Zack Taylor is a public safety officer at PLNU. When he’s not on campus, he can be found at 4J Horse and Livestock, the ranch where he also works part time. Taylor exited the Marine Corps in 2019 and shortly thereafter got involved with the ranch through a family friend.
“I handle basic day-to-day tasks of making sure everyone is fed and cleaning stalls and also help with building fences, providing medical care, and even assisting with calf delivery,” he said.
The ranch is home to around 450 cattle, four horses, a mule, cattle dogs, and cats, and in another area, there are chickens, goats, and a large pig. Taylor works primarily with the cows and horses. One horse, Pepper, has become an especially close companion.
“With Pepper, I always feel a sense of tranquility. It is strange to explain in words, but there is a comfort I feel when I am working with her. It really is a unique thing to experience.”
“Since I started at 4-J in 2019, my first interactions with the ranch horses were all positive, but I felt something a little more with Pepper,” he shared. “Pepper has a unique energy about her that the other horses do not. There is a natural connection between her and I. Over the years of cleaning her stall, feeding her, watering her, brushing her, picking her feet, and riding her, the connection has grown. Horses can feel/sense your heartbeat up to four feet away. They can pick up on your feelings if you are happy, nervous, sad, or scared. Your feelings can directly impact your horse.”
“With Pepper, I always feel a sense of tranquility. It is strange to explain in words, but there is a comfort I feel when I am working with her. It really is a unique thing to experience. While riding, our relationship really helps us in accomplishing our task. She is able to pick up on my body language, the position in which I am sitting, and the way my center of gravity changes, and even an area or point ahead of us that I am focused on. It is really fun when we work the cows. Pepper has been a working ranch horse for her entire life and can essentially do what she needs to do with little to no cues. Her experience, in conjunction with our relationship, really makes us effective partners for each other. Whether we are working the cows, or just checking pastures and fences on a leisure ride, we do it in unison.”
