Monday was a busy day at the ranch, got the chores done and I spent some time admiring the progress we have made with Chester, Joey and Phoenix. They are really looking great. While I was doing chores, Randy showed up with our weekly load of bales, so we got them all put out and I somehow managed to lose my truck keys, I managed to find them in the small pasture by the water trough. Jake came out to catch some horses for the vet visit tomorrow. We managed to get a halter on Jenny, the big Belgian, it only took us about half an hour. Jake caught Whisper pretty quickly though, she has really come a long way. I went to town to pick up our feed order and made payments to the feed store and the vet.
Tuesday I got up and got ready to do chores, Tracey showed up right when I was about to start, so we took care of it together. Dr. Neil and Felicity came for our appointment and we went to the Corral. We got PJ, our Llama castrated so he won’t try to breed/kill any sheep ever again. We sedated and floated teeth for Whisper, Jenny, Autumn, and Angel. He checked Tina and Azzie and neither one of them needed their teeth floated so he took some blood work to see why they had lost weight. We managed to get them all blanketed as well which should help with the coming storm. While the vet was here Leah and Karen came by to do some work on the inside of our shelter. When Dr. Neil left, we finished up the chores and Tracey, Karen and Leah left and I went in to do paperwork. After school, Jake came by to do some training.
Wednesday I got the calves bottles ready and headed outside just in time for Tracey to show up. We did the chores together and then Robyn showed up to trim hooves. We got nine horses done and have another appointment set up for Monday. We are on a mission to get all of them trimmed up before the end of the month. After that was all done I came inside and finished updating the vet records in our rescue software, caught up on some social media posts, got the tax receipts ready to go out for the October donations, did some work on our 2024 calendar, discussed an event we have in the works for the spring and applied for some jobs. I even found time for a little nap today 😉
Thursday first thing I went to Equitech to pick up the prescriptions for Tina and Azzie, Dr. Neil wants to treat them both for ulcers since their white blood cell counts are off. On my way back I picked up Jake to come help with chores as it was a snow day at school. Afterward, I took Jake back home to enjoy the rest of his snow day and I went in the house to do some more paperwork for the ranch. The wind was pretty nasty outside. The weather is so weird this year, the ground is really soft and mucky under about 6 inches of snow so walking through it is pretty tough. I noticed that Quincy had some yellow discharge from his nose so we started him on a course of antibiotics as well. We also had one of cats come back that disappeared about six months ago. She is a fixed female so very odd she would disappear but she is back, she is skinny, but very affectionate and happy to be home.
Friday was an incredible day! I was a bit all over the place today with a few things that came up but the chores got done, Karen was here working on the shed. Jake came after school and helped with chores. I had a job interview and I also reached out to the Laing Family Foundation and got some amazing news from them which I will share in the weeks to come. I got a call from Jared who told me he had “Dotty” in a pen. Jake and I worked around here until Lori came out for a lesson on Q. I went into the house and had some tea and got some paperwork done. I talked to Cindy from Horse Heroes Alberta and seven horses are on their way to us, they should arrive on Saturday morning. When Shelly finished work she came and picked us up, we headed to the field where “Dotty” was to load her up. Jake and I were standing by the pen and realized the “Mare” we were set to rescue was actually a gelding. He looked as if he wanted to jump out of the pen so I went and stood on the side he wanted to jump over. After a few minutes of talking to him, he sidled right up to me and let me rub his face, his shoulder and his back. The more I talked to him the more he seemed to relax. I could see that he had some damage to one eye and is FULL of burs, his entire tail is solid. He is absolutely beautiful and so thick. Once we had him calmed down Jake and Shelley went inside the pen with him and we managed to get a halter on him. He is so very smart, he knew we weren’t going to hurt him. It was like he was loved at one time in his life and he was remembering what it felt like. He slowly began to trust us and it probably took us an hour, but we got him loaded into the trailer. While everyone else gathered up the panels and loaded everything up, I stood in the horse trailer with him and talked to him and loved on him. I told him stories about where he was going and how he didn’t have to worry anymore and he relaxed more and more. The entire drive in the trailer he stayed calm, and when it was time to unload him Jake and I each had a rope on him because we weren’t sure how it was going to go. He didn’t seem to want to get off the trailer but he eventually unloaded and he led like a dream, all the way to the corral. We decided this beautiful boy needed a special name, so he is now Casanova. This boy went through so much today and trusted us so much, I feel so honored and proud of him. For a boy who has been wild on a field for god knows how long, he is incredibly level-headed.
Saturday I got up and went to visit Casanova and spent at least an hour talking to him, brushing him and getting the burrs from his body, mane and forelock. Jake and Shelly came out to lend a hand with chores. Around 3 o’clock our delivery got here, seven horses were sent to us from Horse Heroes Alberta. They are having a rough year out there with hay so we offered to help them out. They are all beautiful, unfortunately, one of them did something in the trailer and smashed his face. There was a lot of blood but it doesn’t appear to be anything serious and he will be okay. We have them in the front pen so we can get them used to the place and make sure they are all good and healthy before letting them out into the pasture. Alyssa also came out to help us with the intake. Jake and Shelly then took our horse trailer home to do some work on it. With any luck we will be up and running very soon.
Sunday I spent the day in bed with this damn sinus cold that I can’t seem to kick. Jake, Hailey, Joy and Sean took care of the chores for me and got all the donkeys and mules penned up for hoof trimming tomorrow. Karen and Leah did a bunch of work on the shed, they almost have it ready for winter.
