Our Story
The Jessens - Chris, Pam, Maddi & Bodhi
After years of raising and caring for domestic pets, livestock, and a few exotic animals thrown in there, we fell in love with reindeer. Perhaps it is Chris’s Norwegian roots that led us to these truly magnificent creatures or it simply could be that they seem magical by nature. That love led to researching, studying and meeting reindeer ranch owners across the United States and thus, The Jessen Reindeer Ranch was born.
While Pam heads up the “feel the love” and bottle-feeding department, Chris uses his mad skills training young animals of any kind and dealing with the “big boys” in the barn. Our children, Maddi and Bodhi, are being raised in the barn where they have daily responsibilities and hand out a lot of love to our furry (& feathered) friends.
Thanks to YouTube, we have watched hours of videos about the Sámi people and Mongolian reindeer herders. We hope to visit with the herders someday, but in the meantime we will watch and learn from them as well as domestic reindeer ranch folks across the U.S.
We have an appreciation for tradition and a spark for the magical. We share both with the community by bringing our reindeer to public and private events in Northern Colorado and surrounding areas.