It has been a VERY busy couple of weeks. We've moved 19 horses up to a pasture lease north of Bowden, and we've moved 35 horses to pasture by Westbrook. The 4 youngsters who were supposed to go out for summer foster are now not going due to health issues at the foster home. However Nina, Samia, Emily, Tivio and Freya have gone to another foster home for the summer that's very close to us (and are still available for adoption). Thank you Colette and Melodie for fostering them. Thanks also to Jen for fostering Maydie and Mary Ellen for fostering Teresa. For adoptions, Atticus and Flicka have been adopted, and they along with Rouge have gone to their new homes. Smudge and Lucky have come back; Smudge for financial reasons and Lucky due to behavioural issues. Cheyenne finally went up to her new home, thank you Becki. Daddy, Annie, Roxy#2 and Fuzzy, along with Bolt and Cody who were here temporarily, all went up to Paul and Sue Peyto of Timberline Tours in Lake Louise. There was a deposit made on Karma but sadly circumstances changed and her adoption didn't go through, so she's now available again for adoption.

We've been waiting months to be able to retest Aric for testosterone and finally we've done it, we just have to wait for the results to come back. Depending on what those results are we'll have to make some decisions as to how to handle his 'manliness' issues. We took Ronin in for xrays and he does have some mild arthritis developing in one front foot. With supplements and shoeing he should still be sound for light riding. He is such a nice gentleman!

It's been a real battle lately finding enough hay for the horses as we wait for the grass to start growing. We are also looking for pasture in our area for the summer, if anyone knows of any available. We do have one pasture available up by Bowden, where we will be moving 20 of the horses. We are also trying to negotiate a good rate on some other pasture close to Westbrook but haven't heard back on that yet. We don't have the budget to pay boarding rates to put the horses on pasture, so we're hoping we can get a better lease-type rate. We have several horses going out on foster for the summer as well, we just have to find the time to get them all moved. We've started gelding some of the colts - Voodoo, Moritz, Sirius, Atticus, Zane and Jax have been gelded. Yesterday we had cryptorchid surgery done on Flint, who was adopted out last year as a colt (one of his testicles didn't drop). Monkey and Joanie, who went to a foster up by Edmonton, had xrays and debriding done on their leg injuries. The vet determined they have dystrophic calcification. He will be consulting with another vet to determine the next step in treatment. I was kind of hoping the debriding would be the solution, as the vet bill is already at $1200! Reba, Cisco, Hitch and Twenty had their teeth floated.

Ruby and Ronin are back from foster, thank you Linda for looking after them for 5 years and 4 years respectively. Ruby, a bay roan mare who came to us pregnant from the Stavely auction in 2006, will be again available for fostering. Ronin, a big bay TB gelding who originally came to us with an injury that required him to be off for at least a year, we were told became lame in his other front foot this past December, so we'll have to have that looked at, and if he is sound he will be available for adoption. Busty and Girl have been adopted, along with Rouge, Fresno, Sirius, and Karma. Only Busty and Girl have left yet though. Moritz, Stina, Zoey and Flicka will be going out for summer foster next week, but they will still be available for adoption. It will be a good opportunity to wean Flicka. Cisco and Hitch have gone to Janine's for fostering, where they've joined 6 other of our seniors. Thank you Janneane and Krista, for fostering Raffy, Reba, Twenty, and Mercy. Janneane and Krista also took 5 hens and a rooster, which I'm told are being spoiled with smoothies and fresh veggies for breakfast!

We took in some more horses and other animals, this time as a result of the closing of another rescue/sanctuary by Calgary, The Forgotten Farm. We took in 3 pig(lets), 3 calves/heifers, 2 chickens and 11 horses. Thank you, Tara, for donating a large number of items from the Farm, including gates, troughs, etc., to Bear Valley Rescue. Of the horses we took in, 2 were already committed to another home so they will be leaving shortly. One of the horses, Royal, a dun paint mare, was very pregnant and foaled yesterday as 12:30 am. She had a beautiful dun filly, who looks just like mom. Macie, another mare from the Farm, has heaves and has been under treatment for a few days. She was checked today by our vet and is much improved.

Over the last two weeks we've lost two more of our non-equine residents - Ella, one of our old cows (she was 18) and yesterday, Kiwi, the sheep. We have to remember even though we're sad when we lose an animal, it's the fact that we've made their lives better while they were with us that counts.

Thank you to all our volunteers who've been helping out lately. We do appreciate everyone's help.  We would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to helping save a lot of our recent rescues from the feedlot and auctions.

I forgot to mention a big thank you to Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation, for the $2000 grant we received in April. The Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation is committed to making life more bearable for children, families and pets, in need of a helping paw. With the sale of each full-sized Bearemy's Kennel Pals(reg.TM) - a collection of Build-A-Bear Workshop(reg.TM) plush dogs - one dollar is donated to domestic pet programs including local animal shelters, stray pet rescue and rehabilitation organizations, and pet education programs around the country. These funds are available to qualified non-profit organizations in the United States and Canada. Visit www.buildabear.com for more information.