Cynthia Morgan looks baCk on 30-plus years in ... - InMaricopa.com

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Above left to right: Thunderbird Farms resident Jill Worley gets a daily nudge from Zeus and Rio, his stablemate; Colorful Harley, Debbie Davis’s 8-year-old macaw hybrid, easily shells walnuts while astride a perch in his own room. You’re An Animal! Getting personal with pets makes life more fun — and meaningful — for Maricopans Story and photos by Joe Giumette As THE RECESSION DEEPened and more and more people were forced to tighten their budgets, many household pets found they were expendable and ended up in shelters, or the homes of relatives or friends. That’s if they were lucky. Some good folks in Maricopa, though, are refusing to even think about giving up their animal companions, and it’s those people — and their pets — whose stories are below. Their pets are varied — from a bearded dragon to a three-legged dog to a mustang — but they all have one thing in common: loving owners who provide a nurturing environment, a healthy diet, lots of attention and endless love. Zeus is ‘the boss’ Jill Worley, a single woman who telecommutes from her comfortable home on 3.3 acres in Thunderbird Farms, is the proud owner of two horses, two dogs and four cats. “My job is so detailed and ‘techy,’” she explains, “that I just love to take a break from the intense concentration I need to have and go out and see how the animals are doing.” Worley, whose employer’s base is in north Phoenix, relies on her computer, webcam and telephones to earn her living helping to develop and refine software. But 32 InMaricopa.com | Vol. 5 Issue 3
Sandy Hinners is careful to let all three of her golden retrievers, Emma, Lacy and Samantha, feel loved and at home. In turn, they keep her company while her husband works in Alaska. she thrives on the contrast between her cyber work and her home environment, where she provides shaded shelter in an annex next to a barn for Zeus, her 9-year-old mustang, whom she describes as a “repo” horse from Casa Grande, and Rio, a paint. Both are geldings, and Zeus is the larger of the two. “He’s also the boss,” Worley said. Horses drink a lot of water, especially in Arizona in the summer, and the two account for more than 50 gallons a week, supplied from a well on Worley’s property. She also chooses to feed Zeus and Rio with $10-a-bale Bermuda, rather than the cheaper alfalfa hay. “Horse are natural grass-grazers,” Worley says, “and a friend and I are able to combine our purchases and get a good deal from a local farmer, so I can handle the extra cost.” Zeus and Rio also have access, from behind the sturdy vinyl fence that surrounds their corral, to a turnout arena, where they can exercise at will, night or day. The cats — Cali, T.C., Liona and Skylar — mainly play and sleep in the crawl space under Worley’s house. Her dogs, Duke, a Labrador/chow mix she “inherited” from neighbors, and Shortness, a female beagle/terrier mix, are usually inside when company visits. All of Worley’s animals have been spayed or neutered. Worley favors what she calls “natural horsemanship,” and so likes to ride Zeus bareback while walking or trotting. “A few of us horse owners get together occasionally at a neighbor’s place for barrel-racing,” she says. One other neighbor keeps more than 12 horses on her place. Worley also loads her animals into their trailer and goes camping during the summer at a place near Prescott designed for people whose families include four-legged creatures. “We have lots of fun, and they seem to know where we’re headed when we start out,” she says. A self-described “recovering” city girl, Photo courtesy of Wikipedia PRESIDENTIAL PET (HOLY COW!) President William Howard Taft, an Ohio native, brought his pet Holstein, Pauline, to Washington, D.C. when he took office in 1909, allowing the bovine beauty to graze leisurely on the lawn of the Navy Department Building, now the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House. Taft wasn’t the first chief executive to have cows around the executive mansion; William Henry Harrison (1841) and Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) did so as well. Vol. 5 Issue 3 | InMaricopa.com 33
Page 1 and 2: The Magazine Vol. 5 Issue 3 3 Days
Page 4 and 5: Contents Vol. 5 Issue 3 DEPARTMENTS
Page 6 and 7: Editor’s Letter I just found out
Page 8 and 9: Community Gallery 2 1 Freshman golf
Page 10 and 11: Business Profile Performing arts sc
Page 12 and 13: DSPA’s Inspire students (clockwis
Page 14 and 15: Home Landscaping Tips 3 days to a r
Page 16 and 17: Food Dining Out Below: Shula’s up
Page 18 and 19: Cow College How to pick the best be
Page 20 and 21: ON SALE NOW FOR ONLY $ 119 Renewing
Page 22 and 23: Volunteers Profile Hardworking reti
Page 24 and 25: Remembering Former actress and mode
Page 26 and 27: Cast members from “Much Ado About
Page 28 and 29: Cynthia Mo
Page 30 and 31: Nice work… if you can get it Phot
Page 32 and 33: Clockwise from above left: The big
Page 36 and 37: Worley lived most of her life in Te
Page 38 and 39: Lacy was welcomed into the Hinners
Page 40 and 41: ON-SITE COMPUTER REPAIR We Come to
Page 42 and 43: BE EDUCATED GET ENGAGED HAVE A SAY
Page 44: P.O. Box 1018 Maricopa, AZ 85139 EC

Cynthia Morgan looks baCk on 30-plus years in ... - InMaricopa.com

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