black mane and tail. His nick name is Mr. Mustache Man! For reasons known only to God, some horses, regardless of breed, grow a winter mustache and then shed it during the spring season. We get a kick out of showing off his “got milk” mustache!
Lightning shared the first three years of his life as part of a stallion “three amigos” group that lived separate from the herd in what is now the Critter Corner goat run-in shed. Cody was head of this band and for some odd reason enjoyed chewing off the other two guy’s manes. Once we decided to geld all three of these stallions and assimilate them into the herd, we were sure that Lightning’s mane would grow back full and long. Well, it did that winter but then as spring rolled in, he began to shed it. This is just one of those funky Curly traits that some have and some don’t. Fortunately, he keeps at least part of his mane and all of his tail during the summer months!
Sprout
Sprout is a beautiful palomino Haflinger gelding. He was born on an Amish farm, we think around 2010, and had two previous owners before settling in at Mystic Mountain. His job prior to coming here was to look handsome and eat treats from guests at a vacation rental home. He does both of these quite well, too! His poor world was turned upside down when he discovered he actually had to work here by becoming a riding horse for teens and campers. The first year here was rather rough when he decided that going in reverse made the game more interesting. However, soon he discovered that pleasing his riders generated treats and he loves treats!
Haflingers, as a breed, are known for their cart pulling abilities. In 2024, Denise and Ava began training him to pull a simple two-wheel cart that carries three people. To the best of our knowledge, he’d never done this before but Sprout was a quick learner and loves his new job. So now he has a whole bunch of jobs here on the mountain. He always looks handsome and certainly loves his treats, but now he is an excellent riding mount, pulls a cart in the summer and a sleigh with jingle bells in the winter.
Buck Mountain Rose
Buck Mountain Rose is definitely our gentle giant standing at almost 16 hands tall. She was born in 1995 on Buck Mountain Ranch in Alberta, Canada and was sold to us at the world’s first ever American Bashkir Curly auction in 1997. We hauled home four horses from this auction and within days of arrival had 6 as two were pregnant and due any day. Rose is the only one of the six that we still have.
Rose arrived and quickly became seriously ill with a disease known as strangles that she had picked up at the auction facility. It was touch and go for weeks. I wonder if any other horse has had so many people praying for her recovery! That fall Rose was the first American Bashkir Curly horse to compete at the PA State 4-H show in a showmanship and grooming class. The poor judges had no idea what to do with her as they had never seen a horse with a thick curly coat and long dreadlocks for a mane! With her gentle nature and strong confidence, she stole everyone’s heart and walked away in the ribbons.
Rose has been everyone’s favorite mount at Mystic Mountain for many years. She has been in the camp horse program since we began in 2001. Every Mystic Rider’s team has featured her. She even taught an 84 years old grandma how to ride! For many years Rose pulled our cart and sleigh. Now her favorite off camp season job is to be the lawn mower. Rose has free range rights over all of the yards and enjoys every bite of grass and surprising visitors by sticking her head into their open car door!
Mystic's Marble Delight
Mystic’s Marble Delight was born one spring night in 1998 right here on Mystic Mountain. Her mother was our first American Bashkir Curly mare and her father a handsome grey stallion in Kentucky. Marble was born with a black mane and tail and her body coat was tan with splashes of black marbling in it. By age 3 she had transformed into a gorgeous dappled grey with a white mane and tail.
As a weanling, Marble was the second American Bashkir Curly to ever be shown at the Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse Show. And once again, the judges had no idea what to do with her as most had never seen a Curly horse before! She stole everyone’s heart and walked away with a top prize. In 2001 she was introduced as one of the camp riding horses and continues to be a favorite of campers. Marble has been a Mystic Rider horse for many years performing in the camp drill program.
In the fall and spring many children visit Mystic Mountain for a special field trip called “Day at a Horse Farm”. After meeting all of the horses, the children choose which horse they want to learn how to approach and groom. It doesn’t matter if they are urban or rural; the choice is always “Marble”. She stands and lets little hands pet and groom her, patiently waiting for the treats that are sure to follow!
Mystic's Night of Fantasy
Mystic’s Night of Fantasy was born in 2004 on Mystic Mountain. What a beautiful oops! Did you ever notice that sometimes the things we don’t plan turn out better than the ones we do? That is the way it is in this story. What are the chances that a yearling stud colt could jump over not one, but two fences and breed the only mare in season just once and our beautiful Fancy would be the result? It may have not been planned, but Fancy has turned out to be such a blessing. She was born gorgeous and every year comes more into her name.
Fancy’s color is the most unique on the farm. She has a golden coat accented by a black ear, muzzle and leg points, and a black and golden mixed mane and tail. But it is her personality that steals everyone’s heart. She desperately wants to please you. Although she has a straight hair coat and does not look like a Curly, she is hypoallergenic to many people who are allergic to horses. Now get ready for this, that makes her a “straight Curly”!
Fancy has been a camp horse for many years. She is also part of the Mystic Riders drill team. Once you have mastered riding Fancy, not much will hold you back. She can go from zero to 45 mph in a heart beat and spin on a dime. Put a log in front of her on a trail and its merely a high- speed challenge. Yet she will slow down and respond to a beginner rider in the arena and never miss a beat.
Cody of Mystic Mountain
Cody of Mystic Mountain was once Mystic’s Bug in a Rug. He was born in 1999 on Mystic Mountain with what looked like a white round braided rug on his face and right there on the side was a brown bug…consequently “Bug in A Rug”. It was such a cute name for a foal, but not so much for a stallion. For years his barn name was “Bugs”. As he grew up, we decided that we needed a second breeding stallion for our growing horse breeding program. Bill fell in love with this guy, and so he was kept. Times and seasons changed and the horse breeding program morphed into a summer camp and a training center. Cody was gelded and professionally trained.
Denise believes that the name of a horse in some ways prophecies as to their behavior. Bugs was no longer an appropriate name for a horse that was beginning to prove that he could be an incredible trail horse and became part of the coveted “camp horse team”. He has also been part of every Mystic Riders drill team since its inception. With his newly found personality and skills, this horse was “born again”! So a strong western name, for an American western breed was found…..Cody. If you have ever been to Cody, Wyoming, you will appreciate the significance!
Shadow
Shadow came home to live at Mystic Mountain in 2012. If you love horses, you probably have a favorite coat color that you are drawn to. Since I was a little girl I have always wanted a black horse and God has blessed me with several. Shadow is one of those horses.
I can honestly tell you that when I went to see him, I had absolutely no intentions of bringing him home. Our barn was already over stuffed with several stalls double booked! However, Shadow would not take NO for an answer. He was terribly under- weight and his feet were in the worst condition I had ever seen. After his owner departed and I was left standing on the outside of the fence resting my face on a fence post. Shadow walked over to me, looked me directly in the eye, and nuzzled my lips! Then he dropped his head, sadly sighed, slowly turned, and walked away. For those of you that don’t know horses, they don’t by nature do any of these things. First, they don’t directly make eye contact with people, especially strangers. Second, they don’t kiss, like people do. And third, they don’t rip your heart out!
Shadow had a long recovery, but is one of my favorite horses and was well worth all of the time and effort it took to turn his life from abandonment and rejection into love and security. When he accepts you as his rider, he will give you his all. Shadow has been in the camp horse riding program since 2014 and occasionally in Mystic Riders drill team. He will always hold a special place in my heart as he still loves to kiss me on the lips before leaving the barn to go out to pasture.
Ebony
Ebony was Shadow’s best and only friend at their previous farm. She arrived at Mystic Mountain with very little training and many physical issues caused from three years of serious neglect. Ebony also would not take NO for an answer and did exactly what her friend Shadow did in order to steal my heart. Yep, she kissed me on the lips, dropped her head, sighed and sadly turned and walked away. Ripped my heart out for the second time!
God has such a sense of humor. For years I’ve wanted a black and white “Curly” mare and tried to have one bred by two different mares with no luck. Now here was Ebony, a beautiful black and white Paint mare gift that needed me as much as I wanted her. It took a couple of years to bring her physically and mentally onto a firm foundation of training and love, but we got there. Ebony has been a summer camp horse since 2014 and a member of the Mystic Riders drill team. Many children have enjoyed her sweet and gentle personality.
Mystic's Gentle Spirit
Mystic’s Gentle Spirit’s parents were full sized horses, but she is only the size of a miniature horse. God knew that we would have many small children here and he blessed us with this small, black, Curly, gentle horse with the white blaze and four white stockings. Foals born at Mystic Mountain weighed between 90 and 100 lbs. What a surprise I had one morning to find a newly arrived, perfectly formed tiny little black foal weighing less than 50 pounds! I picked her up in my arms and carefully carried the newborn into the barn with her momma closely following behind. Praise God that both momma and foal were perfectly fine!
She was such a sweet little thing, that her name became Mystic’s Gentle Spirit. Now, fully grown, she is a perfectly proportion small horse, not a pony, (ponies tend to have short legs and round bodies causing them to have a bouncy trot) at just 11 hands tall.
She has lived up to her name of Gentle Spirit. With just one summer of intense training, Spirit became a member of our exclusive camp horse club in 2003. God knew that we needed a small horse for the many small children who visit Mystic Mountain. Spirit may be one of our best trained horses. She might be small, but she runs with the herd just like the big horses!
Cheyenne
Cheyenne was an unexpected gift from God that arrived on Mystic Mountain January 1, 2020. Cheyenne had lived a very quiet life in a beautiful barn and pasture located in the middle of the woods. She saw her person twice a day for feedings, kind words, and gentle pats. Her best friend was a very old female goat who arrived with her. They were inseparable. We moved them into the Critter Corner horse shed area with its attached pasture. Suddenly their world exploded with cars, other horses and animals, lots of kids, along with the summer shooting sports program. Cheyenne hadn’t seen another horse in 16 years!
Denise and her student, Ava, began a slow program of teaching Cheyenne all of the basics, that if she ever knew had long since been forgotten. It took a year before she was calm enough to totally focus on her training program and then her best friend, the goat passed away. Blessing come in all sizes and shapes and this was at the same time, a new horse named Sprout, came to join the herd. Both horses were introduced at the same time and became friends in the process.
Cheyenne is such a smart quarter horse mare. Although she has learned how to be slow and gentle for beginner camper riders, she actually is one of our advanced skill lesson horses. Only our top riders are permitted to take advanced riding lessons on Cheyenne!
List of Services
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RangerItem Link List Item 1
Ranger is our big black lab dog. He has three jobs: meet, greet and love everyone who comes onto the property. Bill and I have been married for over 50 years and we have always had black lab dogs. So, in 2015 when our sweet Zena died of cancer, I was heart- broken. It was my goal to find a black lab puppy that needed me as much as I needed it. During this time, we had a young woman, Melissa, living with us doing a gap year internship. She and the teen staff, took it upon themselves to find and surprise me with a puppy that met all of my criteria. Two weeks later, this team of teens at a staff training event, surprised me with a 12 lb black lab puppy tied with a bright orange ribbon around his neck. Its one of only two times in my life when I have been speechless because of the love shown in such unbelievable ways.
Ranger’s favorite activities include harassing the cats, sleeping on the couch, chasing the golf cart while carrying a rock, and smelling like the pond! Camp is his favorite time of the year followed by riding lesson seasons. He has never met a person he doesn’t like and he takes his jobs of meeting, greeting and loving very seriously.
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CheckersItem Link List Item 2
Checkers the kitten arrived in 2009 in the middle of winter in the upstairs of our barn with her momma. We have no idea where they came from. They were frightened yet so hungry. I brought them cat food from the house. For several weeks the cat food disappeared and then it didn’t. I could hear a tiny meow coming from the rafters. I found the kitten and could almost touch it, but not quite. It was too small to survive without its mother and temperatures were expected to plummet to blow zero. Finally, I was able to lure the kitten into a live trap. Dressed appropriately to encounter wild kitten claws, I reached cautiously into the trap. Instead of a wild thing, the kitten cuddled in my lap purring contently.
Checkers the kitten grew up in the house with a Jack Russell terrier and a black lab. She wasn’t afraid of dogs and loved to curl up with them to nap. When the dogs were called, the cat came too. They even taught her to beg for food after meals! These dogs are both gone now, but Ranger as a new puppy became her best friend. It is not unusual to find Checkers and Ranger curled up napping together! Checkers is usually a house cat, but will occasionally revisit the barn. I wonder if she remembers being a frightened kitten abandoned in the barn. I’m sure she knows how much she is loved now as she purrs in my lap and sleeps beside me on the bed.
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FudgeItem Link List Item 3
Fudge the Cat arrived in 2014. The mouse population in the barn had grown to such an extent that the teen staff began naming them. At this point one of our teen staff suggested that I needed to get barn cats and I agreed it was a great idea. Three days before the first week of camp she returned with two black and white male kittens who had been born on a horse farm, and the suggested names of Smudge and Fudge.
Fudge and Smudge grew into handsome adult male cats that patrolled the barn and spread fear into the mouse population which dramatically decreased. When they were about five years old, I discovered Smudge had curled up one night, gone to sleep and never woke up. We still have no idea what really happened while he slept. Now it was just Fudge ruling the barn. He likes attention from people a little too much as on occasion he will swipe at you if you quit petting him.
A couple of years ago, Fudge followed Bill down from the barn to the house. When he opened the door to come inside so did Fudge. Well ok then! He has been a perfect gentleman, never scratching or getting onto the table or counters. He and Checkers have become friends and both will even sit on the recliner with me cuddled up in a fuzzy blanket. Now Ranger is another story. Fudge will take an unexpected swipe at Ranger whenever the opportunity arises and Ranger will chase him every chance he gets outside. Fudge still enjoys a regular trip to the barn just to let the mice know that he still might be around. I think I hear the mice laughing!
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Cockles, Doodle Do, and their HensItem Link
Cockles, Doodle Do, and their Hens began seriously forming as a chicken flock in 2020. I started with 6 baby chicks and 4 ducks. I’m now up to 2 roosters, 18 hens, 2 males and 3 female ducks. The ducks even have their own swimming pool. Water for the pool is collected from the gutters off the Critter Corner building and into a plastic tote that holds about 300 gallons. It is gravity fed by a hose into the swimming pool. The dirty water exits via a drain under the ground and into the woods. The poultry are in a fenced in area with lots of shrubs and weeds to keep them safe from overhead predators. Each night they waddle or stroll into the building and the door is closed for the night for predator protection. Recently we wire fenced in the Run in shed area so that the chickens could graze in this area also.
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Lewis & ClarkItem Link
Lewis and Clark are the latest animal residents. They are miniature male neutered goats called withers. You can remember their names because Lewis is light and Clark is dark! At one point in our homesteading career, I had over 20 goats. We raised and sold baby goats and also milked one or two goats for several years. Finally, I had to make a decision if I wanted to continue with goats or horses. All of the goats were sold and the horse herd increased dramatically. Now the clock has been turned back and I get to enjoy having goats again without all of the milking and work associated.
Lewis and Clark were originally owned by our son as a gift from his wife. They refused to stay inside their fenced in area and were always getting into trouble. A few years later, and they have a new home here. Their job is to hang out and protect the chickens and be loved by a bunch of kids during summer camp.
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Snuggle Bun, Cuddle Bun and Cinna BunItem Link
Snuggle Bun, Cuddle Bun and Cinna Bun joined the animal team in 2020. They are two black rabbits and one brown that are all sisters. Yep, no males. Not going into rabbit breeding! Their home is next to the duck’s pen and the first morning I found that they had dug into the duck pen for an unexpected visit. The bunnies have their own room with a wire floor and horse rubber mat so as to not be able to dig out. Their favorite food is all of the green weeds from my gardens as well as any fruits from the orchard.