Letting Go of 10 Years.

As of 3 weeks ago, I am back home at my parents place, awaiting my move-in date of July 1 at the acreage.
I decided to come home 3 weeks prior to starting work to have a chance to see friends, go camping, hiking, etc.
Luckily for me, my trainer, Keith Stewart, offered a spot to keep Bailey and Mesa in exchange for riding and working at his facility until I was able to move them to the new place.
Story time.
Bailey has never been good for getting her teeth floated, and has progressively gotten worse. She was due for a float, so, I took her into my clinic. We always start with max sedation, I'm talking sedation to the point where if she wasn't in the stocks she'd be falling over. She gets sedated, very sedated, UNTIL you go near her mouth. Last time she got floated she had a person twitching each ear and me basically sitting on her head.
So this time, we started out good for about 30 seconds, then all hell broke loose. She reared up, got one front leg over the front of the stocks, got the other front leg over, then proceeded to somehow get her entire fat ass over the stocks, all while she's still hanging from the halter with a speculum in her mouth. End of the float.
To make a long story semi-short, the next day I went to Keith's to start working. He had 3 horses that belonged to a gentleman who is LOADED. I'm talking makes millions. However he is a very green rider. So Keith wanted me to put as many wet saddle blankets on these 3 not-so-green-rider-friendly horses.
The first horse, Emma, has some skeletons in the closet. She's flighty and bracey when you get on her. But once she settles, she is a dream to ride.
So I jokingly said to Keith, (keeping in mind I was still mad at Bailey) "does he want Bailey and I'll keep Emma (laugh out loud)" and his response was "yeah, yes actually that's a great idea, he needs a horse he can trust for his wife and kids".
Hold up. I've had Bailey since she was 3, she turns 13 this year. 10 years is a long time to let go of. I'm sure he saw the look of panic on my face, so he then suggested how about switching horses for the summer. Then decide. It took a while but I decided I was okay with that idea. Firstly, because I love Emma, and she is started in the cutting, and Keith wants me to show her. Second, if Bailey can give some kids confidence than I know it would be a good thing. So, the deal was done, and Bailey left a few days ago. It's not forever, and I'm fairly confident I'll take her back after the summer because well, that's Bailey. She's my heart horse.

Onto Mesa! She had a wolf tooth that needed taking out, and I just wanted to check her teeth as she lost a bit of weight since being in Lacombe. She, as expected, was an angel, and the wolf tooth had fallen out on its own.

Such a good pony!

All the staff love her too, pictured below is Dr. Dillon, a vet at my clinic having fun with her.

Hope everyone is staying safe!

Lastly, some big news. A year and a half ago I lost my almost 15 year old toy poodle to kidney failure. She was laid to rest in my arms February 14, 2019 just 10 days short of her 15th birthday. I could go on and on about sweet Gracie, but I will say she is what made me fall in love with the breed. Smart (in fact, studies have proven poodles to rank #1 in intelligence out of many, many breeds), loyal, and active.

Next week I turn 25. Although the hole in my heart will never be repaired, I hope this black, 8 week old standard poodle will be a bandaid.

I have named her Faith, and she will be coming home this week.

Faith.

Here's to healing a broken heart.

Gracie, my whole heart, Feb. 24 2004-Feb. 14, 2019

Full Circle.

A very late follow-up to my last blog post.
Quick recap; I was debating whether to move down south and ride horses for Gary Gonsalves, OR, move north to work at an equine only clinic.

The decision? Neither! During one of my lesson's with Keith, he mentioned a cutting/working cow horse trainer in Lacombe (about 2.5 hours north of where I live) was looking for help. I made the trip for a quick interview, and left with a job offer. I decided to take it.

So, I packed up myself, Jack, and the two ponies and made the move at the end of March.
Unfortunately, after only two weeks on the job they had to lay me off due to COVID-19. They were however nice enough to offer me to stay with the horses, in exchange for some work around the farm. What I decided to do was work mornings (7am-12pm) in exchange for rent and board.

The nice thing about this arrangement is I get the afternoons free to ride my own horses!

So here's a Mesa update.

I only put a handful of rides on her when I was back home, due to her trying to cut her foot off 3 times. Luckily she is fully fully healed (knock on wood) and I've been able to consistently ride her since I've moved up here (it's nice having two outdoor arenas and one indoor!).

Not so impressed about being put to work!

It's been so nice having both Bailey and Mesa together. Bailey's been 100% sound since being up here! 

My two girls 💓

Mesa has definitely gone through a spring growth spurt. She's starting to look like a horse! I've tried to get videos of her being ridden, but it's hard with no one to film. Here's a short clip I did manage to get. 

Now that I've been up here for a few months, living off the government help, I have decided to move back home and go back to the clinic. I miss being a vet tech, and I also miss working full time.

The good news, is I found an acreage to rent just 4km from work, that is dog AND horse friendly. Also on the property is an outdoor arena and a round pen. It's also just across the highway from the ag society, so riding in the winter will be an easy haul to the indoor arena.

So, everything is coming full circle. In 2 weeks I'll make the move back home. I'm looking forward to getting back into the work routine, and even more excited to have both horses in my back yard.

Okay, but look how grown up she looks!

Mesa.

I'm just going to start off by saying warning, possible coarse language.

Before I get into what happened today, I'm going to start with work. I have been presented an opportunity to work about 4 hours north from where I am now at an equine only vet clinic. I have a working interview this Monday.

Which leads me to today. Since Mesa tried to cut her foot off again in October, I haven't done anything with her since. She is all healed up, and I figured for my 5th ride back on her I should probably climb on in a safe, controlled environment. What better place than Keith Stewart's, where I put my first couple of rides on her!

In a few posts back there is a picture of my trailer; it is a two horse straight load. Usually when I haul Bailey places I don't saddle her before hand, because she doesn't fit with the saddle on. Mesa however, is nice and tiny. Since it was raining, I figured I might as well saddle her at home and haul her with it on so I didn't have to saddle her in the rain.

Saddled her up, no problem. Loaded her in the trailer, no problem. I climb in my truck, when there is a big commotion coming from the trailer. I figured I better check it out. I open the door, and there is Mesa, laying on her side, underneath the centre divider, just looking at me like "what?". My first though is "what in the actual f**k". Luckily with just a pull of a pin I can release the divider and swing it one way. I did that, gave her a tap and she stood right up. No panicking, no darting out of the trailer, just looks at me again like "nothing happened, you saw nothing". So I close the divider and the doors and off we go, also thinking that it's not going to be fun loading her after our lesson.

Once we got to Keith's we went right to work on groundwork for about an hour. She was feeling quite fresh to say the least! Once she was soft on the lead Keith turned her out in the arena and sent her around.

Once she was ready I climbed up. Not 5 steps in she was feeling herself and hogged up a bit, but got over that pretty quick! We worked on transitions (which she is getting better at picking up the lope without some butt tapping!) stopping, backing, etc. Keith then had us track the flag. Although she wasn't sure about it at first, she caught on quite fast and seemed to enjoy it, I wish I had someone there who could video!

Keith was on a 3 year old as well, and brought out the buffalo. Although she had a few freak outs, I stayed on and by the end she was following the buffalo rather than trying to jump out of the arena (lol).

Then when it was time to go, I opened up the trailer door and she jumped right in no problem. She is SO quiet.

Now for my life confusion. I have a great job opportunity lined up working at the equine only clinic, but then Keith gave me the opportunity to go down south to Texas to work with big cutting horse trainers. So now I feel like my life is one big ball of confusion. I have a phone interview with a trainer tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say/offer.

Sometimes I wish I could see the future. What is the best decision? Do I stay where I am now? Do I stay in the same career but stay in Canada? Or do I completely change career paths and move to a different country. Ah!

2020.

Okay one of my goals for 2020 is to be better at blogging!

LOTS has happened since my last post, I don't know where to start.

How about work things.
We are amidst an expansion/renovation at the clinic. So, things are crowded, busy, LOUD.

Our surgery suite in December!

At this point the expansion is pretty much complete - now they have started on the inside renovations!
Although most horse related things are slowed right up for the winter, I did go out to the Tim Horton's Kids Camp to float some horses teeth. You may remember from a post further back, Dunny was my second 4-H horse. When my friends family got out of horses, they gave him to the camp. I was so surprised and happy to see him STILL there, and going strong at almost 30 years old!!

Dunny and I when I was in Grade 9!

Dunny enjoying his retirement at almost 30 years old.

Alright now lets move on to MESA, my oh-so-frustrating 800lb toddler.
I moved her across the road to where I board Bailey, simply so I wasn't going between two places, and could have both horses together.

Well, it wasn't 2 days after I moved her there she went into her first heat. OH MY GOSH did she have it rough... This heat lasted over 2 weeks. Her legs were scalded from pissing so much..
BUT, in the midst of this I still got a couple rides on her, and she didn't put a foot wrong, even in her hormonal state.. haha.

However, it didn't make it easy for her to integrate into the herd. Her big brother, Kai, is boss. He put the run on her, and put the run on her hard. One day I got a text with a picture of a bent panel, with the assumption it had something to do with Mesa and Kai. When I went out that evening, I was greeted with this.

Yes. She did it AGAIN. Third time's the charm right?! My level of frustration was through the roof. You can kind of see on her left leg, she also lacerated the back of her fetlock. Loaded her up, brought her to the clinic and sedated her to do a good clip and clean.

This happened at the end of October, and we are (for the third time) pretty much healed up again. She is now fully integrated into the herd and doing well.

She did need to get a blankey in preparation for Alberta's -45C Winter!

Bailey is struggling to stay 100% sound this winter, so I haven't been riding her either.

As for me, I had to move back into my parents house as my lease was up at the Superman house, and the town decided to not allow the horses.

Here's hoping things start coming together in 2020!



A Whale to a Dolphin.

Right now at the clinic the summer season is winding down, and we are getting our preg checking kits ready.
Unfortunately for me, most of our equine work is done in the summer.
Back in June, I had to do 40 coggins and exports for a huge bucking horse supplier. If you don't know what coggins and exports are, let me explain;
Coggins is a blood test that tests for Equine Infectious Anemia . Some horse shows require the horse to have an up-to-date coggins test, and you need it to cross the border into the states - or into Canada.
Export papers accompany the coggins test when crossing the border, it is a form that must be signed by your vet, and a federal vet (basically saying the horse is healthy and is the horse in your trailer).
Both forms require drawings of the horse including every detail; any white markings, whorls, scars, brands, etc.
As you can imagine, taking blood from a rank bucking horse is not easy. The 40 we managed to collect the blood within 2-3 hours. The drawing/writing markings down part is what takes HOURS to complete.
Well, we had another huge bucking horse supplier needing paperwork for 12 horses. BUT. He gets a guy to come out with a tilt table for them so their feet can be done at the same time.

I've never seen anything like it. So many hydraulics!

Essentially what happens is the horse is loaded then the whole thing tilts on its side, allowing access to the horses feet.

Even the nippers were hydraulic! The guy would trim all 4 feet if needed, and then grind the edges to smooth them out.

Once he was finished with the feet, he would then climb up with a saddle pad (to protect him from getting bit) and position the head for the blood collection. The doctor would then climb up and get the blood. It was SO slick!

You can see why that saddle pad is critical!

For the 12 horses to get their feet done and blood collected, it was 45 minutes. These are the 12 best horses the owner has - equating to a worth of at least half a million dollars (one horse worth $100,000 alone!). So, he chooses only the best/safest options for them.

Other than that, I've put a couple more rides on Mesa and she's doing phenomenal. I've also been getting Bailey out for some rides too. I only have one saddle right now, and switching between the two of them is like going from a whale to a dolphin! So the hunt begins for one that fits Mesa.

Dolphin.

Whale.

Staycation.

This past week I've been on a staycation. Like a vacation, but I stayed home. Although the week quickly filled up with getting appointments taken care of, etc, I made sure to have time to get some training in with Mesa.

She is fully healed and completely sound. Yay! Finally, we can get some work done. If you don't know who Keith Stewart and the Key Ranch is, I strongly recommend checking out their website/facebook page. He was my teacher throughout my 4-H years and I continued lessons with him even after.

The first lesson with Keith was this past Tuesday, at 1:00pm. I have a small, straight load 2 horse trailer that took my mare a bit to get used too.

Sorry Mesa, maybe I'll get your picture on a spare tire cover
one day too!

Mesa hasn't been in a trailer since we brought her home, and she wasn't exactly an angel loading into the giant stock trailer. She's also been difficult to catch lately. So, assuming it would take 15-20 minutes to catch her, and at least an hour to get her loaded, I started the process at 10:30 am.

Well, this is what 11:00 looked like.

Although she was up to her usual "you can't catch me", once I did and walked her up to the trailer, she hopped right in. NO HESITATION. 

She trailered great for the 20 minute drive to Keith's place. She wasn't so sure about backing out (I don't think she's ever had too), but with some encouragement she came out calmly.

The first lesson was 2 hours of groundwork. It was myself with Mesa, and another gentleman with his 3 year old. Mesa was definitely rusty, as I haven't done ANYTHING with her other than bandaging her foot. She likes to go UP to evade, or turn her butt. After a few corrections she seemed to be reminded of the foundation Shirley and Shayla provided her with. 

After finishing on the first day. Tired pony!

She loaded back up into the trailer great to go home, and again the next day when we went back out for our second lesson.

This time we saddled up right away, and did groundwork for an hour then got on for the last hour. Keith moved us out, we were just along for the ride. Mesa handled it all in stride, although by the end she was tired and forward motion was difficult.

Today, we saddled up and climbed right on. I also put a snaffle in her mouth today instead of using a halter. 

She. Was. AMAZING.

Forward motion was a lot easier today, and she really got soft in the bridle. We rode around for the full 2 hour lesson and she didn't put a hoof wrong.

Thank you Shirley, I am so lucky to have her.

I Suck.

Wow, I sure do suck at this blogging thing!

I won't bore you with the regular work details, but I will say it is BUSY.

First an update on Mesa:

Leading off of my last (yet not so recent) post, Mesa had a run in with what I thought was smooth wire. Deep deep deeeeep laceration on her front right foot on the lateral side of her heal bulb extending medially.
*GRAPHIC PHOTOS*
I was a day late to suture, as it was already starting to get infected.

First day.

I got the vet out to make sure there was no joint or tendon/ligament involvement (which thank God, there was none), and we decided on bandaging over casting. Bandaging, because #1, I would be out there everyday changing it, and #2, a cast you can't keep an eye on it.

A week and a half later of bandaging and antibiotics, it was looking really good. Nice new pink tissue starting to grow in.

Another week and a half later, it looked REALLY good. Scab was formed, and she wasn't lame anymore. So I stopped bandaging.

I should mention, as soon as the injury happened she was put in a post and rail pen, by herself since she likes to play with her geldings. 

Well, 10 days after the previous picture, I find this.

Gah!! She did it AGAIN! I checked her paddock over 100 times and could find NOTHING. No trace of blood, struggle, nothing. So my best guess is that it wasn't healed enough to not be bandaged, and she clipped it with her back foot.

So, I started for the second time treating it. It's been almost 2 months since she did it again, and I just recently stopped bandaging. Finally, it is closed. She still has swelling from her fetlock down, but it is being monitored and slowly decreasing.

On a happier note, on July 3rd I turned 24, and treated myself to a new (to me) truck. Yet to be named, a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie. Who knew air conditioned seats were a thing!!!

Seeking Advice.

About a year ago I moved to an acreage near the next town to the north of where I live now, to be closer to work. I had Bailey with me, and we had a good set up. Lots of grass, lots of dirt corrals to keep her off of grass, and a HUGE outdoor arena.
In December of 2018 I moved back here, onto another nice acreage, again, to be closer to work (I had started my current job in August).

Where the blue dot is, is my house. The buildings in the middle have since been removed. So, I literally have all this land available to me. 

But, here's the catch:

I'll zoom out a little more.....

The acreage I live on, is essentially in the middle of town. Why has the town not taken over the land you might wonder? Well, I live in what us locals call "The Superman House". The house was featured in the 1980 Superman II. Therefore, it is actually considered a historic site.

Although I've been here for around 6 months now, I still have Bailey (and now Mesa) boarded about 10 minutes from town. The reason being, is that the fence needs repair, and let me tell you it's a lot of fence!

The flood of 2013 wiped out the house that used to be in the centre of the field (the house/buildings in the middle of the first picture). They had a lovely set up and actually had a few horses there for as long as I can remember. However, since then there has been no livestock, so the fence line has suffered.

Now, I don't NEED all of this grass for 2 horses, so, here is what I'm thinking.

I'd build new fence (instead of repairing the ENTIRE fence line around the property), whether it be wire or electric, and have a small corral for them to come into at night, as it is quite nerve-wracking having horses "in town". Where the red scribbles are, I wouldn't touch, as I wouldn't be able to see the horses in that area.

What do you guys think? Do any of you have a better idea(s) as to the set up I could potentially build? It's a blank slate! 

I'll leave you with what I'm currently dealing with on Mesa.. But that story is for another day. Sigh.

Midnight Mesa.

Buffalo, Meat Horses and Paints.

It's CRAZY at the clinic right now. I'm glad Mesa is only 2 and there is no rush to get her going, because right now time is limited. My plan is to continue with her groundwork until her 3 year old year, then get her really going under saddle. Shirley's colts have an incredible foundation, a foundation that was put to the test yesterday with Mesa's first trim with my farrier.

As you can see she was super worried (not). She wasn't sure about having her front foot extended onto the foot stand, but got over that rather quickly. She is quite toed out in the front, which I hadn't noticed until a few days ago. Luckily her legs are straight as an arrow, so with time and regular foot work we should be able to get the feet facing in the right direction again.

Today I was out doing some floats and vaccines with the vet. The client had a beautiful sorrel overo gelding, with a bald face and two blue eyes. Shy, but took the two IM (intramuscular) vaccines rather well. The strangles vaccine, however, goes up the nose, and he was having NONE of that. A trick I learned for this, is having someone put hay in their face. Horses don't complain when delicious food is tickling their nose! So, I then sneak the long end of the syringe in with the hay and with one quick squirt, vaccine is administered.

The owner was telling me that she got this gelding from a farm that had buffalo, meat horses, and paints. Their "brand" on the horses that weren't going for meat, was slitting the top of their left nostril.

I don't blame him for being a little "nose shy"!

This has been a long week already, and it's only Wednesday. I'll again end this post, with some goings on at work.

Dog vs. Tractor.

Two hypothermic lambs being warmed up with
IV fluids and a heat lamp.

Not work related, but Jack's face is pretty much how I feel
about this week! Is it Friday yet??

Small Town, Big Drama.

Mesa has been home for a few days and is settling in well with her new herd of two geldings. She is with Banjo, and a roan named Willy.
Its funny; Willy immediately claimed her as "his" mare. Won't let Banjo near her! In turn, Mesa definitely has the confidence to push Banjo around.
Her freeze brand turned out perfect! She is now repping the Diamond Lazy H brand. Can't wait until its fully healed, the white hairs that grow in will really look sharp on her dark coat.

I was hoping to spend more time with her yesterday after work, but my little town had some big problems.
I went over to my parents place to pick up Jack (my dog), but no one was home. I called my dad who is in Edmonton to see if he knew where everyone was. As I was driving down the street to head over to the dog park to see if they were there, I said to my dad "haha there is a police car blocking our street!" my dad jokingly replied "what did you do!".
5 minutes later I returned back to my parents house only to find TONS of police cars surrounding the area, the SWAT team and their tank, and a helicopter circling above.
Turns out a high speed chase from Calgary ended up in my neighborhood. The suspects crashed down my parents back alley, and broke into a house a few doors down.

What I saw driving back to my parents house.

We locked the doors and stayed put until the ordeal was finished a few hours later, when the suspect agreed to the negotiations. Luckily, the family who lives in the house he broke into were not home when he did. Lots of excitement for our small rural town! Here is the link to the news story: https://www.westernwheel.com/article/high-river-standoff-ends-in-arrest-20190508

Between the snow and rain the last couple of days (yay moisture!) the ground is pretty gross. So today I just spent some time with Mesa grooming her. She is a lovely, lovely mare.

Love her big beautiful eyes!

Mane! 

Work is busy as always, so I'll close this post with some workplace captures.

Molly (front) tagged along with her sister Bella
for moral support!

Semen testing; see the sperm just to the right of center?
Double headed sperm (head defect) looks like a heart!

She's Home!

After ALMOST another weather delay, I was up at 5:30 this morning to make the trip to pick up Miss Mesa.

Roads were slick for the first hour, but soon cleared up once we got to the Crowsnest Pass.

I sure do miss the mountains. I was born in northern BC, but have been in Alberta for the last 19 years.

As we traveled further south, the skies became blue and the higher the temperature rose. Once it got to 10 degrees we got out to stretch our legs and enjoy the warmth!

After 5ish hours we arrived at Shirley's place, and got to meet the new baby Eli. So cute! I already can't wait for him to grow up.

We visited her mares (it felt like meeting someone famous after seeing pictures all the time!) and I caught Mesa. Well, I don't know if it was excitement or lack of motion in my still numb finger, but I haltered her and promptly tied it the wrong way (insert eyeroll, Shirley was actually the one to correct my halter fastening around 4 or 5 years ago!). 

Luckily for Mesa (and me!), we were hauling one of her friends back to Alberta with us which helped immensely in her stress level.

Notice, the incorrectly tied halter! Blonde moment!

They both traveled GREAT. Even when we made stops there was no fuss in the trailer.

Tomorrow Mesa will be freeze branded with Shirley's brand, and her traveling partner will be off to her destination with her owner. For tonight they will get a feel for the Albertan air and fill their bellies.

Happy horses.