Monday, we made a trip out to St. Genevieve as there was some pony harness out there available at a reasonable price. We have had some of our minis for quite a while now and we think if we can provide them with some additional training it will make them more adoptable and give them a better chance at finding a forever home. Now we just need to find a little pony cart to get them to learn to pull.
Tuesday, we made a trip out to Camper Manitoba to pick up a beautiful little piggy. She is so perfect we have named her Babe, she and Daisy have become fast friends and we couldn’t be happier with them both. They will be an amazing addition to the petting zoo for our events and we just can’t get enough of either of them. We have Daisy rolling over for belly rubs but babe is pretty terrified of us. I’m sure she will be just as friendly as Daisy in no time.
Wednesday we had Dr. Neil out to do a tooth float on Sonny, the poor guy has been such a cribber he has worn his teeth down almost to the gums. This makes it impossible for him to graze. Unfortunately, he will be solely on hay, mash and pellets for the rest of his life. We also had Chester gelded so we don’t have to worry about any surprise babies. We also had a guest farrier, Kevin Iles, come out. He was able to do 12 trims and probably could have kept going but Babe got loose and everyone had to go on a mad hunt for the lost pig. Don’t worry we ended up finding her later that night.
Thursday, besides regular chores, I spent almost the entire day updating the site and getting the horses all up and where they belong so people can see all of the beautiful animals we have available for adoption. We also had a few visitors, Alyssa came and brought a friend’s little boy to see the animals. He was so incredibly excited to see them all and they were so good with him. We also had some lovely Jehovah’s Witnesses stop by to talk to me more about their mission. They are so lovely, I don’t really know how to tell them I appreciate what they are trying to do but I’m not interested.
On Friday we had hoof trimming again with Coreen Bradley. She came in and helped us do some catchup trims. Even our sweet little Sterling had his first trim. He was such a good boy she got his two front hooves done. I went to the Esso to pick up an awesome synthetic saddle from some lovely people that are moving to Selkirk. Sure hope they decide to come volunteer with us once they get settled.
Saturday was a pretty sad day at the ranch. We woke up in the morning and sweet Sonny had gone down and wouldn’t get back up. We ended up having to put him down. Unfortunately, we just get him here in time to give him the help that he needed. Dr. Neil figures he may have developed a heart condition from his malnutrition. I had hoped we would have been able to bring him back, but it wasn’t meant to be. We also had some lovely people in to look at Blackjack. They fell in love with him and it sounds like they are going to give him a home, just have to check some references.
Sunday we had the Trust Technique course at the ranch, it was super cool to learn from Barb Vince and the techniques she taught us. We actually saw it working and the changes in the horses in the short tie we practiced with them. I look forward to using these new skills with the horses going forward.
And that’s a wrap on another busy week at the ranch!
