Meet our reindeer!

One of our original reindeer, Donner came to us with his brother, Blitzen, from Dr. Cary's farm in New York. Donner was a, full of life reindeer, always in your back pocket, very people friendly. He was taught to count to 5 and would do so for an apple treat. Kids giggled non stop by saying, "Donner, count to 5" and Donner begin pawing at the ground sometimes stopping at 3 but usually amazing many by stopping at 5. Donner also had an extremely odd "prey drive" for a prey animal and would chase the Kawasaki mule just by saying, "ready, set, GO!" (although he'd often cheat by crossing a field diagonally he would always win). Donner never left your side and would often supervise all activities in his pastures, always getting in the way for work or barn cleaning chores. We miss Donner dearly we lost him in 2017 to a misdiagnosis leading to peritonitis from ravaging s of H. Contortis we continue to learn from and evolve our medical plan to this day. We were very fortunate to have Donner in our lives .  Donner was a favorite of my son, his handler, Chris Sliker.

Being the second half of our 1st reindeer dream team, Blitzen filled those shoes with his big personality and size to match! Blitzen's sudden loss following a 10 day battle at Ohio State University's ICU unit for Babesia left us wondering if we could continue. during Blitzen's stay he fought hard and  kept going and surprised even Dr. Hind's daily with his will to live, and determination (he had an OSU cheering squad of his own) on day 10 the horrible tick disease  took him from renal failure. It  left us heartbroken we had only lost his brother, Donner, 8 months prior. Blitzen affectionately nicknamed "Big Man" he was our largest reindeer he topped the scales at over 350lbs, however Blitzen was a gentle giant,  who had a apple treat addiction. Blitzen entertained guests with his willingness to take treats from your hand, sometimes 6 or so at times, Blitzen was very loved by everyone.  We've never found another Blitzen, I called him my once in a lifetime reindeer.

Annabelle aka Dasher came to us in 2015 from Diana in Wisconsin, Annabelle was bred and we awaited her baby's birth.  She is a keep her distance girl who plays keep away quite well. Most  especially from any of us and our vets. Her favorite treat is fresh cut willow, tree sticks, and occasionally apple treats.    Annabelle is a wonderful mom and surrogate nursery mom we refer to her as "the felon" because she steals and hoards all the babies from their Moms, to keep to herself. She will even try to keep alive any abandoned baby,  Annabelle is quite a pretty and bossy as she is our herd busybody. Annabelle will grunt and call to any reindeer leaving the farm to work or simply setting out of the pasture! She will call/bark to the reindeer  upon their return. She has to know where every member of her herd is at all times. Annabelle pretty face and docile appearance may fool you, she can be quite bratty not wanting people to pet her.  Her favorite behavior while out visiting people on displays to to stand and stare at you just out of reach. Only a very special few children have had her approach them for a pat on the nose. Loosing Annabelle this past September was s devastating blow. Our most nurturing mom reindeer left us shocked and empty. we still cant believe she is gone.

Prancer was our first baby reindeer calf born at Apthorp Farms from mom Annabelle, her passing left us devastated.  Prancer was silly, rambunctious, loved splashing in mud puddles and often times got Blitzen into trouble!  Although our time with her was to short, she taught us all lot about living life to the fullest everyday you get. Prancer passed at Ohio State University due to anemia. it when we learned first hand the ravages of the barber pole (H, Contortis) parasite and began my ongoing research into eradicating this from our pastures, and herd. Prancer was my granddaughters little reindeer and Brooke cared for her very well, even in her illness and last days. She will be forever missed.

Cupid and her baby boy, Yukon,  joined our family  June 1, 2017. She came from the same herd as Annabelle in Wisconsin from two wonderful people we cannot thank enough, Diana Richart and Steve Pulera. Cupid was born to Diana's herd and has been a lifelong member at their farm. We are truly thankful for this opportunity to give her a forever home with our herd, as the decision to disseminate her herd was very hard on Diane. Cupid is bossy, outgoing yet very sweet. Cupid will always entertain by approaching people for petting and a treat. She is truly a wonderful reindeer and great mom to her calves. She loves willow and waits,  impatiently at the fence for her regular treat! We retired Cupid at age 12 from our breeding program, to let her enjoy her grandma years here at our farm. Her son Yukon and daughter Ginger remain on our farm. She lives with her family.  The loss of Cupid 2 days after her sister Annabelle was overwhelming, Cupid, much like Blitzen was our 2nd once in a lifetime reindeer. So outgoing, demanding apple flavored treats everyday at the fence was her cutest attribute.  she could  manipulate with just her sweet face and eyes.  she was as outgoing as any male reindeer, a wonderful mom to at least a dozen baby reindeer and finding another Cupid will be impossible.

This guy is Yukon, he has attitude and personality to match. He is healthy and lively with his independent attitude. He is affectionately named Butt-head on his good days. He's a reindeer who likes to steal keys and peel stickers off the dash of the Kawasaki mule.  Yukon basically lets you know he is there in case you miss a 300lb reindeer in your way doing chores!.  He has remained a favorite since his arrival in 2017 especially to Kellie Clark who won the naming contest calling him Yukon Cornelius. Look for Yukon at events as he is quite the clown on his non grumpy days.  Yukon is the son of Cupid, and has had the luxury to remain with his mom and herd. In  2020 Yukon will be introduced as a breeding bull to a cow of his own to increase our bloodlines.  We hold good thoughts and hopes he does well starting our diversification program.

On June 21st this little surprise appeared unexpectedly, (read the full article on the news page at this site). After what we thought was the loss of Annabelle's first calf, we now suspect may have been a baby Ava had and abandoned and Annabelle stepped in to care for.  This baby number two if from Annabelle was 39 days after we thought she lost her 2019 calf was quite a surprising miracle. After a shaky first 2 weeks, Faith Amari (miracle of God) was aptly named. She under went a plasma IV treatment at the farm (also on our news page) and is thriving, quite well. Faith began very social and outgoing with her human herd, and has since picked up some aloof tendencies her mom has, but is still lovable, and easier going than her mom.  Faith even received a shout out from Rae Dunn and her Pottery Instagram page when her picture (see above)was submitted, showing Dr. Danielle Mzyk's very important reindeer treats Rae Dunn pottery jar and a once in a lifetime photo captured by Vet Tech Vikki Silva at our vet clinics was a Instagram hit.   Faith is a quiet reindeer, loves Sven, and plays bucking bronco! her favorite treat is any, she is not picky.  Faith Amari has been a happy surprise ending to our rough start 2019 calving season. 

We lost Rudy's only son to bacterial meningitis too early and unexpectedly 5 days before Christmas. While farm tours went on uninterrupted, Scott & Dr. Spotts worked on Dani most of the day. Dani was born On Easter Sunday (and Scott's birthday) this healthy little bull calf arrived in the world around 9am, to mom Annabelle and dad Rudy.  Born at 14lbs  Dani is steadily gained a pound a day.  He is very inquisitive and independent with a bit of his mother's stubborn trait showing at day 2 with his tiny front hoof stomp showing his derision (just like Annabelle did). The running joke already is that how does he even know to dislike something, when he doesn't even know what  life is yet. Dani was quite entertaining as he grew. Dani showed all the gregariousness all the boys in our herd show.  His mom was very attentive to him, even licking mud off his little hooves as he ran and played in the pastures mud puddles.  He was fond of his older sisters Ginger and Faith, and also Ava who shared a stall with him and his mom.  The namesake of two special people, our veterinarian Danielle Mzyk and Representative Mike Kelly. Both are responsible for the health and success of our little herd, and we are immensely grateful.

On April 30th we welcomed this little bull calf with both excitement and trepidation as Ava has had a very poor breeding history. This little trooper, amazed us for 3 consecutive days, but in the end a necropsy revealed low surfactant had not allowed proper lung development to occur and cause Savages short little time. Based upon the track record loosing baby reindeer is simply to hard to have either Ava or us endure, and the decision was made to remove Ava from our breeding program and just let her be a display cow and "auntie" to future reindeer.  This little guy fought hard even after multiple vet visits  for 3 days and his  memory, spirit, spunk, and love will not be forgotten. It is the true definition of a life lived to the fullest regardless of the days.   Savage was cremated and returned home, as have all our beloved 4 legged family members.  He sits with Blitzen, Donner, Prancer and Annabelle's Baby Girl, While his spirit runs free now, free of limitations or pain in our heavenly herd.

Jack Frost came to us from our beloved friends at Silly Safaris, John and Emma, the same farm our loved Sven came from. Jack is a wonderful bull calf who will start a 2nd breeding line in 2021/2022. Jack is silly and full of life, he loves to jump on walks and Scott has nicknamed him the goat, he loves watermelon and willow, hes happy to see people and really behaves more like a dog than some of our other reindeer.  We are anxious for everyone to meet Jack Frost this Christmas season, he joins our herd of 9 to round us up to 10.  We are excited to see his babies in 2022, he will belong to a small breeding group for diversity. We have never owned a pinto reindeer, and we think Jack Frost is quite the looker, just like his mom Joy and grandma Misfit.

Jax arrived at our farm in April of 2021. Due to health reasons and extensive decision making we were chosen. It was a selfless act by his former mom and dad, Dave and Nellie who will remain in our lives and involved through emails, Facebook and other means throughout Jax life. Jax is 1 month older than Rentier and the two are quickly forming a great sibling bond.  Jax will have all the amenities he had with his former parents including acres to run, a pond, and a lot of mental stimuli, as well as a second reindeer guardian. look to follow Jax on Facebook, he is wonderful boy who is very dedicated and loving like all Dobies. Jax continues to be spoiled with many toys, treats and love.

Rocky was born premature but was quite the fighter, and that is why we named him after Sylvester Stallone's, "Rocky Balboa" character. a stunning pinto like his dad Jack Frost, Rocky received a plasma transfusion but still struggled. He was very loved by all of us and dearly missed, especially by his mom Cupid who looked for him for days and met us at the gate grunting because all she knew we were the last to take him to save him, and she didn't understand why her baby wasn't with her. Reindeer moms are fiercely protective and mourn the loss of a baby, its something that stick with you, and teaches you how our beloved reindeer are sentient beings.  Rocky's ashes have come home and we feel a little better having his ashes with us after a heartbreaking loss.