Updates from 2011 and earlier

Dec 3/11 - Panda, Santina and Mary have gone to their new homes. Wishbone, who was adopted out in 2005, was  returned and is adopted out again already! Thank you Ashley for returning him to us, we appreciate that you were willing to do that for him. Faith and Peso have come back for the winter, their owner is moving back to Quebec and has to prepare a place for them there before they can follow. Minx has also come back to the rescue, I was pretty sure she had soundness issues when she was adopted out so it's no surprise when that was confirmed. Thank you Kirsten for giving her a try and doing all the work that you did do with her.

Nov 11/11 - Remembrance Day, Lest We Forget. Senator has gone to his new home, thank you Lauren! Blizzard arrived, he is a beautiful 4 yr old appaloosa gelding, has even been ridden but is losing his eyesight. Bison and Dusty were adopted together and went to their new home, thank you Ginny and Jenna! Doll and Cruze, 2 of the new additions from the auction have been adopted and went to their new home in Crowsnest, thank you Roxy and Elisha! Today we are delivering Marika and Juliet, 2 more new additions from the auction, to their new home in Stavely, thank you Lesli! Boy, seems we've had a few go out to new homes! Panda will be leaving soon as well. Also Mary and Santina will be adopted and leaving before the end of the month! We dewormed the new additions and now they should do a lot better, they were very wormy. Thank you Sherral for the help with that! Yesterday we got Kane gelded which is a real load off my mind. Now he'll be able to go down with the herd in a couple of weeks. Also we had Old Red checked, he arrived with a serious bladder control problem. It seems to be a neurological issue and unfortunately there aren't any horse medications that our vet has found that will treat it (we have a dog with the same issue and she gets a pill a week for it), so he'll just keep dribbling. We have another new addition, Foxy, a 4 yr old chestnut QH mare, very pretty and friendly, but hasn't had a lot of work done with her. Nelson, one of our wildie rescues from a few years ago, had a very serious punture injury to his sheath area a couple of weeks ago at his foster home. He spent a week at Moore and Co. vet clinic, is back at his foster home now and seems to be recovering. It was very touch and go for a while, he lost a lot of blood, the vet figures at least half his blood volume. Thank you Katey and family for finding him in time and getting him to the vet so quickly. Thank you Valerie for the donation of feed. We were contacted yesterday by a previous owner of Eddie's. It turns out he is not only broke to ride, he was used in competitions and won ribbons! I'm sure many of our horses would have lots of stories to tell if they could talk to us. We will be putting Cash to sleep in the next couple of days. Her arthitis has progressed to the point that she is no longer comfortable most of the time and with winter approaching it will only get worse. We will miss her.

Oct 18/11 - Busy time at the rescue. Mike has finished hauling home all the hay - about 800 round bales. Now we just have to work on getting the small square bales here. We had more U of C vet students out last week and they floated teeth on 10 or 11 more horses. Thank you to everyone who participated! Noeline, our vet, was out the same day and gelded Dusty, Bison and Noah. Eddie was sedated that day and finally got trimmed up nicely. It sure was something when he went down! Our farrier, Pat, was also here over 3 days and trimmed about 50 of the horses in addition to Eddie. Thank you to the volunteers who helped will the floating, gelding, and trimming. Mike and I attended the 2-day ASPCA conference in Calgary. It was nice to meet some of the other people involved in rescue from around Alberta, though we were the only horse group there, and to reconnect with some of the people we met at last year's conference. Donner has been adopted and left for his new home. Duke was adopted but due to circumstances the adopter had to cancel so Duke is available again. We attended the Innisfail horse auction last Saturday. We haven't been to that particular auction in 2 years but unfortunately nothing has changed. We bought 26 horses by outbidding the meat buyer, including 18 weanlings, 5 yearlings and 3 mares, 2 of which are pregnant, and most of these horses are registered or registerable Quarter Horses. The majority of the remaining horses (there were at least 150) went for meat. Many of them were weanlings and yearlings. I hope to get pictures of them all in the next few days, at least before their tags fall off, as a lot of the babies are bays or blacks and I won't be able to tell them apart without their tags! Our sympathies to Wendy and family on the passing of Shadow. Shadow was in her mid-20's and had started to have some health issues but she passed peacefully surrounded by her pasture mates. Thank you Wendy for fostering her the last few years and making her final days good ones.

Sept 24/11 - A couple of tragedies - We lost Sabre, Graycey's foal, a couple of weeks ago. We also lost Sky, one of our first pmu rescues, this week. Some days it's just not worth it to get out of bed. I've posted the new horses, more info will be forthcoming once we get to know them better. The standardbred mares are all doing much better, putting weight on and at least 2 of them are pregnant for sure. Thank you to Donna and her daughter Tara and also Elaine and her daughter Cynthia for working with the new arrivals. The colts all have to be halterbroke so we can have them gelded before winter. Zeke was adopted and then returned already. The fellow decided he's just not young enough to start training horses again. Tomorrow we're delivering Libby and Mesa to their new homes and picking up Santina, who is being returned, and 2 owner surrenders. We have our first fund-raising calendar coming out for 2012. Please check out the fundraising page for ordering info. A big thanks for Sheena from Blinking Cow Photography for putting it all together. Also Suzanne from RAEL - Ripple Affects Experiential Learning - has a family cookbook available on her website and Bear Valley Rescue will benefit from a donation from the sale of the book. I've already bought myself a copy!

Sept 9/11 - Great day today floating teeth! Huge thanks to Dr.Darlene Donzselmann and Kelsey and Erin (I hope I spelled the names right), 4th year vet students, for doing 12 horses today, and also to our vet Dr. Noeline Erickson for spending the whole day with us as well. We'll also be having the 2nd year students out for a teeth floating field trip on Oct 12th. Mesa and Libby are both adopted. We'll be delivering them both to their new homes in the next couple of weeks, just have to get Mesa gelded first. Sadly, Santina is being returned as she didn't work out at her new home. We had a nice day last Saturday with Sheena from Blinking Cow Photography. She was out to take more pictures for our first calendar that we will be putting out this year. Watch the website for updates on when the calendar will be available! The new horses are doing well. We dewormed them last weekend and the skinniest Standardbred mare was pretty wormy. She looks likes she's doing better already. The mini mare looks very pregnant, though we were told she absolutely isn't. I don't know, I'm pretty sure I've felt a baby moving around in there. If we're lucky, the next time the U of C students come out they might bring an ultrasound and we'd be able to check the mares, see who is actually pregnant.

Sept 4/11 - Senator and Angel are both pending adoptions, and Wolf is already adopted. 10 new horses in this week - Disco, a pretty red/white paint filly originally from the Ft.Mcleod slaughter plant, 4 thin standardbred mares, possibly pregnant, 4 young colts of various sizes and a mini mare. Next Friday we have U of C vet students coming out to float teeth!

Aug 28/11 - Thank you to Margaret Dart for the donation of fence posts. Thanks Teri and Arran for the visit on Thursday and the help for the day. Thanks Susanne for starting with the halterbreaking of Saphira. A big thankyou to Polocrosse Calgary Club for the donation from your tournament last weekend! Star and Minx left for their new homes yesterday. We have 2 new additions - Red (we'll call him Old Red), a late twenties hanoverian gelding with a tracheotomy; and Wolf, a beautiful, 10 year old dark brown hanoverian gelding. All the horses are back from summer pasture, it's nice to have everyone back in one place. They're really enjoying the new pasture, it's knee high grass and they've barely moved from the gate yet. Thank you to the Klis family for the pasture rental. Thanks Vicki for the quick trim on Farrah's bad foot. Next weekend we'll welcome Sheena from Blinking Cow Photography, she'll be back taking more pictures for our first calendar. We'll have to bring the llamas home from their foster home across the valley due to bear problems. Our apologies to Susan and Jim for the impromtu visits from the llamas over the last few weeks as they've been spooked by the bear and gone on walkabout. Thank you June and Gord for fostering the llamas for us and we're hoping they're just back on a temporary basis until the bear moves on or hibernates!

Aug 21/11 - Whirlwind of activity around here lately. Thank you Jackie for sponsoring both Kiwi and Pet! We trimmed 51 horses in 3 days, went really well. We brought home all 41 horses from Westbrook - 3 days and 10 trips. The horses were all great, loaded well and behaved well. I was amazed as Mike and Janine got a lot of them done over 2 days while I was at work. What a relief! The 6 horses from Didsbury are back as well and Hawk has gone on to Stavely to be reunited with his owner. Glad you will be able to see more of him Hazel! We brought Mesa, Sugar and Crystal back from Bragg Creek and took Princess and Joanie down to be worked with. Mesa unfortunately jumped a fence and scraped up his back legs pretty bad but he's getting a fair bit of handling now at least as we have to treat his cuts. Spencer and Shasta are adopted, left for their new home in Creston. Minx is also adopted, and by coincidence it turns out her new owners have another of our rescues, Splash! Ellio is also now adopted and left for his new home in Lethbridge. New arrival Star, a 14 yr old QH/Arab mare, arrived Saturday and was adopted pretty well that same afternoon. Romeo has gone to a foster home with someone who will spend some time with him, see if he can be trained for riding. He's filled out so nicely this summer, looks fantastic. Thanks Tracy for taking him and being willing to put in the time. Really glad to have pretty well all the horses back in one place. We turned them out on a new pasture today, thigh-high in grass, so they're all pretty happy. I'll try and get out and take some new pictures over the next couple of days. A lot of them have grown and changed so much lately.

Aug 6/11 - Not such a fun time at the rescue. We had Zephyr put down on Thursday. He kept going downhill even with all the medications we tried and we had to make the sad decision to let him go. We've also had 8 horses come back to the rescue. Sarcee came back as she experienced swelling in her back leg and her owner didn't feel able to deal with it. Kallie was returned as she came up sore in her shoulder but we feel she was worked way too hard, too quickly. Plus when we pulled her shoes, which had 'corks', the one front shoe had one cork broken off. Of course she was sore in one shoulder, she was standing and walking lopsided! Ellio, Cass, Shasta, Duke, Tucker and Trouble who had all been adopted out to the same home were returned due to financial/health issues with the adopter. That was a tough hit to take, though I'm glad they're back here and not ending up at an auction. We also took in 2 new horses - Farrah, a 3 yr old palomino filly with a badly foundered front foot, possibly a complication of joint ill/navel ill as a baby; and Lexus, a big 17 year old TB broodmare. On the bright side, Santina and Thomas have a new home and will be leaving in the next week or so. Panda and Sabre are adopted for sure, will be leaving in the late fall. Ramly left for his new home, thanks Lorne and Lisa. Sugar and Crystal are now halter and foot broke. Mesa and Slinky are still both waiting to be started. We're doing foot trimming again, did 19 horses yesterday. We had Tilly's broken heels looked at by the vet and farrier, managed to do some repair and now we'll just have to wait for her to heal up. Cecil's hoof looks pretty good after half of it fell off. We sedated Alix and Kiwi in order to trim them up as well, along with Storm as he's pretty sore to do. It looks like it will probably be the last summer for both Storm and Cash as they'll not do well in winter on the snow and ice. We'll be doing the rest of the trimming on Wednesday and Friday next week. We have decided to bring home the herd from pasture starting next weekend. The pasture out there is too expensive and we've been able to arrange the use of the neighbouring pasture here for a lot less. It'll be nice to have them all back here in one place. The 6 fostered east of Didsbury we'll also be bringing home before the end of the month, along with the minis who'll be back temporarily for 6 weeks. Looks like we're going to be on the road a lot over the next while! Unfortunately the Donner grant that we have received in the past and used to offset a lot of our winter hay cost will be reduced by half this year which will make meeting our hay budget a lot more difficult. I'll repost the returned horses and add the new ones, though because my camera has been acting up I won't be able to update the returned horses' pictures just yet.

July 15/11 - It's been nice and quiet and the weather has been great, except for the rainstorms, but they are kind of nice too, if you're inside and dry. Had a tornado pass by north of us but thankfully far enough away that we didn't have any damage. Zephyr was on banimine, excenel and newcell and is now on sulfa to try and get him over this chest thing he has going on. Crystal sliced open her knee, looked pretty gross but nice and clean and not too deep, should heal up without much scarring, we hope. Dodge and Ruby#2 were adopted and left for their new home last weekend. Kallie is adopted, as is Ramly. Kallie will be leaving tomorrow and Ramly on the 23rd. Also have adoptions pending on Panda and Sabre (Graycey's foal) together. They won't be leaving until Oct/Nov. Tomorrow we're taking Crystal, Sugar and Mesa, the 3 yearlings, down to a friend in Priddis. He and his wife will start them on groundwork. Also Slinky is going, we'll see how they do working with her. She's actually been pretty good, we got a halter on her and she doesn't mind being touched as much but still freaks out with any pressure. cecil's humongous abscess is healing but now his hoof is peeling like a sardine can. Kiwi has a bad quarter crack and with all the mud it's also abscessed and her whole leg swelled up so she's had some bute which really helped. Tilly has 2 bad heel cracks, one heel broke right off. We have a donation of over 2000 bales of hay! We have to pay to have it hauled here and it is last year's hay but it's nice and green and was shedded so we're really happy about that. The Calgary Polocrosse Club contacted us that they're going to donate the profits from their August tournament's burger tent to Bear Valley. Thank you! A super big thanks to Ginia Demyen. She did another fundraising sale for us, raised almost $1000! Ginia is now officially in charge of our fundraising! The Blinking Cow Photography will be coordinating producing a calendar for the rescue for 2012. Thank you Sheena! Ginia is also arranging a fundraising concert with the local band Rooster in the Henhouse for Nov 26th in Sundre.

Jun 30/11 - Graycey foaled yesterday - a handsome bay paint colt. Graycey thankfully decided to have her foal in the middle of a nice sunny day. She did retain her placenta but only took one injection to expel it so she shouldn't have any complications as a result. Just in case, she also got a shot of long-acting penicillin and banamine. Check out our page on facebook for pictures of the foal and up-to-date pictures of the rest of the horses! Flash, Slappy and Holly went to their new home on Saturday. They're doing well and fitting in already. We took in a new addition, Wesero, on Saturday as well. He is a huge black percheron cross. He was an owner surrender as he was purchased as a dressage and jumping prospect but turned out to have some soundness issues when asked for a collected canter. Wesero has already been adopted and left for his new home with Flash, Slappy and Holly. Cash #2 has returned to his previous foster home, the adoptive home of Chase (Joey). We just got Cecil's group moved to east of the house yesterday. There was lots of running around as everyone got reacquainted. Meaghan trimmed Zephyr and Monkey yesterday as well. Zephyr seems to be doing a bit better but we still are going to get bloodwork done. Bo is moving out to the cow lease with our horses to start introducing him to a herd. Sylvia and Alix will go into the east pasture probably tomorrow while Graycey stays in the paddock that Bo was in. Once her foal is a week or two old they can go out with the east pasture bunch as well, where he'll have Sterling and Angel to play with. Project for this weekend is to give boosters to Mesa, Cricket and Sugar. I've also started working with Slinky - that's going to be a looong, slooow, process! Oh, we also got the goats' hooves trimmed and Crockpot's one horn trimmed so it doesn't grow into his cheek. Next up, Harold and Gimper the male pigs need their tusks trimmed again. We'll need to dig the cattle squeeze out of the mud in order to use it for that. Fleury, Zaz, Bella and Zeke have integrated well into the pasture herd. That herd was moved to a fresh adjoining pasture on Tuesday so they're all really happy, being knee deep in grass.

Jun 24/11 - Tilly had her foal on the 7th, a beautiful little filly with one blue eye. Mike named her Angel. Sterling has healed up nicely from his injuries. Bo has been gelded and he's settled down a lot, and even though he's been really good meeting the other horses over the fence we haven't actually turned him out with anyone yet. Rigby has gone to his new home. Kallie, Holly and Flash are all adopted; they are going up to Lake Louise to Timberline Tours along with Slappy. We've been moving horses around again. Zephyr's bunch as of today are back in the east pasture next to the house. Zephyr isn't doing well, he's lost weight and just doesn't seem right so we're going to do some bloodwork on him. He may have some longterm infection going on from way back when he had his broken ribs as he has never really thrived. Bella, Fleury, Zeke and Zaz we moved out to Westbrook with the herd today and brought Flash back so he can be picked up here with the others. We moved some of our own horses out to the cow pasture on Wednesday - not much point in keeping them around the house when we never have time to ride anyways. Slinky is in the round pen. She's going to be my project for the next couple of months as she has to get properly halterbroke and footbroke so that she can be trimmed properly. Tomorrow we'll be moving Cecil's bunch, including the mares with foals, into the same east pasture as Zephyr's group and the geriatrics. Graycey is still waiting to foal. Once she foals she will go out to the east pasture as well, along with Sylvia and Alix who are with Graycey now. We also plan on moving Joanie and Princess out to Westbrook hopefully tomorrow. I sure hope that's it for moving horses until fall! We dewormed the yearlings again today and earlier in the week we also did the mares with foals and one or two others that are a bit underweight, just to be on the safe side.

Jun 5/11 - So busy! We delivered Baby to her new home, picked up Meeko who came back from where he was being worked with and dropped him of at his new foster home where hopefully he will be adopted. Two new mares came in, Holly and Bella(#2). Holly is a beautiful little mare, 21 yrs old, broke to ride; Bella is her 5 year old daughter, she's only halterbroke and has some soundness issues that hopefully we can work through. Harriet (and Hawk) went to their foster home for the summer, same place as 4 others of our fosters are summering. Picked up another mare, Fleury, a 6 yr old TB with soundsness issues but may be okay for light riding. Another nice gelding came in, Slappy, and he's already adopted! We certainly don't have any trouble finding homes for the really well broke sound horses, that's for sure. We've moved a lot of the horses around, trying to get everyone out of the mud and onto pasture. The little guys in Zephyr's group are down in the big pasture now along with the cows, temporarily, and the new additions. Took Panda and Slappy down there as well. Panda is really amazingly responsive in a halter, someone did a lot of round pen work with him I think (maybe too much?). Have the farrier coming out a couple of times over the next week, hope to get the majority of the horses done that need doing. Yesterday we moved the big herd over to a fresh pasture out at Westbrook so they're pretty happy! Thank you to Sheena from Blinking Cow Photography for coming out and photographing the horses. Check her out on facebook - Blinking Cow Community - she's already got some of the pictures posted and they are nice! Poor little Sterling had a run-in with a coyote or dog, he's got a nasty puncture wound and some deep lacerations on his neck and one ear. This is the first time this has happened and hopefully the last! He should heal up just fine. We've cleaned the wounds out and he's getting penicillin to fight off infection. Mike got a halter on Bo and he's scheduled to be gelded next Friday. That will be interesting to say the least!

May 24/11 - All spring vaccinations and deworming is done! (okay, except for Panda, and Sylvia and Bo shots, but close enough) The minis, including new additions Patrick and Misty, are at their new foster home. Good news on Zeke, he is 100% a gelding, so Zeke and Panda can go back out with the herd. Poor Cecil developed a humungous abscess that ruptured through on his coronary band in one hind foot, probably a result of all the stress from his surgery, so he's out in the yard to try and keep it clean. He's doing a fine job of trimming the grass. Yesterday I posted a series of before and after pictures on facebook of some of the horses we've had come through the rescue. Check us out on facebook and give us a 'like'!

May 20/11 - Got the majority of the herd moved to summer pasture - 45 horses in all - including shots and deworming for all of them plus the rest of the herd that stayed behind. Thanks so much to Paul from Timberline Tours for taking one load for us, that saved us about 4 trips. Meeko is coming back from his foster but is going straight to another foster (and possible adoption). We have another new horse that Mike picked up on Wednesday; Ramly is a 7 year old bay TB gelding. He had a racing injury so is no longer sound for racing but he can do any other discipline, is broke to ride but needs an experienced rider. This weekend we're delivering the minis to their foster home. Also planning on getting the rest of the shots and deworming done. This morning Cash had her acupuncture and mini-Brandy had her sarcoids injected again. Good news, Hawk does not have Cushings and he's actually looking a lot better now. Princess is not pregnant as she's come into heat, so not sure if she aborted or never caught in the first place. Rigby is adopted! Still waiting for Zeke's test results. Dodge and Joker are back and up for adoption!

May 13/11 - Tivio had her foal last weekend, a tiny little sorrel colt who (whom?) we've named Sterling. Cecil had his gelding surgery yesterday (he was a bilateral cryptorchid), it was 3 hours long, poor guy. Glad that's over with and he'll be able to go back with the herd in another couple of weeks once he's healed up. Waiting for the results of Hawk's cushings test and Zeke's testosterone test - should have Hawk's results today but it'll take a couple of weeks for Zeke's results. Sylvia the Manitoba mare arrived safe and sound. She was a bit underweight but is already filling out. She is also quite shy, not even halter broke unfortunately. We have 2 new minis, Patrick and Misty, and they along with Brandy2 and Jigger will be going to a nearby foster home; thanks Deanna! Some really exciting news, Cricket and Linus were adopted by Cavalia! Check out Cavalia's website if you haven't seen their show. It is such a wonderful opportunity for the 2 little guys. If you see the show in Calgary, they'll be in it! I was surprised to learn that they'd be in the show so quickly. I know they'll have a good future as I think the horses in the show get treated like royalty and the training they receive will pay off for them down the road. Starting tomorrow we'll be hauling for the next 3 or 4 (or more?) days, getting the rest of the herd moved to summer pasture. Kiwi and Gemma will be going to Kendra's for the summer (where Kiwi and Buddy spent last summer). Thanks Kendra!

May 5/11 - Just time to dash off a quick note. Juliette and Grace are adopted, they'll be leaving June 1, along with Babe as a foster. Foxy left for her new home, really happy about that as she's back with one of her first owners. Mike's arm is much better now so he's starting to be able to do more around the farm again, which is good because there is so much to do! Now that it's starting to dry up and the weather is nice we have to take advantage of it. We've moved Shamrock, Silk, Hannah, and Sky from Janine's to their summer foster home with Ashley & Dan. Yesterday we started moving horses to the summer pasture we're renting about 1/2 hour to the south; thanks Tara, it's going to be great to give Denise's place a rest and the horses are going to be so happy with all that grass! So far we've only moved one load - Sasha, Brandy, Cosmo and Santina - but we're hoping to get everyone moved within the next 2 weeks. Also yesterday we moved Hawk (who is back from Janine's and needs to be tested for Cushings), Pet, Lucky, Bennie, Storm, and Russa across to the Elliot's 40 acres. It's further to haul their mash twice a day but they have a lot more room and no mud so they're happy. We're doing shots and deworming as we're moving everyone which is a bit less stressful, not having to get everyone done on the same day. We have a mare coming from a feedlot in Manitoba, should arrive this weekend. I know I said we'd never get involved in a long-distance rescue after the last one, but I guess we should never say never... Sadly we lost Berkie the pig last week. She had been ill for a number of weeks and while we did all we could she just didn't make it. I guess vet care for pigs is not in big demand, most places just ship them if they get ill I assume, as we haven't been able to find a vet who knows much about pigs.

Apr 16/11 - First off a big thank you to our neighbour Steve, who has lent a hand, especially with the tractor and putting hay out. Thank you to Ginia and the Olds College first year equine students for the very successful fundraiser at the Olds open house - over $2100 was raised!! Babe foaled out on Apr 3rd. She had a sorrel filly with a curly coat, who we've named Juliette. She's built like a tank! I'm pretty sure Romeo was the sire. Also a heartfelt thanks to the Nickel Family Foundation for the very generous grant. It couldn't have come at a better time. Mike had another plate put in his arm so at least he's home and able to get around pretty well. Very busy last weekend - Ellio, Cass, Tucker, Duke and Trouble left to their new home. Badger was adopted and went to her new home in Cranbrook, along with Josephine as a foster to be worked with. Sonata left this week for her new home on the Island and arrived safely. Elaine took her three home that were here temporarily, along with Zip to start ground work and ground driving for us. On a sad note, we put Navajo to sleep this week. Her shoulder and knee were really starting to bother her and we felt it was time.

Apr 2/11 - Well... beautiful last couple of days, then today a foot of snow. Mike broke his arm just below his shoulder yesterday when he slipped on the ice so things are going to be pretty rough around here for a while. Don't know yet if they're going to put another plate in (he broke it about 10-12 years ago and after waiting almost a year for it to heal they ended up putting in a plate). Definitely not waiting a year to find out. Can't believe they just put him in a sling and sent him home with a future appointment to see a specialist! All the horses have been trimmed that are able to be trimmed so I'm pretty happy about that. Our vet was here yesterday while we trimmed and we sedated 4 of the ones that we weren't sure about (Allie, Alix, Biscuit and Emily). Allie and Alix were in desperate need of a good trim and their feet look 1000% better now. Claire took a chunk out of her shoulder so we sedated her as well and cleaned it up. Not enough there to stitch up but she should heal just fine. It was nice that even the horses that were sedated all came back around for a visit during the trimming, so it must not have been a bad experience for them (and maybe they just wanted to show off their nice trims!). I was even able to catch Fox and Shay without really trying and they were both trimmed as well. Seven healthy calves so far, nice that they're all doing well in spite of the crazy weather. Babe is bagging up even more, I hope she waits until the snow melts! Frank the steer and Houdini the bull started fighting and took out a couple of fences yesterday while we were at the hospital about Mike's arm. Thank you Meaghan and Charlene for sorting them and repenning them, and also for changing Monkey, Joanie, Tilly and Graycey's bandages. Meaghan lost her dog Dexter last night, turns out he was shut in the barn all night! A super big thanks to Gerton our neighbour for helping to put hay out today since Mike is laid up. Looks like Bo and Rigby's adoptions fell through. Really disappointed about Bo, need to find someone to take him and put some time on him so he can be gelded. Also by mutual decision Sonata is adopted in place of Josephine. The adoptive home is on the island and Sonata is much better suited to make that trip. Thanks Shelly for being understanding.

Mar 26/11 - Productive day yesterday, got 18 horses trimmed. Romeo pushed Flash through a barb wire fence on Wed, thank goodness he didn't get cut up too bad. Yesterday Romeo himself got tangled up in one of the non-barb wire fences. I was there when he did it and even though the other horses were running around, Romeo stood quietly while I untangled him. They have been so hard on the fences this winter, seems all we've been doing lately is fixing fences. We have a booth at the Pet Expo this weekend, thanks Janine, Meaghan, Sherral and Carmen for manning it for us. Mini-Brandy has some lumps in her flanks and around her udder, vet thinks they're sarcoids so we had them treated on Tuesday. We've had 4 calves born, Lucy and hers are in the barn because he wasn't doing well. We also put Babe in the barn last night, she's getting close and it's still pretty cold out.

Mar 20/11 - Phoebe, Zip and Lily have been moved down with the herd. Panda is in with Zeke, Cosmo and Cecil. Martini and Cash are now by the barn, easier of Cash's arthritis as the ground is softer, and Martini needs meds put in her eye several times a day. Mini-Brandy and Jigger are now next to the goat pen. We picked up 2 pregnant mares yesterday, both of whom have old untreated leg wounds that are very ugly. Mike's named them Graycey and Tilly (their names were Graymare and Brownie, so I don't feel bad about some of the names we come up with!). Spent most of today fixing fences. Ferd, our bobcat guy, would be proud - we're getting really good at doing 'farmer fixes', which is where you make do with what you've got and when you can't pound posts because the ground is frozen. Tomorrow Frank the steer goes to the vet to have his toes trimmed and his corns treated.

Mar 19/11 - Things have been a bit better with the horses, and we've been very busy especially this last week. We worked at a casino in Red Deer March 10th and 11th. A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped and to our casino advisor Kathleen. We had a lot of fun! Gus has been adopted, Delilah and Poppy left for their new home in BC, with the unexpected addition of Phoenix. We have found a home for Bo, the Arab stallion, which is a big relief as he's a bit more than we want to have to deal with. Cricket and Sugar are back from foster, as is Harriet. We did another interview, this one with Monica Culic for 'The Horse's Mouth'. Will post once we know when it will be airing. Also we did an interview for The Calgary Journal - will also post once we know when it's coming out. This past week we moved Cecil and Zeke up to the house - Cecil still hasn't been gelded (he's a bi- lateral cryptorchid) and he's started acting studly. Zeke we assumed was gelded but I'm not positive so we have to take a closer look. Zeke is kind of halter broke which was a nice surprise. Our vet was out Friday and we knocked out both Cash and Storm in order to do a really good trim on them both. Panda had his blood test done (he's been really good with the halter, it's possible he had been worked with at some point in his past). Noeline will be back again next week as we'll have to sedate Zeke to get a good look at him as to whether or not he's been gelded. Also I found some unusual lumps in mini-Brandy's udder region so she'll also have to be sedated in order to have those examined. This coming weekend is the Pet Expo. We'll have a booth there manned by Janine and some of our volunteers. Coming up April 2nd there will be a fundraiser for us at the Olds College open house, thank you to Ginia and the first year equine studies students! On a more personal and sad note, Mike's mom, who'd been living with us for the past 4 or 5 years, passed away quite suddenly on March 7th. Though she'd been ill for the last year and a half, it was still unexpected. Thank you to everyone who sent their condolences. 

Feb 24/11 - We lost Cracker today as well. She was 32 years old, with us for almost 7 years. When we were at the auction all those years ago, we ran into the meat buyer after the auction where we'd outbid him for Cracker, and he asked me why we were bothering to buy the old horses since 'he'd get them anyway eventually'. Well he didn't get Cracker and she had a lot of good peaceful years with us!

Feb 24/11 - It's been a trying week. Phoebe lost her foal on Saturday, he was a perfect little black colt, would have probably been grey like him mom. Pharoah, the big Clyde draft, got sick last week with severe diarreah. He is now at Moore and Company and the difficult decision was made this morning to have him put to sleep as his condition is worsening. Cracker took a nasty fall on the ice and her right hind stifle and leg are quite swollen, so she's on bute for that. Martini's one eye clouded over, looks like some sort of ulcer in her eye; we're treating it and at least it seems to be improving. Why do all these things happen right when your regular vet decides to go galivanting around up north of the arctic circle on a 'vets without borders' mission?! (Just kidding Noeline, I know you're not galivanting, more likely freezing your butt off, but you could have stayed at home to do that as it's probably colder here than there!) Flash is back and Meeko went to his foster home (for possible adoption, along with Kitch at the same home). Badger, Gus and Baby are coming back from foster this weekend. They were all worked with and are now deemed good to go as sound riding horses, which is a big plus. Bond went to her new home. Millie's foster is now an adoption. Our condolences to Arnold Brogden's family on his passing, and thank you to Patricia for going ahead with the adoption. Gypsy#3, at her foster home, developed a bad abscess but it's working it's way out. Thanks Patti and Steve for looking after her so well and all your concern. I still haven't got the new Arabs on the website, though I did get some pics taken. Hopefully by this weekend I'll have them posted.

Feb 14/11 - We have 3 new Arabs that we picked up a few weeks ago - Gypsy (#4), a 14 yr old mare who's supposed to be halter broke but can't be caught; her 4 yr old stud colt, Bo, who isn't even halter broke; and Zaz, a 14 yr old gelding who is broke but not sound. Not sure how we get into these things! Flash went to a foster home to be worked with, which he was, but he's coming back because he's acting like a stud. We assume he's been proud cut as that was an issue at his last placement as well, but we'll have to have him tested to be sure. We dewormed all the babies again, it went well except for the crazy wind that was blowing and getting everyone worked up. Red did something to his front leg and it's all swollen up though he's not favouring it. Cash's old wound has gone down a lot, the new spray we're trying seems to work. Still no foals, thank goodness, though Phoebe is huge and starting to bag up quite a bit. Mike and I got the year end financials and tax receipts all done, finally! we spent over $61,000 on hay in 2010!! 

Jan 7/11 - Cold weather coming again, so we blanketed 13 of the horses at the house. Amanda was out to do massage on Cash, Cracker, Cosmo and Navajo. Rascal got a trim today, along with Spirit's fronts and Minx's fronts. Just got an update on the pmu industry. I thought they'd closed down all the pmu farms in Canada but I guess there are still some going in Manitoba. Also the latest news is that the drug company (Phizer/Wyeth), in order to avoid all the controversy over the pmu farms, is going to outsource the urine collection to other countries, like China, where horse welfare is not a concern. Now that's being really socially responsible!


Jan 4/11 - Hope everyone had a good holiday and a bit of a break. Baby, Gus and Badger have gone out on foster to Chiniki Equine Centre. Hope it's a good fit, we'll keep a close eye on how they're working out. They'll get evaluated at least. Morley has gone to his new home as well. We will be delivering Nelson, Jigger and Brandy#2 to their new foster homes in the next week or so, and hope to be able to get over to pick up Cricket and Sugar to bring back to the rescue from their foster home. Good reports on Gypsy#3, she's managing well with her arthritis - thanks Patti and Steve! If anyone has time to come out and work with Panda and Zeke, they both need to be halter broke. We think Zeke isn't gelded after all, so he needs to be removed from the herd and checked! WE have to have Shiloh, Mike's horse, and Kat both tested, we think they also may have Cushing's. Trouble got a small abscess on her face but it's starting to drain, and Duke got a nasty cut under his belly behind his elbows but it's healing up nicely. Allie is limping, she had an abscess this summer and may have developed another one. We have one new addition, Thomas the donkey. Lots of running around when I introduced him to the herd! I guess most of them haven't seen a donkey before. Red was the bravest and first to say hello, and Eclipse and Duke were next.   

Dec 19/10 - Bond, Delilah and Poppy were adopted out today, though they'll be here for a little while yet. Harriet and Jigger had their teeth floated. Also they were both tested for Cushing's. Jigger was negative but Harriet does have Cushing's so she'll be on medication (and a diet!). Thank goodness her new foster family are willing to still take her on. Juno has gone back to Janine's on foster, and thank you Lesli for taking Flash on as foster and possible adoption. Kitch will also be going to Lesli as her daughter has fallen for him. Auggie went to his new home, he was hauled down to Coleman by Hooves 'n Hounds - sometimes paying for the hauling is worth it just to save the time! Thank you Mary Ellen for the feed donation. The herd has been just brutal on the fences lately, posts broken and wire down somewhere new every day it seems. They must be bored!

Dec 9/10 - Another hard week. Jessie died suddenly sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning, most likely from colic. So heartbreaking, he was such a nice horse and was already adopted out again. Trey managed to roll and get herself stuck up against a feeder the same day, though Mike got her up and she's okay. The next morning Martini was down and had a bit of trouble getting back up, she'd got her head around a tree trunk somehow. We picked Gemma up on Wednesday, she came back from her foster home as she'd slipped or somehow aggravated her back end. Thank you Katie for looking after her so well for the last 2 1/2 years. Hopefully her current issues with her leg/hip will resolve. Badger is back and settled right in with the herd again. Flash is being Mr. Macho, he's got 2 mares (Kitty and Trouble) seperated out for himself and keeps running around with his head near the ground, making sure they stay put and no other boys come around. We've got a foster home lined up for Brandy2 and Jigger; thanks Jill, I think it will be a great fit.

Nov 28/10 - Good day and bad. We had Sally put down this morning. Her neurologic problems just weren't improving, her spirits were good but her body was giving out on her. She must have been pretty old, she didn't have much left in the way of teeth. We got the herd dewormed today. Three people working together like a well-oiled machine can get 68 horses dewormed in under 3 hours! We have some really well behaved horses, most of them were so easy to do. The youngsters were just lining up at the gate waiting to be done! Badger and Flash2 are coming back this week, also we're picking up another slaughter-bound horse Friday.

Nov 24/10 - We're all just trying to stay WARM! Kitty is adopted and Harriet is going to the same home as a foster. We'll be dropping them off and picking up Cricket and Sugar in the next week or two as they are coming back from foster. Emily's abscess has healed up. Cecil's moonblindness has flared up again so he's up at the house getting his eyes treated several times a day. Sally went down one night in the cold and couldn't get up, almost froze to death! She's in the barn and recovering, hopefully she'll be okay. All the babies are becoming more friendly, especially since deworming day. It's always a good sign when they see it as a good experience, as it was the first time most of them had been handled. Zan, Jessie, Trouble and Cass, and Morley are all pending adoptions, though some of them will be here for a couple of months at least before they leave, and Meaghan is adopting Zan so she'll be staying on permanently. Also Trigger went to his new home. This weekend we'll be picking up Shamrock and Silk as well from their foster home. They'll just be back for the winter (I hope!) as they need a little extra feed and care to get through the winter in good shape. Also we're expecting Dodge and Joker back from their summer foster, but haven't got a definite yes or no on if Pepper is coming back or is in fact going to be adopted. A BIG thanks to Kate and Janice for coming out last weekend and braving the bitter cold to blanket some of the horses!

Nov 15,2010 - Had a good day yesterday, got all the babies and everyone else at the house dewormed (probably including myself!), in addition to holding our AGM. Thanks to Christy, Angie, Janine, Simone and Sherral for all the help, it went very smoothly! Next weekend, the herd! Also a very huge thank you to the Calgary Regional Trail Riders for the exceedingly generous donation from your casino fund! 

Nov 13,2010 - Shasta went to a new home, as have Min and Storm#2. Very depressing that Jessie, Kodiak, Panda, and now Zan have come back in the last couple of weeks, and also Badger is coming back as well. Maybe we should just become a sanctuary and to heck with adopting out. Of course then we wouldn't be able to take any more in either.

Nov 11,2010 - Annual General Meeting will be Sunday, Nov 14. We'll be starting deworming that day as well. Poor little Emily has a huge abscess on her face. Not sure what caused it, we'll have the vet out to look at it. Panda is back, seems he's another bilateral cryptorchid. Big problem is he needs to be halterbroke before he can be operated on.

Nov 6,2010 - Busy, busy, busy! All the round bales are here, now just have to get about 500 small squares. Zip was gelded on Friday and had his hernia banded, it went very well. We had Dru, Sheba, Phoebe, and Babe preg-checked, just in case. Dru and Sheba are not pregnant, thank goodness (were possibly more of Crackerjack's). Babe and Phoebe are both pregnant, Babe is due next spring but Phoebe is due in a couple of months, so we will have 2 winter babies this year. So now I know Phoebe is halter broke, though she was not interested in all on getting into the trailer so I walked her up to the house. Babe, Dru and Sheba all loaded well. Jessie is back, he was exchanged for Storm2. Kodiak is also back, on the foster page. He is gorgeous but has a bone spavin so would be sound for very light riding only. I've also moved Raffy to the foster page. I'm hoping to get started on deworming next Sunday, the 14th, weather permitting. 

Oct 26/10 - All the horses are now posted on the site. We've got everyone sorted, except we are planning on splitting the main herd up into 2 bunches. There are 71 horses in the main herd right now and 37 at the house. Some will be going out for winter foster but we're also expecting some back too. I've dewormed most of the old guys and ordered more wormer for the rest. We'll probably do the main deworming in the first or second week of November. Hoping to get Zip gelded before winter and Harriet checked out as well. Joanie is confirmed to be pregnant (Crackerjack was the sire). Looks like we'll have a Christmas foal. I'm hoping none of the ASPCA seizures from the spring are pregnant, as they were running with a 2 or 3 year old stud colt. Phoebe is pretty big, may have to have her preg-checked too.

Oct 10/10 - Very busy getting the new horses settled, plus brought home most of the remaining summer fosters. When Mike went back to Rimbey the day after the auction to pick up the rest of the horses, the one meat pen had at least 50 weanlings crammed into it. Very depressing. I also was under the impression that all horses going to auction now had to have health papers, but there wasn't a mention of it during the entire auction and we certainly didn't get anything with the horses we bought. I'll try and get the new horses posted soon, and we've already adopted out a couple of the newer ones. We also moved Romeo down with the herd yesterday, it went a lot better than I'd hoped, though he is being a bit neurotic and chasing some of the horses around. Of course he's already got his own little band of mares. We went to an ASPCA conference for a couple of days, it was very informative though a little disappointing in that we were the only horses group there. Surprisingly enough (or not), we all seem to face a lot of the same challenges - fundraising, volunteers, space.

Sept 30/10 - Mike and I attended the Rimbey auction last night. There must have been over 150 horses there. We bought 18 of the first 60 or so horses by bidding against the meat buyers, then bought back 2 more from 2 of the meat buyers afterwards. Someone we know also bought 6 horses. The meat buyers still managed to buy probably 20 or more of the first 60. I'm not positive because there may have been 3 meat buyers there, not just the 2 I was aware of. We left after that as we couldn't buy any more and definitely couldn't stand to watch any more and it was already 10:30 by the time we got out of there, and 1 am by the time we got home. The AQHA should have a new motto, something like "American Quarter Horses: the 'Angus Beef' of horse meat". Almost all the horses we bought are registered quarter horses. We bought mostly weanlings, a few yearlings, a couple of 2 or 3 year olds, a reg. palomino mare bred for next year, and an old horse. The meat buyers seemed to be willing to bid up to about 50 cents/pound. I'm sure the meat buyers got most of the remaining horses as most people were already leaving and the remaining horses were mainly grade or unhandled or in poor condition. It was the same old story. When we got there the place was packed, you could hardly find a place to park, but no one was bidding. I think most people were either there for the tack sale that was held beforehand, or were sellers. At one point there was a team of 8 yr old black percheron geldings that came in, nicely trained to drive. They sold the geldings first (about $900 each), fortunately not for meat, and then they sold the harnesses. There was more bidding action on the harnesses than we'd seen on any of the horses all night. And now I'm just upset that we couldn't save more.

Sept 25/10 - Thanks to a big improvement in the weather, we're getting some things done. Donner, Spencer and Ellio are back at the rescue, along with Meeko, Rigby and Jigger and Brandy2. Next week Pet, Hawk, Sally and Lucky are coming home. We delivered Aidyn and Odin to their new home, thanks James and we wish you success with their training. Tomorrow we are picking up 2 horses from a stable in Okotoks, they were headed for slaughter because the owner didn't feel they fit into her program and because she didn't want her name associated with horses she deems less than perfect. Easier to ship them than even try and sell them. I'm pretty sure at least one of them we'll have placed even before we get them home.

Sept 17/10 - We'd be so much happier if it would stop raining! This morning it actually snowed a bit. Yuck! On the adoptions side, I'm not sure if I already mentioned that Josephine has been adopted, thanks Shelly. She'll be going all the way to Sooke, BC, but not until next spring. Jon Cooper did a a great job working with Hunny, Easy, Cass and Eclipse, though Eclipse was quite an handful. Hunny and Easy were adopted by River's Edge Camp and Cass and Eclipse are now back. Eclipse does seem to have gained some confidence, though he'll most likely be a permanent resident here at the rescue. Cass also is a lot quieter. Carol is now working with Spencer and Donner. Thanks to Heather Harrington and the Morrow family for letting us pasture some of the herd there this month. Stacey has adopted Zahara after falling in love with her when she took her on to work with last month. Mike has been busy building a new 'senior's barn' using the nice stall panels that were donated by Catherine and Doug Chisholm last year. If the weather would cooperate it would probably be done by now. Also Mike is facing the daunting task of hauling home 700 round bales from the various places we've purchased from this year. We've made some good contacts for hay and have nice bales coming. Unfortunately we're already feeding hay due to the large number of horses we have here. Thank you to everyone that pastured horses for us this summer, it was really appreciated! Russa does appear to be putting on some weight so that's good news. Her appetite has also improved as has her demeanor. Raffy and Rascal2 are both back, as is Foxy. We got in 4 new horses, a 21 yr old standardbred mare, a 7 yr old sorrel mare, a 4 yr old roan pony mare and a yearling sorrel filly that's a bit crooked in front. We have a busy few weeks coming up - in addition to having to bring home all the hay, all the remaining horses fostered out have to be picked up and brought home. Plus we have to collect this coming winter's firewood if the darn rain would just quit for a bit. Buddy was put to sleep on the 10th, he had a wonderful last summer and thankfully went easily.

Aug 13/10 - A great week for adoptions! Thanks Susan and Paul at Timberline for adopting Apache, Dalton and Bogey. Thanks Tracy and Jonathan for adopting Misty and Winston and fostering Rebel and Satin2. Thanks Sharon and Arnold for adopting Chet, Pup, and Kiki and fostering Millie. And thanks Carol for showing the ones at your place so nicely! We've got the dates for our fundraising casino in Red Deer - March 10 & 11, 2011. We're looking for volunteers to help at the casino. I'll post info on the fundraising page as I find out stuff. Janine will be our casino chairperson.

Aug 6/10 - Lots of updates! Russa came back from her foster home, she was losing weight and not doing well at all. We still haven't been able to figure out what is wrong, though since we've eliminated just about everything else, it looks like she might have cancer. We had her teeth done (she needed 3 pulled), blood work done, she was on mash and supplements, dewormed, antibiotics, now we're giving her newcell as well but we haven't seen any improvement in her condition. Her appetite is still good and she doesn't seem to be in pain so we'll just take it one day at a time. We've got lots of the horses out being worked with this summer and they're all getting glowing report cards! Rascal2 and Bogey are both being ridden and responding nicely for Paige and Vicki/Daniella respectively. Carol Bates (sorry about the previous misspelling Carol!) is taking a few of the youngsters to do ground work on. Ellio and Prism were the first to go to her and have had their ground work done and are just being worked with a bit more. They both did really well, Carol says Prism has a real 'want-to-please' attitude, and Ellio is a bit more of the 'aw-do-I-have-to' type. We're taking Kiki and Nelson to Carol this weekend as well. Jon Cooper has taken on Hunny, Eclipse, Easy and Cass. Hunny has been a piece of cake for Jon, after 2 days she was already ready to be saddled. Eclipse is progressing slowly, thank goodness Jon is so patient as I knew Eclipse would need someone with a LOT of it. No updates yet on Easy and Cass, they've only been there a few days. Meeko and Rigby will be back in the next little while, thanks Reaghan for working with them. They've both had a lot of ground work done, saddling and bridling included. Stacey has done a lot with Raffy, he's even getting his feet trimmed regularly and she's also taken Zahara to start for us as well. Went out to check the small herd in the east pasture by the house one day and Millie shows up with a 1" dia piece of wood sticking out of her chest! She looked sore but wasn't bleeding or frothing from anywhere so Mike pulled it out - it was in 3 inches! Had our vet out right away to flush it out and she's healed up nicely. Pup has developed an abscess and was limping quite badly but it seems to working its way out. Cash2 has come back from his foster home, as have Satin2 and Rebel. All the ASPCA horses are doing well and filling out and settling in. Kitch is all healed up and putting weight on. We moved a number of horses down to Westbrook as well at the beginning of July, thanks Tara! Lego, Gabriel, Ebony and Smudge have gone to new homes. We also had our first sheep shearing as we got in a sheep, Kiwi, who had never been sheared and really, really needed it done. Her tail was such a mess from the manure and urine that collects there when they're not sheared. Now that she's been done, her tail has healed up completely. Lastly, on a sad note, one of our friends and benefactors, Maurice Sirois, passed away suddenly on July 11, 2010.

June 17/10 - Seems like we've spent DAYS in the truck. The lease we were hoping to get didn't work out, so we've been moving horses to other pastures in an effort to get everyone on grass. A big thanks to Kendra for taking Busty, Shasta, Spirit1, Tina, Trey, Buddy, Kiwi, Gypsy1, Rain, Min, Allie and Reba for the summer, and to Elaine for taking Eddie, Pharoah, Ptolemy, Bandit, Raffles, Biscuit and Toby for the summer. Also moved the cows and Lucy, Shadow1, and Fox to the cattle lease. We delivered Spirit2 to his new home and Satin2 and Rebel to their foster home. Brandy, Sky, Hannah(JamJam), Juno, Kat, Navajo, Sasha and Poncho came back from Janine's for the summer. We delivered Gypsy2 to her new home and brought Kitch back from the trainer. Unfortunately poor Kitch came down with something right when we took him down there so he was too sick to be worked with, and then he injured his neck when he stuck his head between a gate and fence. He's over whatever he had but his neck is pretty bad. Thanks Paige for fostering Rascal2 for the summer - Paige is going to put some time into him for us. Thanks also to Sue and Paul at Timberline for taking Apache, Dalton, Joker, Pepper and Dodge. Sue'll work with them and maybe even adopt a few! Gord Searle was at the Rocky Mountain House rodeo last weekend and we took some of the horses up there for him to demonstrate with. Eddie, Smudge, Emily, Trey, Rain, Sonata and Rigby gave Gord quite a variety to work with! We're hoping to have Gord out this summer to do a clinic or two for us here at the rescue. Dru came up lame, not sure what she did but she's got a bit of swelling in her front leg. She's on stall rest until it improves. Prism is back down with the herd now. We're hoping to get Senator and Sonata delivered to their new home this weekend (more time in the truck!). Thanks Patti and Steve for taking Gypsy3 and Sugar to foster along with Misty and her foal Winston - the babies will have fun playing with each other! Foxy will in the meantime be coming back from foster. Mike and I are signing up for an equine 'green certificate' through Olds college - will find out more later this month when Henry from Olds College comes out. Also we've signed up to take part in the ASPCA conference in Edmonton in October. It's 2 days long, I'm not sure how we're going to manage to be away for that long! Good thing we've got until October to figure it out. Finally managed to trim Millie's feet a bit, she was pretty good and I applied some of Gord's training techniques which really helped. Storm is picking up weight nicely as well. We got a dyna-split for Red and hope it helps his crooked leg, but unfortunately it's one more thing that needs to be done every day, as he only wears it for 12 hours and it needs to be adjusted during the day also. Oh, we got in 2 more goats and a sheep. The sheep will be sheared for the first time next week - I hope she's well-behaved for it. Of the 27 ASPCA seizures that we've had for about 5 weeks, one was euthanized, 17 were returned to either the owner or previous owners, and the rest (9) will remain here, rather than having them sent to auction. One is a stallion that will have to be gelded. I'll post these horses once everything is finalized with the ASPCA. A really sad situation and I hope the ones that went back will be properly looked after. 

May 28/10 - We did have Crackerjack euthanized, along with a skinny ASPCA seizure that came in with a broken foot. Definitely the worse part of rescuing. Prism, Red, and Amigo were gelded, and Amigo also had his hernia stitched up. Ebony, Apache, Rascal2 and Dalton have come back for various reasons. We have a large group of ASPCA seizures here right now, so that we have over 100 horses which is really way too many! Slinky already came back from the trainer's, she had no luck with her and gave up. Thanks to Kelly, Vanessa, Angela, Janine and Meaghan for helping with the deworming last weekend. We got everyone done and I have to brag that the herd was SO well-behaved. Chase is going back to his adoptive home this weekend. Still waiting for Spirit2, Senator, Sonata, and Gypsy Too to go to their new homes. Not sure what the delay is, everyone seems to be taking their time! Got some of the horses up at the house moved into the east pasture so that's a little less work - seems like we're spending 8 hours a day just feeding. A big thank you to Ashley and Dan for fostering Pet, Lucky, Sally, Hawk and the 2 minis! Thanks Sherri for fostering Cash2. Sherri is going to really work on trying to get his hock injury to finally heal up. Looking at purchasing a lease on a quarter-section about 10 minutes from us. Not the best grazing, lots of trees, but we are pretty desperate for pasture this year with so many horses in our care.

May 14/10 - It's been crazy busy. Gypsy had her foal (Sugar, born May 1). Misty also had her foal at her foster home (Winston). Both are healthy and doing well. Thanks Stacey for taking Raffy to work with for us, he's doing really well! Spencer was gelded today, Prism still hasn't dropped on both sides so he'll be going in for surgery in the next week or two. Amigo turns out to NOT be gelded, so he's going to be done on Tuesday, as well as have his hernia stitched up at the same time. We got a halter on Aidyn (Aidyn and Odin are 2 percheron 2 year olds that are here temporarily - Aidyn still needs to be gelded but of course isn't even halterbroke yet). Also got in an old emaciated gelding and 2 fat minis. We've got Storm, the gelding, on mash, hopefully his weight will pick up and there isn't something else going on there. They'll be posted on the site in the next week, hopefully. Zahara got a nasty puncture wound on the inside of her left thigh, but it's drained and is closing up nicely. Tomorrow Slinky and Kitch are going out for training - Slinky just so we can halter her and trim her feet, Kitch to be saddle-broke. Also we have Ebony coming back, and also a 2 year old little gelding with crooked front legs. On a sad note, we will have to have Crackerjack put down. Turns out he is either a bilateral cryptorchid or wasn't gelded properly, he's got enough testosterone for a full-blown stallion. Having him operated on is not an option unfortunately, with his bad foot being the way it is, and keeping him penned up (he's broken more fences than the drafts!) is not a life. Though he is nice to handle, he's way too studly in his behaviour, can't have him anywhere near any mares.

Apr 24/10 - Good news and bad news. Good news - Misty had her foal this morning (or last night), healthy and looking good, will get more info from Misty's foster home as soon as I can. Bad news - We had Gypsy3's knee x-rayed, she has very bad arthitis. We're doing what we can (Legend, Adequan, and gluc. shots, and acupuncture) to make her as comfortable as possible. We'll let her foal out and once the foal is weaned we'll have to re-evaluate her care, will probably have to have her put to sleep in the fall. Sad. Cash and Cracker are doing great with their acupuncture treatments. We have been able to take them right off the bute. We'll probably try acupunture on Buddy and Cosmo as well, they both have lameness in one front foot. We have 2 minis and one old horse coming in next week. Hopefully we'll get a few of the ones that have been adopted out to their new homes now too. Hope to get the last 3 colts gelded next week and start on the shots and deworming for all the horses. We're having a blood test done on Crackerjack to check his testosterone level. He's been very 'studly' and we're not sure if it's just a behaviour problem or if he wasn't gelded properly.

Apr 9/10 - All the horses are doing well. Meeko and Bandit (one of my horses) both got small puncture wounds but neither is serious. Morley had an abscess above his knee but it drained and healed up in just a few days. Gypsy 3 had an abscess which has now drained. She was so sore, with a bad knee on one leg and an abscess in the other. Still haven't managed to set up a time with the vet to come out and x-ray her. Not keen on hauling her anywhere with that knee so we'd like to have him come out and do it here. She is at least starting to put on some weight. We're pretty sure none of the mares we got from the paint breeder last year are bred. Maybe they just told us they were pregnant, thinking we might not take them otherwise. Cash and Cracker have been getting acupuncture for their arthritis and it's been pretty amazing how well they're responding. Cash was bucking and wheeling around and kicking up her heels the other day. Senator is still underweight so we're going to bring Kikki and Senator back up to the house for extra groceries. We'll also introduce Kikki and Millie, they're the same age and that way Kikki will have a buddy when Senator leaves.

Mar 21/10 - Misty and Foxy have gone to their foster home where they will foal out - thanks Steve and Patti! It's been a really nice mild March, which is good as the horses eat a lot less when it's warm. We're just about out of round bales so will have to start feeding daily with the squares. New additions Kiki and Senator (who is also now adopted) have gone down to the herd, along with Kitch and the 3 Arab girls - Zahara, Saphira, and Sheba - and Gypsy2 and Eclipse. Eddie is also down with the herd - boy, he looks even bigger down there when compared to the other horses. Kiwi the new blind filly was checked out by the vet on Thursday, she has a bit of infection in her eyes so she's on Excenel and BNP, which seems to have really helped. Also Cracker and Cash1 had their first accupuncture treatment on Thursday. Hopefully we'll see some improvement in their mobility over the next few weeks as the treatments continue. We're also going to have Gypsy3's knee x-rayed to see what's going on with that and if there's a course of treatment we can try. She is putting on weight at least. We have another new filly, Millie, who is in with Gypsy3 and Kiwi right now. Once Millie settles down a bit she'll go out with the herd. Got 11 of the horses trimmed on Thursday (it was a busy day!). We're going to start a more aggressive treatment on Cash2's leg and maybe see some more improvement in that.

Feb 5/10 - Q, Twilight, and Rascal are adopted and have gone to their new homes, thank you to Zahara, Lynne, and Yvonne! Spirit2 is adoption pending as well. We have the 2 new ASPCA horses and have 3 more horses coming this weekend. Bennie is doing MUCH better. We've managed to get lots of horses trimmed over the last few weeks, almost caught up... in time to start over again! Meeko was trimmed for the first time and he was very good. Got an update on Zan, she's now broke to ride and doing wonderfully. Raven, Renegade and Cirrus, who all went to the same home as Zan, are halterbroke and also doing well.

Jan 16/10 - Rigby is now gelded! Prism, however, it turns out has dropped on one side only so we didn't get him done, though he did get his wolf teeth removed. If he doesn't drop in the next couple of months we'll take him in for surgery. Q is adopted. Twilight is 99% adopted, just waiting for the deposit on her to arrive. Bennie is doing better.

Jan 4/10 - We hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We had our share of excitement but generally it was nice and quiet. I managed to get most of the rest of the horses de- wormed, until I ran out of wormer. Bennie took a turn for the worse, we believe he may have suffered a series of strokes. He was in the barn for a while on meds and is back out with his group again and seems to be better, but it was touch and go for a while as he was quite disoriented and lost interest in his food (!). We did get his teeth floated again since the vet was out to check him anyways. I got lots of nickers from him at feeding time yesterday though so that's a good sign. Emily, Trey's foal from last year, has been returned to the rescue. She was born very crooked, but has straightened out nicely, though she does seem to exhibit a bit of weakness in one or both of her hind legs. Most likely she just needs to grow some more. She is very sweet and is halter broke and loaded and trailered well. We've noticed Slinky has improved a lot over last year with the weakness in her back end. We've started trimming Crackerjack's back foot in the hopes we can help him walk a bit better, he has a lot of trouble getting purchase with his bent foot on the snow and ice. Sunshine has settled down a lot, she is really quite a nice horse, hopefully come spring we'll be able to work with her a bit. Gord Searle has 3 training dvd's out that feature some of the rescues. It was great to see him working with the horses. Only mix-up is that Cash2 is refered to as a mare on the dvd that features him! Mike got the auto.waterer installed for the herd, what a relief! No more dragging the hose out every day in the bitter cold. Shasta is back down with the herd, plus we have 3 temporary horse boarders for the winter, Martini (who comes back every winter for the season), and Skyler and Harley (water problems at their home). Skyler came from the same seller as Bogey at the auction, way back when. Harley is from the same place Monkey, Dodge, Rascal2, and Raffy (and Lexus) came from. We sent some hair samples to WHOAS, from Rigby and Nelson; they'll be sending them in for dna testing. Very interested to find out what comes back! Note, annual general meeting is this coming Saturday, Jan 9, at 11 am. Please let us know if you are planning to attend.

Dec 14/09 - Still bitter cold, though it's supposed to warm up by the middle of the week. Can't happen too soon, the old guys can't eat their mash fast enough, it freezes before they're done. The horses are going through a lot more hay too due to the cold, hopefully we won't run out before spring! Mike's working hard to try and get the new auto.waterer installed for the herd, but again the weather is not helping. We're going to be really pressed for pasture this spring and summer, so if anyone can foster over the summer, let us know. We've also got the books for the year pretty well done, just have to do the receipts for the auction donations and a few other things. It sure helps that we've managed to keep on top of the paperwork throughout the year, so there isn't as much to catch up on at year end! Rascal and Foxy both got minor cuts, Foxy on her hind leg and Rascal on a front leg. Other than that they all seem pretty happy, don't seem to mind the cold as much as we do. Bought a giant blanket for Eddie, and he's already broken the top front buckle stretching it out of shape.

Dec 7/09 - Got 2/3 of the horses dewormed but the weather's been nasty the last couple of weeks so we haven't been able to finish. Blanketed all the old guys this weekend, it's supposed to be about -35 overnight. Q cut his back leg but it doesn't look too bad. Oliver has gone to his new home, we'll really miss him, he's such a sweetheart. Got 2 mares in yesterday, Tina and Min. We'll also be getting a couple of Arab yearling fillies sometime in the next week or so. Mostly spending a lot of time making sure all the animals have enough to eat and are staying out of the worst of the wind. I thought it was supposed to be an el nino winter!

Nov 16/09 - Rigby had a halter on this weekend! Thanks to everyone who's worked with him, it's really paid off! Easy, Ellio and chet were gelded on Friday. Poor Chet had a few bleeders so he had to be knocked out twice so Noeline could tie them off. Mike was right in there helping but I looked the other way. Gave him an extra shot of penicillin yesterday and he's doing fine. Q, Morley and Cecil are back down with the herd, and Shasta is up at the house so that Oliver is weaned before he leaves for his new home next weekend. Thanks Star, for adopting Oliver - Star is also the one who got the halter on Rigby on Friday. (Thanks Carmen, Simone, Karen and Caroline for the help moving the horses around.) Tiny (aka Juno) had most likely lost the sight in his injured eye, but it is healing nicely and he's a very good patient. Rascal has a puncture wound to his front leg but it's draining okay and healing up. Monkey, Cash and Joanie's wounds are all doing really well - we're using honey as a dressing and it's just amazing! (thanks Kelly for that suggestion) The wounds are clean, don't smell and look good. Monkey's wound is just maybe the size of a loonie (or two) but compared to the 5 pounds of proud flesh he used to have there it's great. Unfortunately he does have the compensation injury to his other hind pastern that seems to cause him more grief than the injured leg. Cash's hock is actually going down in size, so that's good. Joanie's leg is still quite badly damaged, but it is clean and closed over now, so given more time we're hoping she'll be fine. She certainly doesn't favour it at all. Was planning on starting on the deworming this past weekend but it didn't happen, so the plan in to start this coming Friday and hopefully by the end of Sunday we'll have everyone done. We have committed (or should I say we should be committed?!) to taking in 2 older horses and another filly with hind pastern issues. 

Nov 8/09 - Productive weekend - Thanks to Roy and Jean for adopting Zan, Renegade, Cirrus and Raven. Elaine also brought Fox back and picked up her adoptions, Barq and Jesse. Thank you to Dave and Pina for fostering Russa. Morley, Q and Cecil will go back down with the herd now that they're all doing better. Eddie is putting on weight and his coat has improved. We had 6 geldings done on Friday, thanks Noeline and Brent - Q, Pup, Spirit, Nelson (!), Lego, and Meeko were done. We were going to do Cecil but he either hasn't dropped or has already been gelded.  

Nov 3/09 - We had a lot of fun with Gord and Phyllis Searle last weekend, working with the horses. We took Zan, Allie#3, and Dodge the first day, and Eclipse, Spirit#1, Shay and Cash#2 the second day. They were all really good, they gave Gord a nice cross-section of horses to work with with different issues. I must say that the horses all impressed me with their willingness to load! Eclipse was very good going in and out of the trailer, and they self-loaded themselves the second day to come home. We'll post info on the training dvd's featuring our horses when they become available. It was really interesting to see the horses that were waiting in the back area actually round-penning each other! While Gord was working with Dodge, Zan was pushing Allie around the area, and then when he was working with Zan, Allie was moving Dodge around. Cecil's eyes continue to improve and Sunshine's boo-boo is almost completely healed up. We brought Q up to the house, he was looking a little rough, he'll get some extra feed plus I dewormed him for tapeworm. We've got yet another 2 additions - Toby, a sweet 7 yr old sway-backed paint gelding; and Tiny, a HUGE black percheron gelding with an injured eye. Noeline, our vet, was out this morning and stitched his eye shut to give it time to heal. It's not as bad as Claire's injury was, but we don't know yet if we'll be able to save the sight in his eye. We're planning on gelding Cecil and Q this weekend, and also perhaps doing our fall deworming.

Oct 25/09 - Another busy week and weekend. We picked up Mamma Russa, an older chestnut Arab mare, and also Bogey and Smudge were returned to the rescue due to finances. I'll get the new horses posted this evening, hopefully. Turns out Sunshine didn't have a kick, she had a laceration under her armpit (do horses have armpits?), quite severe, so we've brought her up to the house and washed it and medicated her. She is actually halter broke and I can even catch her sometimes. She really hated having her wound cleaned though! Cecil has moon-blindness, an auto-immune thing that manifests itself in the eyes. His eyes are clearing up, though he is still on lots of meds. Hopefully he won't have too much scarring so that he will still be able to see fairly well. Unfortunately it is a recurring disease, so he'll have to be monitored continuously for signs of a new infection so that it can be caught and treated right away. Eddie, the big draft that was given to Mike (I put him on the foster page just so people can see him, though he'll be a resident and not available for foster or adoption), is very thin and seems to have stringhalt as well. He is already putting on weight, we've been giving him canola oil in his food. He may have that thing that drafts are prone to, where they can't process proteins from feed. The oil takes care of that though (maybe because it's already processed). And we have some exciting news, next weekend we'll be taking 7 or 8 of our horses to be worked with by Gord Searle. He does natural horsemanship training and is creating a training dvd. We are thrilled that he'll be featuring some of our horses on the dvd - provided of course that he is successful with them! We'll see how he does with Eclipse, Zan, and a few of the shier horses. I'm not previously familiar with him but he does have a facebook page featuring his work and I've checked than out.

Oct 18/09 - Yoikes what a week! We picked up another mare on Wed, Sunshine. She seems nice though they said she was crazy. We'll leave her out with the herd and eventually she'll settle down. She did get a nasty kick from someone in the herd, and unfortunately I can't get close enough to her to treat it. It's not serious though and will heal up fine. Got another horse today from the LIS, Crackerjack. Now he's a little crazy, I think he was stir crazy as he ran around like a nut when I turned him out. Josephine and Annie came back today as returns, along with another big draft that was given to Mike. We're picking up an older Arab mare on Wed. next week, but at least I think we've already got a foster home for her. Cecil has some sort of weird problem. Vet thinks he may have had some trauma to his head, his eyes are cloudy-yellow and he can't see very well. He's in the barn and hopefully he'll recuperate and get his eyesight back! We got Eclipse gelded, that was quite the event. He's still quite spooky but we're working on it. Our sympathies to Janine, she had Samsom and Roz put to sleep on Monday. Thanks Janine for caring for them so well. And Janine has jumped right back in with both feet, taking Brandy, Navajo, and Kat on foster!

Oct 5/09 - Rebel and Morley are back at the rescue; Rebel will be on the foster page and Morley will be up for adoption. Rebel took some skin off one hind leg in a minor accident at his foster home. It should heal up fairly quickly though. Morley has really grown, he's going to be nice and tall but he is a bit underweight. Also Chase and Joker are down with the herd now as well. Joker's leg is almost completely healed, hopefully he won't bang it up running around with the herd. We've started wrapping Cash#2's leg, in the hopes that it will help close up the old wound. Joanie knocked her injured leg when she jumped the fence yesterday (!), which is a disappointing set- back as it reopened the injury. Bennie is such a slow eater, we've decided to feed him separatedly from the other horses in his paddock. He gets twice the mash but eats twice as slow, so he gets pushed away before he's done. Fall deworming is coming up soon, probably last weekend in October.

Sept 30/09 - For the first time, we've got our hay home by the end of Sept. Usually Mike's still hauling at the end of October in the snow! Navajo, Cash #2 and Chase have come back, Chase is up for re-adoption and Navajo and Cash are back on the foster page. Also got in a new mare, Joanie, and she's also on the foster page. Allie#3's rain rot did clear up with the penicillin. Zan got another puncture wound in her front leg but it's drained and healing already. We moved the youngsters down to the south pasture along with the mares and foals. Zephyr got gelded finally, it was a major undertaking as he had one testicle that didn't drop but fortunately our vet knows another vet who is an expert at those operations and he can do it without having to go through the abdomen, so a lot safer and cheaper too.

Sept 13/09 - A really productive weekend. We've got Rain and Cosmo on glucosamine shots now as well. We gave Allie#3 a shot of penicillin as she's had some sort of rain scald for months, hopefully that will clear up now. Annie went back to her rightful home, Sally#1 came back from foster, as did Bennie. We've also got permanent resident Hawk here now. Zephyr is now up at the house, have to try and get some meat on his bones! I've decided to adopt him myself, he's been my baby for a while now anyways. Some thank-you's: Hazel, we can't thank you enough for all the donations, and thanks so much for looking after Bennie over the summer. Take a look at Bennie's current picture on the website, he's a gorgeous cherry bay! Maria, an immense thanks for all the feed and stuff, the tackroom is so full of feed there's no room for the tack! Carmen (and Simone!) and Sherral, thanks for putting in a lot of weekends! Janine, thanks for all the work on the fundraising - it's not over 'til it's over!

Sept 9/09 - No news is good news. It's been pretty quiet, the horses are managing to stay out of trouble. Hopefully I haven't jinxed anything by saying that! The big herd's in the north pasture, thanks to the Klis family for that. The little guys are still across the road at the Elliot's. Kat and Lucky are back from their summer foster, along with Cosmo. Bennie and Hawk will be back this weekend, as will Sally#1. Cracker got new shoes, 3 degree aluminum, she's also on isoxuprine and bute suspension and is doing 100% better. Rain was evaluated by the vet today, she's got a lot of scar tissue in her shoulder so we'll be moving her to the foster page and she'll be looking for a foster home with someone who is willing to take her on as a project, doing deep tissue massage, stretching exercises, etc, to try and loosen her shoulder up. Also will put her on gluc. shots, same as Cash and Brandy, and Cosmo. Actually I just thought of some bad news. Roz, who has been fostered by Janine for the last 3 years, hasn't been doing well recently and upon examination by the vet it seems the cartiledge in her bad knee is breaking down (she has a bent leg, looks like maybe it was broken at some point and didn't heal properly). There is nothing that can be done for it other than to make her comfortable, so this will be her last fall with Janine as she'll be put to sleep before winter. Our thoughts are with you Janine, especially given that Samson as well will be crossing the rainbow bridge with Roz this fall. Dalton went to his new home, thanks Yvonne! Unusual turn of events regarding Dreamboat Annie. Turns out she's kind of a 'stolen' horse. The people that sold her to us hadn't paid for her! So we'll be reuniting her with her previous rightful owners. Started bringing the hay home, that will keep Mike busy for a while!

Aug 28/09 - Moved the big herd to the south pasture where the old guys normally are so they can graze it down a bit (since the old guys barely put a dent in it) before we bring the hay home, since that's where we store it. Then they'll get to move up to Klis' to the north for a few weeks. Thanks Caro, the extra pasture really helps! Dodge got a puncture wound on his butt but it's draining already and he's not limping so that's good. The little guys are doing well, Nelson's knee is healed up and Spencer's pastern is scabbed over. We'd like to leave Lilly's foot unbandaged now, but every time we try she starts to lick it and it bleeds like crazy. Vet will be out next week to check Cracker, she's really favouring her right front. Got most of our hay ordered in, we'll be paying pretty well twice what we paid last year, so the total damage will be about $26,000! Yoiks! Thank goodness for overdraft and line of credit!

Aug 24/09 - Lilly the cow loves her oats. Good thing, as that's the only way she'll stand still to have her foot done. It does look really nice now, healing up well. She gets to spend her days outside now. Homer the llama went to a new home where he'll get to watch over some sheep. Solace and Serenity also went to the same home. Ronin went to his new home, he's going to be spoiled! We got a new addition, an old appy gelding, blind in both eyes. He's a sweetie, but it'll take him a bit to get settled into his new surroundings. Hopefully we can find a friend for him that he can hook up with. Nelson got a puncture by his knee same as Meeko had. It's draining and looks okay thank goodness. Spencer got a minor scrape on one rear pastern, nothing serious, and Amigo gave us a scare when he started colicking but it was just gas.

Aug 12/09 - Sunday we got all the yearlings dewormed (for tapeworm as well this time) and they all got their boosters. Thanks Janine, Elaine, Lizzie and Cynthia for the help, it went really well. Also moved some of the horses around, the little guys are out on better pasture now as are the mares and foals. Lilly the cow is getting tired of having her foot cleaned and wrapped, she nailed me in the knee the other day and almost got Mike yesterday. Still, her foot seems to be doing well, swelling has gone down and it does look like it's healing already. Homer the llama needs to be gelded and then he'll go to Janine's to keep her llama company.

Aug 8/09 - Thanks Meaghan for the help with the fencing and cleaning up of the trees in the paddock! Meeko got a puncture wound in his right knee, swelled up like a football but he was very good for the vet to look at it, cleaned it up, got a shot of penicillin and it's draining nicely. Solace got her teeth floated, looks like she has an old injury inside her mouth at the back of her jaw which could account for her being a 'bad keeper', not sure how her previous owners couldn't have noticed, it must have been quite painful when it happened. We'll keep an eye on her weight, see if she starts to pick up now. Cracker has been quite sore lately so we're going to try bar shoes on her fronts, see if that helps. Joker had a bit of swelling in his back leg with the cut so he also is on penicillin and bute and it looks much better. Also cold water hosing seems to really help. The farrier was out a few days ago and lots of the yearlings got trimmed along with some of the special- needs crowd. Today we went out on a rescue to pick up a llama that was dumped out west of Cochrane last winter. There were 3 llamas originally but 2 of them died over the winter. This llama was in with a large herd of cows that were very wild so it took a bit of running around to get it seperated and corraled and into the trailer. While we were catching the llama we noticed a young cow in the herd that had put her front foot through a hubcap. This must have happened quite a few days or weeks ago as her leg was swollen and her foot was badly injured. We were able to get permission to take the cow with us so we were able to corral her and load her on the trailer as well. Once we got home, we first quieted the llama and Mike was able to cut off the barbed wire that he had tangled up in his coat and between his legs. Then we got the cow into the barn and put her into the stocks. Mike had to figure out how to get the hubcap off her foot. It was not easy! Amazingly she just stood there with almost no fussing as Mike tried tin snips, wire cutters, bolt cutters, even a metal-cutting jigsaw. We started to think we weren't going to be able to get it off but finally Mike got a cut started into it and once he got it started he was able to cut it quickly! Then our great vet, Noeline, came out, along with her husband to lend a hand, and her leg was washed and the wound cleaned out. It was cut down to the bone on the inside of her foot and was full of maggots. Noeline couldn't believe that this poor cow was still able to bear weight on her injured foot. The wound was packed with salve and wrapped and the cow in now resting comfortably in her stall in the barn. We'll have to clean and rewrap her foot every day until it heals so hopefully she'll continue to be such a good patient. For a wild and unhandled young cow she was incredibly quiet!

Aug 4/09 - Bad storm on Sunday night, lightning like I've never seen before. Lots of trees down and fences damaged but fortunately all our animals made it through okay. Very heartbreaking to hear that Taryn lost Jasper due to injuries he received during the storm. When something like that hits it's our worst fear. I'm so sorry you lost him Taryn, you were a match made in heaven.

July 31/09 - Mike's been putting a poultice on Easy's foot all week and it's now almost back to normal. We'll turn Easy and Claire back out with the little guys this weekend. Hopefully we can move some of the new mares and colts down to the herd as well. Joker has been good for working on his leg as well.

July 26/09 - Easy's whole lower leg and foot is swollen, I've been soaking it (he's so good!) and this morning he had pus oozing out around the cornary band and his heel. Poor guy. Hopefully now that it's draining he'll start to feel better. Have him and Claire (for company) in a small paddock so he's not walking too much, though they're not happy when the other little guys leave. Put a poltice on it this morning so hopefully that will help as well. Busy weekend, brought in 6 more horses, but this is absolutely positively it (except for the aspca mare)! Boy we got some nice ones in, some BIG ones. But now we already know we'll have 6 expecting foals next spring, which is really stressful for Mike, he's so vigilant and concerned that something might go wrong. Annie the spotted draft is huge and she's only 2. Ronin is such a sweetheart but he was a bit overwhelmed when we turned him out with the herd, not that they paid that much attention to him. Pepper seemed to like him and Zen is in love with him already. Thanks to the voluteers that were out this weekend. Between hauling and fencing and feeding and doctoring I didn't even get out to see the herd this weekend until today, so it was a relief knowing someone was checking on everyone yesterday.

July 23/09 - One of those days! Mike called me at work this morning because he counted one horse short in the herd. He went back down again and Rascal comes sauntering out of the woods by himself, not a care in the world. What a relief though! Then I got home from work and Prism is lying down and acting colicky and depressed. Gave him some banamine and got a couple of runny poops out of him and he seemed to feel much better, thank goodness. He was very good for leading too, so that was one good thing about it. Also Easy is limping, a sore back foot. Can't see any injury, hopefully it's not a abscess and he'll be feeling better in the morning.

July 21/09 - Just remembered that we still have to give all the yearlings their boosters. Will plan on doing it when I next have a week off work. Joker was returned to the rescue after being adopted out for a year. He has a nasty cut on his hind leg but he was VERY good for wrapping it. Looks like we'll be getting in another 3 mares and 2 yearlings as well. Promised one other person we'd take in their horse, but that has to absolutely be IT! - except for possibly the mare and foal that were seized by the ASPCA... Hauled home another 300 small square bales of hay last weekend. For some reason the second 300 didn't seem as much work as the first 300 (though Mike might not agree). Maybe I'm getting back into shape.

July 13/09 - Busy weekend - took Bennie (and Hawk) to Hazel's for the summer, thanks Hazel! It was nice to visit with you as well, and you have our sincerest gratitude for the donation of the tractor, it will really be a big help around the farm. We're going to call it 'John's Tractor'. Thanks Kay Lee for adopting Cheyenne. And thank you to everyone who was out volunteering this weekend. Also noticed Donner is really settled down now, loves being petted. Turned the horses out on the north pasture, thanks again to the Klis' for letting us do that!

July 7/09 - Didn't get the new updated pics downloaded on Sunday, internet quit on me, so I'll try tonight. Laramie went to his new home today, good luck Nicky and Bryan, I think it's a good match!

July 5/09 - Breakthrough with Nelson! He let me scratch his bum AND pull out most of his mats! Picked up the 3 mares and their foals on Friday evening, made for a long day. They are very nice, bred back unfortunately so we probably won't be listing the mares for adoption until next year. Also we're hoping on the off chance that the previous owners will be able to take them back before then if their situation improves. The foals are so sweet, 2 palomino paint colts and 1 palomino filly.

July 3/09 - Home for holidays for one week so got some things done - built a new paddock, and cemented in the pigs' waterer so they can't tip it over! Thank you to Chinook Riders youth drill team for the donation! Have 3 mares with foals coming this weekend, registered paints, helping out a breeder with a personal emergency situation. Haven't seen them yet but I bet they're beautiful.

Jun 27/09 - Thank you to the employees of the Royal Bank branch in Olds, for choosing us as a 'local hero' during the RBC 2009 Community Celebration Week! We were very surprised but are very grateful for the recognition and donation. Also thank you to Christine of 'The Horse Store' in Calgary, for the donation of wormer! It was very nice to meet you all today. Brought home 314 square bales today - that's a lot of work, first loading it on the trailer, and then having to off-load it into the hay shed! Only 286 more to go....

Jun 26/09 - Busy day yesterday, had the day off work so our vet was out and floated Hawk's, Bennie's, and Reba's teeth. Bennie only has 4 of his 12 bottom teeth left, so no wonder he was so skinny! Though that doesn't excuse his owners from not feeding him properly and letting him literally starve to death almost. Reba had a badly rotted tooth that needed to be pulled, so she should be feeling and eating better now. Also the farrier was out and did 13 horses - Laramie's first time (just did his fronts), and Twilight was really good too.

Jun 19/09 - Laramaie is adopted again already, thanks Nicky! We're going to wait for his hock to heal up a bit more before he goes to his new home. Donner got a small cut on his back leg yesterday but it's already closed up. I walked up to Reba and put a halter on her! Okay, so I had a pocket full of treats, but still... I think she needs her teeth done, as do Hawk and Bennie, so time to arrange another visit from the vet. Pharoah's scratches are clearing up nicely, so we'll probably shave his legs every spring. Kelly has some really nice horses listed on the 'for sale' page, I really like Munch!

June 15/09 - Wonderful weather this weekend, and some rain too, which we really need. Mike's horse Shiloh is finally starting to recover from his abscess but his other horse Pharoah the draft has scratches so we had to shave his legs. He looks a little strange now! Laramie cut his hock, not too serious but it's pretty swollen. Pet's in love with Pepper and unfortunately since they're on opposite sides of the fence, the fence is taking the brunt of the love affair. Thanks Meaghan, Lindsay and JoAnn for coming out on the weekend and playing with the horses.

Jun 11/09 - Hawk's not limping anymore but we've decided to bring him up to the house and put him back on mash. Pepper was gelded and is healed up nicely already. Laramie came back, he's relisted. They got as far as saddling him but that's it. He sure grew and filled out over 6 months. Slinky is really settling down. Looks like pasture is going to be hard to come by this summer, the grass is really slow. We're already a little worried about what the hay prices and availability are going to be come fall. We're looking at doing another silent auction this summer, keep an eye on the website for more info.

Jun 7/09 - Sad news, we lost Payton on Thurs. She colicked and we had to make the decision to have her put down. We sure do miss her. Sally went to her new foster home this morning, thanks Kate. Mike's horse Shiloh abscessed again so he's up at the house. Hawk's limping and his weight is down so he's going to go out with the old guys.

Jun 2/09 - Breakthrough! I can pet Slinky's face and neck now! Got 2 new mares in, very nice girls, will have them on the website soon. Also got in an ASPCA seizure yesterday, young palomino stallion, he's getting gelded this morning. Kodiak and Jules went to their new home on Saturday, thanks Dan and Vicki. Calliope and China were adopted this evening. Thanks Dale, Bruce and Lindsay! Calli walked onto the trailer like a real pro!

May 24/09 - Yahoo! Got shots and deworming done on all the horses! (Except Rigby - he hasn't got his shots yet.) Thanks to everyone that helped - Vicki, Dan, Ashley, Selena, Elaine and Cynthia and Nikki. Boy it's nice to have that done. Also took Spirit (#1), Biscuit, Badger and Trey to Elaine's for the summer, thanks Elaine! Got the horses that spent the winter at the house sorted - Payton, Pet, Kat, Lucky and Brandy were moved down to summer pasture, and Satin #2 and Sally #1 and Hawk went out with the herd. Only the babies, Slinky, Cracker and Cash are still at the house. We've sadly made the decision to have Mike's mom's horse Archie put to sleep this week, his arthitis is bad and he may be abscessing in his other foot as well. It never gets any easier... 

May 18/09 - Got the shots and deworming done on the little ones and old ones at the house, so half way there. Nelson, Rigby and Cass didn't get their shots yet, but they at least got dewormed (fed it to them in oats). Thanks Elaine and family for the help! Took Shadow, Silk and Shamrock to their foster home for the summer - thanks Mark and Wendy (and Vicki!). Can belive it's snowing today after plus 20 yesterday. Poor animals outside must be miserable in this wet.

May 12/09 - Still putting off the shots and deworming, but for sure we have to do the old guys and babies next weekend. Farrier was out on Monday, got most of the old guys done plus a few others. I think it is very important to keep the old ones trimmed up, they have enough joint and health issues without having to deal with bad alignment due to not getting trimmed! Looks like Bennie is putting on weight, though he's losing all his hair. Blondie and Apache are adopted, Apache already having gone to his new home. He was SO good to sort and load! Nevada, Baxter and Liberty also went to their new home, all to the same place which was nice.

May 6/09 - Nelson is feeling better and is back out with the other babies. Okay, they're almost a year old, but they're still babies! We got in our shots and wormer (100 doses!) so have that to look forward to over the next couple of weeks - I'm trying not to have a panic attack about it. We'll be fostering out a bunch of the horses over the next couple of weeks to near-by pastures for the summer, thanks Wendy and Mark, and Elaine and Tom, and everyone else that has offered pasture for the summer. Unfortunately we're limited on which horses we can send out as we would like to keep those that may be adopted close by for viewing.

May 3/09 - Callie got a puncture wound to her chest but fortunately it's not too deep. Skip was gelded and has gone to his new home. Dalton was also gelded, was such a good boy for his first leading lessons. Zephyr still hasn't dropped one of his 'boys' so wasn't gelded this time around, again. Bennie is infested with lice! No wonder he looks so awful. Liberty, Nevada and Baxter have been adopted! Nelson isn't doing as well as we'd like so we've separated him from the other babies for extra rations, got some penicillin and wormer into him as well. Thanks Jenn for fostering Sally#2, along with Sue. Thanks to everyone who visited this weekend. 

Apr 26/09 - Dodge sliced open his shoulder, a nasty wound but it's clean and should heal up okay. Pal is already fostered - thanks Bonnie and Patrick. Bennie, one of the worst cases of poor condition we've ever seen, is doing better, hopefully he'll pull through.

Apr 23/09 - All the babies are going through quite a growth spurt! Rigby approaches now and has taken a treat from me. Reba also for the first time took a treat from my hand. Kodiak, Prism and Kass got some cuts running through a new fence; thank goodness we use barbless wire or it could have been a lot worse. Apache we can now pet on his neck, though he definitely has that look on his face, like he's not really sure if it's a good thing or not. Zan has turned into a pocket pet, though I'm still pretty wary of her because she's a big horse and runs after me everywhere! Gypsy and Donner are down with the herd now. All the horses seem to be quite protective of Donner and willing to put up with his antics. Next week, barring another snow storm, we're planning on gelding Zephyr (maybe), Donner, and Skip.