lazy day after Christmas

Chilly, windy, snowy... a good reason to be lazy :) The best days to be lazy are between Christmas and New Year. ;) All I did today was feeding in the morning, chatting with my mom on skype, have a chat with Linda, have a nap or sort of a nap I was listening to music and now I still don't do a lot... Oreo, Babe and Magic have fun in the snow at the moment. Crazy girls :)

sledding in the horse pasture

A nice winter day with a little bit of clouds and the sun peeking out- perfect for sledding !! It was AJ's second Birthday party. So, we took three plastic sleds and a quad to the hill in Mikeys pasture. Joe plowed a road down the hill for us. I was pulling Cat, AJ`s half sister, in a sled to the hill. Maddie was with us too. She was so excited like only a puppy can be... I gave Cat`s sled a push and tried to send her down the hill. The snow was way too powdery and too deep so i had to follow her down the hill and push her again and again. Maddie followed us and checked out what we do. Soooo cute !! Linda picked us up with the quad on the foot of the hill to pull us up the hill. I put Maddie also in the sled and sat behind her. Unfortunatly, the sled tipped over and I was laying in the snow. Maddie laid on Cat. Poor Maddie, she had no idea what happend, the expression on her face was so surprised ! So, I lifted her out of the sled and we were laying together in the snow. Then it was my turn to sled down the hill... The sled was too light and so I felt every bump in the ground and the sled even turned so I was facing up hills... Everyone was laughing !!! it was fun, i really missed sledding !

back to work after Christmas

Jim had to go back to Viking today. I just got used to have him around me more then just one or two days... and he has to go back... ! That is just not fair !!! So we were visiting after feeding horses and just took it easy. Linda and I are still not quite recovered from the short nights before Christmas. Then it was time to head to the bus station. The bus left town at 3.15 pm. I already miss him :( I don`t know when I will see him the next time :(

christmas trail ride

Today, we went for our Christmas trail ride. Awesome !!!! I rode my golden boy, Kidd again. It was great like always when I rode him. He had so much fun and was full of energy. Kidd wanted always be in the front and go his speed. Sometimes we went for a little sightseeing in the bush ;) We took Jim on Scoot with us. He really enjoyed it. I really would like to repeat the trail ride...

Christmas away from home

My first Christmas away from home.... it is a weird feeling and on the other side exciting. I spent Christmas Eve at Linda's place. The whole gang was here and we had a fondue bourginaux with meat and veggies. Here, the meat and veggies get coated with a batter before you put it in the oil to fry. Another good version. :) And as always on days like that there was way too much food. ;) I got nice presents and the one I was so excited about is the one from Jim. He gave me wolf earrings and a necklace with a wolf and a cup with wolves on it. He knows that I loves wolves :) That present means a lot to me ! I got him a tool thingy for fishing. it looks like a Swiss Army knife for fishers. ;)

3 days til christmas

3 Days til Christmas !! And til i see Jim again, yeah!! He will come to Edson for Christmas. Linda and I took it easy, put the 2 year-old stud which is boarded here together with the geldings, had a few good chats, one of Linda's friends came over for a visit, i wrapped my presents for Jim and then it was time for feeding the horses.

eclipse tonight

After night with more then just 4 hours of sleep and three kittys visiting, we fed the horses with Maddie helping. Around 1 pm we went to town for christmas shopping. I found a few nice things ;) The roaming around in Walmart took a little bit time and so we had to rush home to be on time to feed the gang. And this time Maddie was helping again. She is sooo cute. Tonight is the eclipse, I hope to stay awake long enough to see it :)

in Edson again

I am in Edson since today. I took the bus from McBride to Edson last night. The bus was already 45 min too late coming from Prince George and in the end it was more then 1 hour too late. Finally, I made it to Edson at around 5.30 am. Arriving at the farm, all the kittys were excited and had to explore my backpack and suitcase. When I went to bed Cruiser, Mizzi and Bambam still explored my suitcase. And around 10.30 am someone was purring in my ear and miaued til I woke up. Cruiser... he thought I had enough sleep for now and have to get up... The next thing I did after breakfast was decorating cookies and the christmas tree. We visited a lot and soon it was time to feed the horses. I met little Maddie, a cute puppy, German shepard x bull mastif and something. She is full of energy and loves to play with Molly. I look forward to see her tomorrow again.

another chapter comes to an end

It looks like my two weeks in Dunster are over soon. I really enjoyed my time here again. The mountains on both sides of the farm are great. The horses are funny :) but now it's time to move on again. Bucky and Fire feel better how it looks. Samy had something like a belly ache today, he kicked his belly, rolled on the ground and pawed... It was only for a short time, but you never know it can be over fast or just start. That's good..

no power

Another morning of snowing, this time not so much like the last time. And then nice sunny weather with some clouds. The air was fresh which I really like. Birgit left for Alberta again and so there is only Marc and me here. Around 9 am the power went out ! GREAT ! They couldn't fix it til 2pm which is really a shame ! I took the chance and was lazy :) I read and petted cats. Then went out to treat Fire's and Buck's legs, both are limping and their lower leg is warm... And soon it was feeding time again. The days here fly like crazy ! And in the evening I am sooo tired. Now, it's feeding time for me ;)

its christmas time

Another day went by in the Robson Valley. The time really flies here. I was busy making dough for more Grittibaenz and Mailaenderli, christmas cookies. Between two doughs I went for a walk in the pasture to check the fence. I even found a spot where the barb wire wasnt attached to the post anymore. So i took a hammer and a staple and fixed it. A 1 min job ! and back in the kitchen again. This time we cut the cookies. I really like the Canadian Maple leaf one.... ;) I guess I need to find one for me too ;D We didnt get more snow today which is good. For my taste there is enough ! Its pretty hard to clean corrals when its a lot of snow on the ground because every time when you pick up poop with the shovel, you also pick up a ton of snow. The result is a heavy wheel barrow!

wind, snow and Heartland evening

The wind was howling and it was snowing in the morning. We got a few centimeters of snow. I had a hard time to find the manure in the corrals before i could clean it up. At 11 am a woman from Valemount, Jeanette, picked us up to go to Mcbride for a reading session of new books. Birgit was one of the writers who was invited to promote her book. We spent two hours there and I bought a few things. It is a craft and book store. They sell a lot of stuff from local people. After we bought food in a hurry we are home now. In 20 min it's feeding time again. More looking for poop... And at 7 pm it's Heartland time, yeah I look forward to that. Tonight it's a two hour session.

fresh horse on a trail ride

A new day again, started with feeding and cleaning corrals. After breakfast I copied a few recipes which sound really good :) As soon as I have the chance I will make them especially the pies and rolls :) Around 1 pm we went to catch three ponies to go for a trail ride. I rode Alberta again, Birgit rode Mojo and ponied Miho. Miho had a lot of energy and had a blast bucking and kicking, unfortunatly he kicked Mojo, but she was fine. She kicked him right back. Alberta was careful not to be too close to Mihos hind legs. Once she just could hurry to the side before Miho could swing his butt in our direction. So we had a good distance between him and us. There is one part where we usually trott or lope. Today with Miho acting up we trotted. Miho just started his stunts again in the trot ahead of us, when Madame Alberta tried to do the same... I could feel her butt go a bit in the air but she decided not to buck and continued to trott. Puuuuhhh ! I didnt wanna get thrown today ! After a loop in the field we came the same trail stretch again and trotted again here. This time Miho could behave like a normal horse and Alberta was trotting nice and slow. I guess all the horses were tired at this time of the ride. The snow on this field is pretty high, a bit higher then the fetlock. I would be tired after a 1 hour hike through this much snow too...

feeding under the stars

It was snowing again today. This time wet and big flakes, that's the snow I don't like at all !! It's almost like it's raining. The horses were pretty wet, also my coat was wet after a short time. I took it easy today again. Feed horses in the morning, have a nice breakfast (cinnemon-raison bread, home made) and then fill water troughs, pet Shy the cat, read and feed again... almost a lazy day :) Birgit came back from Alberta today and helped me feeding in the evening. We fed the ponies under a pale moon and a few stars were out too.

let it snow...

Today was a cloudy, windy day. Sometimes the mountains were totally covered with clouds. And soon snowflakes were falling... I really hope we don't get too much snow on the other side it would be a new experience to have snow to the knees everywhere ;) To be outside and work in the snow makes me tired, I am not used to that anymore. I remember when I was a kid we went to play in the snow and after that ready for bed ;) And now I am ready for bed after doing the morning feeding !! I am getting older... ! Well, I am just not in shape for this work. In the afternoon the snow fell even more and so I decided to stay in the house and read. I started Birgit's book of the Rescue of Belle and Sundance at Mount Renshaw. I already made it to chapter 7. I thought it is difficult to read for me but I was surprised that it only has a few words I don' t understand. :)

visit the neighbour's

Birgit went to Alberta today and so I am here with Marc, her husband. After feeding in the morning, Marc and I got two round bales from the pile and set it up for feeding in the evening. Then I went for a walk in the pasture to check the fence. It was around 11 am when I called Reg, Birgit's neighbour that I will come over for a visit. I also needed a new screw for my belt. I walked over there which took me around an hour today. The last time it was only around 40 min. I am really not in shape ;) We had a nice chat while we went to check the horses. Some are really nice and friendly. I had a few noses in my face ;) I had to be home at 4 pm to feed again. This time I did almost everything by myself, except forking hay and driving the quad. It is a hell of a work when you are not used to it ! I am sooo tired now !

windy day and a interesting discovery

After doing chores and making 'Grittibaenz' (which is a kind of bread we do at Christmas time) Birgit and I went for a trail ride. I rode Alberta again and Birgit Mojo. My funny missy wasn't so happy to go to work in the snow again, I imagine she has a bit sore muscles, poor girl. On the trail she was good, little impatient and spooky (cause of the wind). Then on our way back to the farm Mojo was spooking beside a tree on the ground. She did it before when we came from the other direction. I had no problems with Alberta there. For some reason I turned my head to see why Mojo was acting like that and there was a skeleton without a head hanging on the tree on the ground !! It must be an older skeleton cause all kind of gras was on it. We assumed it is a small dog or something. I guess Mo didn't like the smell of it even I am not sure if this is still smelling.... After this scene we made it home without any other issue.

funny Alberta

Another chilly day here in Dunster. This time around - 15 degrees and wind. After a morning in the kitchen making granola we went for a bareback ride in the horse pasture again. Today, we went on a longer one in the hayfield. I rode Cody again. He didn`t like the wind and so tried to get home... I even stayed on when he trotted a few steps :) Yeah, bareback is not my favorite style of riding. Back in the pasture, the three of us grabbed Alberta, Buck and Mojo and went for a trail ride with saddle and briddle this time. ;) I really enjoyed the trail ride on the sunny winter day. On our way back we rode through a herd of cows and one cow was a little bit too close for Alberta`s taste so she pinned her ears at the cow :D I had to laugh !! I love Alberta she is soooo funny !! She looks like a teddy bear at the moment. ;) After we cleaned all the tack it was time to feed again. And another day went by...

back in Dunster BC

I am back in Dunster, BC since Friday morning. My friend Birgit asked me if I could help Marc with feeding horses while she is in Alberta for a few days. Marc has back problems. And since I dont have a job yet I said I will do that. I am not sure for how long it will be... yesterday we went for a short bareback ride in the pasture to check fences and afterwards on a trail ride. I rode Cody again. He was a little bit sore looks like he has a bruise on the one hind foot. So we took it easy in the lope. It was great to ride a horse in the snow again... I love it (with the right horse) ;) And today I have sore legs and i can feel my butt ! :( Oh well... it only strenghens all my muscles also doing chores is a good work out. Yeah, to work in the snow takes a lot of energy. I was soooo tired last night, unbelievable. Now off in the kitchen to make granola !!

awesome, awesome...

Maybe I will have a new job soon... All started when I was talking to my friend Birgit about Jim looking for another job 'cause he is not happy on the farm he is now. I just mentioned it in an email for some reason. So a few days ago Birgit asked me if my man is still looking for a new job and that Riversong Ranch is looking for a maintainance guy... I told her yes. So I had to create a resume for him first and then sent it to Birgit. And today during the day I got a text message from my man that Chris and Kathryn want to talk to me as well. AWESOME !! This would be the chance for both of us. For me to improve my skills in riding and ground work and for Jim to learn something new.. He was very interested when I made him watch the in-hand DVD. So I am still waiting for Chris or Kathryn to call me back :( Holy, I am sooo excited. It would be great when this would work out for us :) keep you posted ;)

a hell of a ride...

On Friday was Jeff's birthday and the party was on Saturday. The guys went hunting. I went for a walk with Jeff in the bush. I wanted to see if I can find some animal tracks. Jeff took his gun with him and so we went hunting... (Un)fortunatly, we didn't find the 'right' kind of deer, Jeff has permission to hunt a White tail deer but all we saw was mule deers. The one was a young one and not the smartest cookie in the jar, he could have shot in a heartbeat if Jeff was looking for a Mule deer. I saw some tiny tracks from a squirrel. Sooo cute ! After our little hunting tour I was so tired, I am not in shape to walk in the snow :( In the evening when the guys came back from another hunting trip, we went for a snow mobile ride in the dark. Krista and I were sitting in a kind of sled, made of plastic something with a wooden board to lean on. Good thing, we had a mattress to sit on ;) This sled thing was pulled by a quad. It was soooo much fun !! It was a bit scary between the trees and when we had to pass a gate ! Sometimes the trees or gate posts were pretty close to us. And once we almost fell out of the thing when we run over a log on the road.... And down the hill is a bit scary too. I really liked it, it was fun, fun, fun... (the picture on the right shows where the deer bucks were rubbing their antlers on a bush and made this whole in the snow)

a cold auction day

Rob and I went to an auction of motel stuff. It was pretty interesting to see how much money the people spent on the stuff. Most of the stuff went pretty cheap, the auction guys started on 1000 / 5oo bucks and most of the time had to drop the price to around 100 bucks. Rob wanted me to bid on two heaters so I got his number and he told me the amount of money he wanted to spend and so I was standing outside in -30 degrees and waited for my chance to bid on this heaters :) and sure I got them to the price of 10 bucks per piece ;) like Rob told me. That was a good thing. As soon as I got them I went inside again to get warm again. We spent almost the whole day at this auction. And in the end Rob bought a lot of stuff... almost too much ;) The next step would be to get all the stuff home. Well, I guess this will be this week.

minus 18 degrees

It's my second day in Winfield at my friends place. Yesterday, it was -18 degrees which is COLD ! My poor feets were cold after 5 min. My boots are not the right ones for beeing at a farm. I need good farm boots real quick. It's not too bad when you walk around but when you need to stand for awhile... then it's getting bad. I did a few things yesterday like blocking a spot so the cows can't walk through, watching the chiropractor work on a horse, chat with Charlene in front of the fire, help cooking, chat with Erin,... I was pretty busy ;) What's going on today I am not sure yet...

last page from a chapter, what will the new one bring..

Today is my last day here at Calmar Stables. Its sunny and freezing cold. I dont know yet how much below 0 but... pretty cold. On my deck is around 5 cm of snow. yeah, all thats left to do today is cleaning and pack all my stuff. I already started yesterday and so its not that much to do today. I am happy that I can stay at my friend Charlenes place in Winfield for a couple of days. I sure hope I will find a new job soon. Its hard to find a job here in this area. I wrote to a couple of barns and didnt get an answer (yet). So I dont wait for that, I need a job as soon as possible. Jim asked me if I would like to stay with him in an appartement in the city or outside and work in the city. Well, this is not too bad for winter time. A good experience too... I guess thats what I will do unless there is something else coming up, you never know... Time for get started with cleaning and washing more towels. And sure I have to say good bye to my kittys and all the horses. Oh by the way, Mary enjoys her little paddock she is in during the day. She can run around and have a good time. I will miss her and the kittys :(

got laid off and a happy horse in the paddock

I got laid off here in Calmar and it was my first day of not working today. It feels weird to have off for a unknown amount of time. As much as I wanted days off this is not funny !! It's the most stupid time of year to be unemployed ! I am not sure why they didn' t let me go earlier, lets say in October so I would have at least a bit of time to find a new job... It's hard now, well good job guys !! You earn an award for that bullshit !! But crying doesn't help at all and so I need to look for a job as soon as possible. I am still in Calmar, Rick the owner told me I could stay here for a few days til I got organized somehow.... All I did today was sitting on the table and surf in the internet try to figure out how to do online banking, talk to my sister on skype and went for a visit at Mary's paddock and in the barn to see the kittys. Mary goes out in a small paddock now which is great for her. She had a blast kicking and rearing in the snow :) I am so happy for her. Good thing she goes back in the barn for the night cause the paddock doesnt have a shelter. I am glad she is healed again and will go soon to another farm to be a brood mare. I don' t know what to do, all I know I will be bored pretty soon here without work....

great day off and some headaches

I am back from Edmonton. Jim and I went to the Rodeo Finals on Wednesday evening, stayed over night in a hotel and spent Thursday in Edmonton together. The rodeo was great. I really enjoyed it, also Jim. It was his first rodeo. Around 10 pm it was over and we went to the hotel to catch up some sleep while we have the chance. Jim gave me a red rose, my first one ever ! That was soo nice ! The next day, Thursday we went to the West Edmonton Mall cause Jim needed a few things and we had the idea to go on the crazy roller coaster with the three loopings. We were there at around 1pm and there were tons of people like always. And it was also a holiday, Rememberence day. There is never enough time to see everything in one day, the mall is sooo huge. After we dropped our stuff in a locker we went to Galaxyland, were the roller coaster and other fun stuff is. Now the time was come to sit in the cart of the crazy roller coaster.... it was a hell of a ride !! Three loopings and left and right turns... different speeds and freaking high too. I was well shaked afterwards and pretty dizzy. Jim wanted me to come with him on another roller coaster where you could be lucky and drive everything backwards... I said no thank you !! This is absolutly crazy. The time flew like always when I am with Jim somewhere or not at work. I had to catch my bus at 6 pm. Unfortunatly, we left a bit too late the mall, got lost on our way to the bus station and in the end I missed my bus to Leduc. There is only the 6pm bus except on Wednesday... GREAT !!! What should i do now ! I phoned my boss and left a message that I am still in Edmonton. Jim was so nice to keep me company. He called his boss too and told him he would stay with me in Edmonton cause I missed the bus. We took another hotel room and spent the night in town again. Both bus were leaving at 6 am. And this time we were at the station 45 min earlier. :) Marco didnt answer the phone so I took a cab in Leduc to get home. I went to work 45 min too late this morning... what the hell... ;) I had a great time in Edmonton with Jim.

coyotes singing in the morning, clouds in the evening

The morning was nice, a bit cloudy first but then all the clouds went away and we had a beautiful sunrise. The coyotes were singing and drove the neighbours dog crazy ;) and around 50 geese or so flew over the property of the farm. They are soo funny, they always talk while they fly :) It was not bright day yet we went in the paddock to pull more nails out of posts and poles. The next work we had to do was putting dirt around the cement basis from the new horse shelter. All this work is getting too much for my tendons. I can shovel dirt for around 5 min and then my arms are just aching like crazy. This is not much fun !! So I put the wool sleeves on my sister made for me and it`s better with them. But still it`s not good... In the afternoon the carpenter came to work more on the cement basis of the shelter and my two co-worker and me had to clean (!) the barn walls above the box stalls and the inside of the box stall walls. I am afraid of height so the guys had to go up there and clean. Meanwhile I was cleaning the box stall walls. And sure at 3 pm got the quad, filled up the trailer with oats and fed at 4 pm. Now the clouds are back, I hope we don`t get the snow from B.C. !!!

news news news

It`s already November now. Unbelievable how fast the time flys. In the meantime I was pretty busy cleaning again. This time the box stall walls in the one barn. GREAT ! It took me around a week to clean the whole freaking thing. And now I have to be careful `cause my tendons start to complain about hard work. After cleaning the office and water troughs I pull out nails of posts and poles from horse shelters. Another nice work. It seems I only get the bull shit jobs here... The only good thing I do twice a day is feeding the horses and fill up the trailer in the afternoon... Since today Mary and cutie go for a short walk in the barn. Mary was sooo excited she gave the one Mexican a hard time :D I never had problem with her at the track ;) And again, it`s only the mexicans or Marco who walk the horses. Not fair !! but what can I do... Jim and I want to go to the Rodeo Finals next week in Edmonton. I really look forward to that. There are only the best bulls, horses and cowboys. It will be fun to breath `western` air again :) And today was the Breeder`s Cup in the US. Jim sent me a text message while I was tearing the shelter apart that the Breeder`s Cup is on the tv and if I also would watch it... Unfortunatly, no i had to work on this shelter... One fine day....

a lot happend

Finally, I am back online... The last two day the office was closed which is my boss`new little game. He does quite the mobbing here... !! But.. I will solve this problem soon... !! The snow is gone yesterday and today was sunny which was nice. I really enjoyed the morning today a clear sky, the moon was shining and the stars were out too ;) and I sat on the quad feeding horses in the dark. I love to feed in the dark. It`s so nice and I am alone with all the horses ;) According to the weather guys it should be around 15 degrees in a few days. I guess we will see... Mary has a friend now. The little chestnut colt from Miami Bling had surgery (hernia) and need to be in the stall too. Mary gets sooo excited when he leaves the stall to go for a walk in the barn. She almost destroyed her box stall... The kittys love to go for an adventure out of the barn. Tiger escaped the other day when I wanted to close the barn door... And Kitty, the red-white one is my assistent now. Tiger the supervisor. Both hang around with me when I have to do something in the barn. Kitty helps me when I have to fill up the oats. He sits on the bucket with the minerals, purrs and watches me working. Funny guys !!

first snow in Calmar

When I woke up at 5.40 am to check if another mouse is stuck to the sticky pad I looked out of the window in my bedroom and couldn`t believe what I saw.... SNOW !! First, I thought I am dreaming but there was snow on the ground. It was everywhere, on my deck, in the paddock next to my trailer,... so it wasn`t a dream. Wow, snow in October. Well, we had this once i guess in Switzerland too. It was snowing during the day more or less all the time. The horses had their fun, running and bucking. The cuties, the foals, were pretty careful walking in this white cold stuff. I guess they will figure out that it is so much fun running around in the snow. Even it was snowing during the day it melted pretty quick on several spots. I would say this is just the beginning of a hard long winter.... That`s what the weather guys say... I guess we will see !

adventures for the cats

A foogy day.. In the morning we had a nice sunrise but then it was only grey grey grey ! Oh well, we had a few nice sunny fall days. After feeding I had to clean the box stalls in the barn where Mary is and sweep afterwards. Usually the cats are in the office during the day so we can open the doors so Mary gets fresh air. Today, one of the guys let the front door open and my boss came in the barn to ask me if the cats are in the office. Since he helped to fix them they are mad at him and run away as soon as they see him. There was one of the cats outside the barn talkint to me. It was Tiger but I guess he was afraid of something when I opened the door he ran in the office. Marco said they can go outside as long as they come back... ! Okay I opened the one barn door and both kittys wanted to check out the life out side the barn. I told them to stay around the barn and don`t walk away. Both were brave and went for a walk behind the barn. But not for long after awhile they came back in the barn. So that`s what they did the whole day today. That`s good, I don`t want them to get scared and run away. We are close to a road where the trucks drive like crazy !! More adventures for the kittys tomorrow :)

the day after...

Back to work again today. Well, it was not that bad except the daydreaming all the time.... it was like a screensaver is coming on all the time.... scenes from yesterday, stuff I wanna do with him,... all kind of things. So I had to push that aside and concentrate on what I am doing. We took two horse shelter apart today. I had to work with a electronic screw driver, get all screws out and put the metal parts on a pile.

day in town

yesterday was my day off and I took off to Edmonton to see Jim, my boyfriend. He had some business to do in town and so it was a good idea to see each other again. It was nice to see him again, I really missed him. Unfortunatly the hours were running like crazy, it seems like the day flys as soon as we meet... :( We arrived in downtown around noon and I had to catch the bus at 6pm and Jim a hour later. But we always have a lot of fun, a lot to talk about, ... and sure as hell I didn`t look for long underwear... ! Oh well, I can get them in Leduc I guess...

three girls back from the track

Since around a week the three fillys Jeppino, Marilyn and Jesse Jake are back home at the farm. I know all of them ( or should know all of them) `cause they were at Diodoro`s barn in Edmonton. Unfortunatly, I can`t remember Jesse Jake but heard the name at the track before. They are out in the paddock during the day and in the barn at night `cause they still don`t have their winter coat yet. It`s so nice to see them playing out in the paddock. Rearing, bucking, running all what they want. :) Jeppino is pretty crazy sometimes. When she came the first day to the track I had to take her for a walk and she was squeeling and crohopping all the time. Little miss Crazy :D (in the picture : Marilyn, on her right side in the corner Jeppino and Jesse Jake)

3 days of action

On Wednesday I was sick. It started at 1 am with diarrea and belly cramps. So I spent my day in bed. :( It was a nice sunny day and I was sick !!! GREAT ! I really love that. Then yesterday the farrier was here to trim 20 horses. We had to grab the horses from the other side of the farm and bring them to the small barn... My energy was gone around noon ! I was done and ready for bed. Good thing I didn`t do much in the afternoon. Today it was getting better, still a bit tired around noon but not like yesterday. All I did today was feeding in the morning, put three horses in the paddock, make a frame for the one water trough so the mouse can`t go in there again, pick up my package I got from my mom, get horses in the barn again and feed. Easy day ;) that`s okay it was pretty windy today. Strong wind !!! Looks like winter is coming soon...

thanksgiving party in Winfield

Charlene, Linda`s niece invited me to her Thanksgiving party yesterday. Erin, her daughter, and Krissie picked me up on Saturday evening. After a stop in the hay field to chase cows back in their pan, well, Erin, her cousin and neighbours chase them, Krissi and I were chatting in the car, we made it to the house. I knew a lot of people, Fabienne, the ex farm stay girl was there too. We had soo much fun all together. 5 guys and me went to play pool, ping pong and basketball. I put 2 balls down :) it was the second time that I was playing pool. I guess I went to bed at 11.45pm... I was soooo tired. :) the next day we got a nice pancake breakfast, they were sooo good !! The next thing was that we went to church in the room were all the Australian saddles are. I really enjoyed the service... Rob, charlene`s husband is a priest. After that we went to grab horses and go for a trail ride. It was great to sit on a horse again... ! Holy, I missed that !! I rode Dusty, an older Arabian gelding. He was a bit lazy and walked just as much as I was asking him, not one more step ! So we ended up to discuss this topic. He accepted my arguments and we enjoyed a great trail ride from around 2 hours. Jeff, Charlene`s son asked me to have a look at one of the horses. Duncan is a real cutie ! He needs a chiropractor and Jeff will tell me what the chiropractor found. After a tasty supper with turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, ham,... and for dessert a varity of different pies it was time for me to head home. Rob brought me home. I really had a great weekend. It was good to see everyone again and meet new people.

wolf sighting and I wasn't there

We were lucky to have another nice sunny day. You never know when winter hits... ;) The morning was not chilly I was surprized. After feeding I jumped on the lawn mower again and cut grass like crazy... I am still not done yet... There is a lot of grass to cut. It was Jim's first day of work on the farm he is now. And sure, he was lucky to see a WOLF !! Crap ! And I wasn't there :( Oh well...one day I will see my black wolf...

two moose

Another nice sunny day today, I really enjoy the nice weather here as long as I can. The winter is coming soon enough. And this winter should be pretty hard and cold according to the weather guys. I was feeding in the morning and enjoyed the sunrise and the clear sky. Then after feeding we worked with the foals, pick up legs and brush them. The one foal was kicking like crazy when I brushed his bum. I guess I will have to scratch is bum the next time to show him that it is not a bad thing. I know foals have a reflex to kick on the hind legs when they are pretty young but this reflex disappears again I guess when they are 2 or 3 weeks old... And this young man is around 6 months old now. I don`t wanna blame it to a specific person but if you let a foal get away with stuff like that it gets a bad habit... !! I was pretty surprised today when I saw that. But it`s not the first time the colt did that. After put the new pipe to my dryer and coffee break I jumped on the lawn mower again and went to work in the bush. I just came around the corner and saw a big dark brown bum standing in the middle of the lawn. SHIT !! A horse is out !!! Then I saw the tiny tail and thought hmmmm... weird horse tail. The animal turned his head and put the ears forward and then I saw oh two MOOSE !!! Unfortunatly, I didn`t have my camera with me... I was soo excited that I thought I should tell the one Mexican guy about these two moose. I drove other there where he was working but he just ignored my calling.... I thought you a..... I will never tell you something like that again !!! So I enjoyed the two beautiful animals by myself ;) I spent the whole afternoon cutting gras and singing. At 4 pm I took the quad and went feeding. Another nice day went by.... how many are there still to come....

john wayne ???

I went back to work today. Like always it started with feeding the horses. It is pretty chilly in the morning and still a bit dark when I start at 7 am. But again a nice sunrise... I love to be outside when just before the sun comes up and everything close is black and the nice colours behind... I really wish to see that in the mountains again. ah... I miss the mountains. After feeding I got a bunch of towels (real stinky one`s) to wash and a few horse blankets. In the afternoon I jumped on the lawn mower again and made more crop circles in the lawn ;D The two co-workers are a bit weird. The younger one, Cesar always looks at me, and if I talk to Marco and don`t work he needs to look even more. And he is rude !!! I am not sure if he doesn`t know it `cause he does not speak pretty good english or if he does it on purpose. Well, the next time when he is rude to me I will tell him... Not with me ! He walks like John Wayne. I don`t like guys like that. I could smack them left and right. He is not the hot shot like he think he is... ! Oh well... We`ll see...

an almost sh... day off

I had off yesterday and went for grocerys to Leduc. First, I wanted to meet Jim in Leduc so we could spend the day together. But he sent me a text message in the morning to tell me that he woke up too late and so he can`t make it to the Greyhound station on time. I was soooo pissed off... I looked forward to see him again but at least he felt pretty bad `cause he screwed up !!! So I was alone in Leduc and had fun buying my food. Later Selsa and Constanza, Marco`s wife and daughter picked me up and brought me home. I enjoyed a nice evening.

more help at the farm

The two mexican employees are here now since yesterday. Two guys. Don`t talk much at least not with me... Oh well, that`s fine. The five yearlings left for breaking yesterday and the two fillys came back. So the brat is here again ;D We put the three fillys in the walker today to give them some exercises. Later Marco showed me how to use the lawn mower and that`s what I did the whole afternoon :) and of course feed at 4 pm. Mary was already complaining `cause she was hungry :) Funny girl !

a mouse stuck to a pad

Sunday... At 2 am I heared a noise in the kitchen, fricking mice again !!! They had another party in my house last night ! I put the sticky pad left and right beside the fridge last night. And it seems that one mouse got stuck on the one pad and could manage to walk away with the pad !!! When I went to check last night the pad on the left side was gone. How did this mouse manage to walk away with the pad...Well, I didn`t check under the fridge at 2 am. I postponed this :) Later, when I pulled the fridge forward i didn`t find the pad or the mouse !! Maybe it`s stuck somewhere under the fridge... Mary is getting better. She really enjoyed the brushing and scratching of her bum today. Poor girl never had a human friend in her life ! Mary is still a bit spooky especially when you move the hand a bit fast. In the stall she moves to the side more quiet too. We`re getting there soon. We weaned the last two foals today which means a lot of screaming again. Poor little things :(

back to work

Back to work today after two days off. No problem ! The weather was sunny again today. We weaned another two foals, poor little things are crying for their mom :( but that`s how life goes... Marco went to pick up some more round bales and I was alone with the two dogs. Marco gives me a few job to do while he is gone. So this time I had to put shavings in the boxstalls from the one barn, clean Mary`s stall and two other ones. And in the afternoon I raked the fresh shavings from the walls in the middle of the room. The next thing is fill up oats, my favourite thing to do at the moment !!! I have to back up the ATV and the trailer in the main barn and then around the corner where the mill is. Once I was trying for 30 min without getting in the right position and today it only took 15 min and it was good :) yeah, sometimes you only have to bitch around and it works ;D my last thing to do before supper is seeing the kittys and let them out in the barn to roam around.

another day off, visit with a friend

It was my second day off yesterday. We had to bring home Mary from the track. This is the horse I took care of when I was working at the track. Somehow she broke a bone in her carpal joint. The joint is pretty swollen ! She needs to stay in the stall which she really does not like at all ;) I spent the day in Edmonton yesterday with my friend Jim. I guess I never talked about him. I met him at the track. He is an exercise rider, unfortunatly he had an accident and broke an ankle last year. So this year he works as a groom. When I was still working at the track we did a few things together and get to know each other better and better. So we were hanging around together yesterday, talking, walking along the river, have lunch together... it was a nice day. i really enjoyed it. At around 3pm Marco picked me up again. It was nice sunny weather better then the last few days. I really hope the weather will be like that for a few days.

rain, rain, rain and back up problems...

Today is only one huge grey cloud hanging in the sky. YUCK !! It`s raining and raining.... puddles everywhere. What happend to the nice fall weather ! I really miss the fog on the ground in the morning, the sun comes up slowly and warms up everything. At least it`s not snowing yet like it already did in some areas. The foals doing good so far, there is not so much screaming going on anymore, the moms stopped to pace along the fence. Maybe they will enjoy their time together now ;) In a few days we will separate two more foals. I am pretty pissed off with the atv and the trailer !! I tried for 30 min to back up this shitty thing today. It didn`t work at all and my boss was disappeard so I skipped that and went feeding without filling up the grain. So I guess I will have to do it in the morning then !!! GREAT !!! But maybe I will have some more patience then. The kittys are getting better. When I call them they come and I have to pet them. I started to bring them food from time to time :) `cause soon they will get the deworming pill.

weaning time and two tomcats

Another nice morning today even it was pretty chilly and frost was on the grass. I love frost on the grass !!! It shows fall is here and soon winter. Well, I don`t like winter so much.... We separated three mares from their foals today. It`s weaning time. The mares and the foals are screaming... poor guys !! But this is life, the foals need to find their place in the herd now. Soon they will have a lot of fun with each other. ;) My other project is the cats. I already put a litter box in their appartement and they use it. Only one time they pooped behind the sofa. GRRRRRR !!! I told them this is not acceptable anymore. The one tomcat is a tiger and his brother is red and white. It looks like they had a huge fight `cause on the floor in the kitchen were bloody cat paws :( So I tried to figure out which one is hurt... It`s not so easy `cause the tiger is shy... The next thing would be to fix and deworm them. I brought a bit of a hotdog sausage for the kittys. First they were not sure if this is eatable but then both asked for more ;) I will bring them some more tomorrow. The red and white one, I can`t remember his name, was laying in my lab and purred and purred... so cute. I really hope the vet will come soon and fix them. He also has to come and fix the colts. As soon as they are fixed they can go for training. Let`s see what tomorrow will bring...

an easy day

A nice and sunny day today. The morning was pretty chilly but a beautiful sun rise. Oh how I wish to be in the mountains now... ;) Oh well, I am fine here too. Yeah, looks like fall is really here now. The geese are still around but they will fly away soon I guess. We took the colts in the barn today again, they are getting better with the leading. No one ran away today. There is the one big boy he loves to play the catching game... But Marco caught him and then he had to go inside the barn too. A 1/2 hour later we led them outside again and turned them lose in the paddock. Before noon we got ready to go shopping again. Marco needed to change the oil on the truck. So he dropped me off at the one kinda mall in Leduc and picked me up when he was done with his stuff. We came home and I fed the horses. We did a few things today... well, sometimes you need take it easy ;)

fall is here and a day of shopping

Fall is here, we have fog on the ground in the morning and the geese are gathering to fly south. It`s pretty chilly now too. The horses will get their winter coat soon. The leaves are getting yellow or red. I love this time of year !! It is still not winter yet but also not summer anymore and the bugs are almost gone too. ;) We are busy walking with the foals, get them used to beeing led, also the yearlings need to get worked, well we walk them too in the barn. Soon we will seperate the foals from their moms. Poor babys !! :( That`s life ! I went for shopping today. Marco, my boss needed to do some stuff in Edmonton and so he dropped me off in Leduc at the mall. I bought a few things and sure a lot of grocerys. It was needed !! :) Now I can cook again.

a sad day

One of the foals died today. It was bleeding inside the body for some reason. It was peeing or pooping blood. We have no idea why... the vet not even know.... I am sooo sad, she was not even one year old... I really hope she didn`t suffer too much pain. I feel so sorry for baby animals when they are sick and especially when they are dying. I had to help to get the dead body out of the boxstall... holy it was hard to see it just lay on the ground - dead !!! It was already stiff when I got in the barn. Good thing I wasn`t in the barn when it died. I was feeding the other horses. Call me a coward but this is the part where it is just too much for me !!! I can`t see a horse or other animal die. I wouldn`t be a good hunter !!! I am feeling so sad and cold inside now. Poor little filly... but I guess it was just not meant to live... Her mom is now crying in a paddock, I am not sure if she is looking for her foal or the rest of the herd. Maybe both... Even I didn`t know this foal since a long time I feel sooo sorry for it. It is just one sad day today.... I hope it`s feeling better now where ever it is.... !!! Rest in peace, filly !!!

bye track, hi farm and chuckwagon

I am in Calmar, Alberta now since last Friday. The farm is nice and quiet what I really love. The track was a good experience but not it`s time for something new. My boss Marco is a funny guy we have so much fun together. There is a few work to do at the moment and the days are easy not so much running. We are done around 5 pm which is nice so I can cook my supper and eat at a decent time.... Unfortunatly, in my trailer live a bunch of mice. They poop everywhere... gross !!! I still need to vaccume the whole house. My home is nice and big, I have three bedrooms, a living room and a huge porch. Pretty big for just one person.... I still don`t know for how long this job will be, would be intresting if it would be over the winter... I need to ask Rick, the owner of the farm. Today we moved the mares, colts and fillys to other paddocks. The mares have good basic ground work manners, the colts and fillys not so... they just need more work. I am done for today and will enjoy my evening. Yesterday Marco, Constanza and me went to the track in Edmonton to watch the chuckwagon races. It`s almost more fun then the normal races. :)

another change, chuckwagons at the track

It's my day off today, it was great to sleep til 8 am. I really needed it. I was almost passed out. :D I will leave tomorrow for the farm. I will go with a laughing and a crying eye. ;D I really liked it here, I learned a lot, good and bad things... that's what you always do in life. The chuckwagons are here now, they have a 4 day meeting and races here at the track. I really hope I can make it to watch the races tonight. It would be awesome to see this live. I will go to the West Edmonton Mall for shopping. I need a few warm cloths for the winter. The weather is sunny today, just a bit windy but nothing what my rain coat not would manage. I also need to take a few pic from the horses and the chuckwagons. Exciting !! :)

a goodbye and a new start

I got a new job, this time on a racehorse farm. I will leave the track on Friday. It's only 20 min away from Edmonton. And my new boss is Mary's owner !!! So I will see here again i guess :) Robertino asked me last week if I am still interested in a job on a farm and I said yes, sure. So he wanted to make some calls for me... I didn't hear from him for more then a week and was too busy to ask him. So on Saturday Robertino told me that a guy would come to see me 'cause of a job. And the job would start on Thursday... WOW ! That is suddenly ! Well, I don't have much stuff to pack still... it's a bit too suddenly. The horses here will move to Phoenix in the US soon and so my help is not needed anymore. I got my second suitcase today, Joe and Kara brought it here. So now I am good to go, I guess. I will miss the people here, at least some... ;D Even they all only talk Spanish the whole time it was fun to work with them. I look forward to my new job.

two new horses, Mary and Rick are making progress

I got two different horses to care for today, Cascade and Yar. I still don't know which one is which :( The one, #23 is always in a bad mood and is cribbing. And # 16 is also not in the best mood but not always pinning the ears. Brooke and Chole are not 'my horses' anymore. :( Oh well, these two will benefit from me too :) Mary and Rick are still 'my horses'. Mary came to me today without pinned ears and waited for me to put the halter on. I loved on her for that. She understands the difference between me and the rest of the gang now, I guess. I don't want her to react, I want her to think ! Same with Rick.. he is a bit of a bigger challenge. He doesn't try to think at all. Yesterday he was sooo bad when he came back from the track. Only high headed and didn't calm down at all even tried to rear up. After a few rounds me leading him he finally dropped his head down and relaxed a bit. This little man needs to learn who to think around people. Finally he understands what it means to move his butt to the side when I ask him to. He did it nice and no rushing today. Yep, we're getting there soon. He only needs to understand the difference between me and the rest of the group. I don't want a horse running away from me. I want them to be relaxed while I am there.

Canadian Derby

My foot is getting better. It really looks like it was an inflammation ! The Canadian Derby is over and the normal work days are back. Last weekend was Friday to Sunday races. On Saturday the Canadian Derby in which Gold Medaillion ran. He is a huge stud, dark brown. Pretty impressive ! And on Saturday and Sunday I carried the bag to the track again for two horses. And sure as hell... BOTH won their race ! :D I am also on the winner picture. The win of the one gelding on Saturday was a bit surprising (at least for me..) 'cause he was third or so and had to speed up quite a bit to pass the two horses in front of him and take the lead. But he made it ! And Sexy Eleanor yesterday won her third race in a raw. Holy this is quite a horse !!! She is a bitch and can kick. I lead her around in the test barn and then she had to go in a box stall to pee... And I had to be there too to witness the collection of the example. She almost ran out of the stall. This mare is just crazy ! There are a few crazy horses, some are peabrains, bulldozer, bitches or the normal ones... A colourful mix... ! Time for grocery shopping, now !

drugs are needed...

Finally, I can check my emails again ! The learning centre was closed again on Monday and yesterday I didn't have time to come over. It's all good here execpt my feets ! It looks like my right one has an inflammation from walking. It hurts like crazy even when I sit ! I need to buy some painkiller otherwise I won't survive the days on my feets. There are not great news to tell... Today are races again and I am not on the list to help during the races... So I guess I just hang around in the barn and help when the other ones need my help... I am not sure why I am not on the list to help... Do I have to earn this right first ?? Or do I have to wait til one of Michelle's horses run next ?? Or am I not suppost to do that at all ?? I don't know... I need to go to the grocery store now to buy these drugs, I NEED it... ;D

sh.... weather and my horse is not running :(

We had heavy rain yesterday and it was not nice to work outside. After a short while we were all soaken wet. And today in the morning we got another load of rain which stopped in the middle of the morning, thank god. The track was closed to save the ground for the evening races. The track is pretty deep and I really hope no horse will injury itself tonight. One of my horses, Brooke, was suppost to run tonight but she scratched herself and so she stays home. I looked forward to get my horsey ready for the race :( but I guess I will get another chance to paddock a horse soon... I wouldn't paddock Brooke anyway 'cause she can be a real bitch and so I would only get her ready. So I am off today and I guess I will go over and watch the one horse in the 8th race. There were suppost to be 4 horses on duty today but two have scratches, one is racing and one is only for paddock schooling. Maybe tomorrow... ;)

monday afternoon is off...

My afternoon off !!! I really need that... time to do laundry, buy food and clean my room. We are busy like always. In the meantime I had the chance to help some more during the race. I don't get the horse ready for the race yet but I helped when it came back. Exciting !!! Last Friday I helped to get the horse in the paddock before the race, carried the bag with all the important stuff and helped with cool down after the race. Next weekend I am suppost to paddock my first horse. :D But it won't be Brooke, one of my horses. She can be a hothead when it comes to races and so not the best example for a beginner. I will get a quieter one... Hell, I am already nervous !!! I hope I won't screw up ;D

busy long days

A lot happend since the last time. We are busy and even more busy. Races on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My days are long and I am tired in the evening. My feets are getting better, I bought some soles yesterday which absorb shocks. My feet are still available at this time. As soon as my feets are okay I will explore some more the town. Tonight are races again (6pm to 9 pm). I don't have a real job during the races 'cause none of my horses run. I have two babys, Rick and Mary, (2 years old) and an older one Brooke. Brooke runs from time to time. I am excited to see her run. I don't have an idea when this would be... So, time to get ready to feed...

race track in edmonton

I am in Edmonton at the race track since last Tuesday. I work from 5.30am til around 2 or 3 pm. It's hard and a lot of walking. My feets hurt from walking on pavement every day :( I am not used to walk on pavement anymore. yeah, mostly I walk horses, when they come back from the track, give them a bath and then walk them again or put them on the walker. The team is good, even the boss cleans stalls...;) Today are races again. I am suppost to be in the paddock today. I was there already on Wednesday. It's soooo exciting and still a bit scary !! I mean, I am on the race track in Edmonton now ! This is huge ! But on the otherside it is good to be here. A lot of possibilities and ways to go. :D One step closer to my dream... So time to feed !

a lot happend...

A lot happend since I shared my life with you the last time. Last Monday we it easy after the busy clinic weekend. Tuesday, Linda and I went to Edmonton 'cause we had to pick up Maike at the airport and I had my job interview with Gary Westergard. The interview didn't go like I hoped it would. As soon as I started to tell them that my horse experience is and mentioned that I am also a horse therapist they decided I am not the 'right person' for their job. I would waste my time and skills... OKAY ?! Pat and Gary thought I would rather apply for a job in Spruce Meadows or the race track. The race track ???!!! Holy that's what I always wanted ! ;) Gary told me that he would make a call to a trainer at the track. I was sooooo excited and couldn't believe that he would do that for me... This was the chance I always wanted to get. I left my resume with all the copies of my certifications at Pat and Gary's. And sure, on Wednesday Pat called me to ask me if the horse trainer already called me... NO, he didn't call yet !! I was so surprised that this is really happening. I couldn't believe it. I didn't expect it to happen and got surprised. ;D Pat gave me the number and name of these horse trainer and told me I should call him 'cause it could be that he is just a bit busy to call yet. So I called him and we made an appointment for Tuesday at 10 am. After a chat with Linda she told me that Monday would better be for her so she could give me a ride. So I called Robertino Diodoro again to ask him if I could come Monday. Sure, I can go there Monday, 10 am. I am sooo nervous when I think of that. This is huge ! After a little research I learned that he is the top trainer on the track in Edmonton. WOW ! Now I am even more nervous then before.... I hope this works out, this is what I always wanted. For some time I was a bit sad that I had to quit at Skyline but now I am just glad I did it. If this works out the way I want.... AWESOME !!! People told me that it won't be easy to work at the track. Hard work, drugs and alcohol, drunk guys, some think they are THE hotshots.... If I could resist the alcohol in Jasper then I can resist here too. And if needed, there are shovels, whips or other stuff around... ;D Beside all this negative stuff I look forward to see everything on Monday. But first, I will go to the Chris Irwin clinic tomorrow and Sunday. I just don't look forward to drive the car to Whitecourt.... it's a long time ago since I drove a car the last time for more then 3 min. :(

clinic and a huge horse bum ?

This weekend is the horsemanship clinic with Marv and his wife from a place near Edmonton. I already met Marv and his wife at the Mane Event in Red Deer in April. I totally forgot that's him giving this clinic. It was interesting to see how he works with horses. Some stuff was similar to Chris' things. I like to check out other trainers just to see what they can offer and maybe I can use some stuff of them if I would get stuck on something. Linda took Oreo, her newest mare. They both did good. It was Oreo's first trip to another place since she came here to Canada. She is from Oregon. Oreo scared herself twice when she was tied up on a post. So we had to put her somewhere else. This place was pretty good, she could see all the other horses and also what's going on in the round pen. The weather was good, sun and also big clouds to give us a break from the heat. I almost got too much sun even I wore my baseball cap. After a potlock supper (every person brings something to eat) we went home to feed the animals at the farm. On our way home I spotted this huge brown bum in the bush.... I thought, holy.... this is a big horse bum !!! Then I saw that it's not a horse and her foal- a moose mom with her twins. Sooooo cute ! I really like their ears, they are sooo long ! ;) I wanted to see a moose and now I saw three !!! That's pretty awesome !!!

two friends together again....

After a rainy day yesterday, the sun was shining today again. And of course with the sun the black flys and horse flys were out too :( which means bugs spray for people and horses ! In the morning we fed and kinda took it easy 'cause it was pretty muddy still and so we needed to wait for the sun and wind to dry the ground a bit. The turkey-birds (my students ;D )were pretty active and getting braver every day. They are in the horse pen's, barn yard and also come in the hay yard in front of Oreo' pen now. After lunch we opened the gate so Rio could go in Banner's pen and buddy up with Banner again. Both were so glad to have each other again so they can play all the boy games again. They were squeeling, kicking, sniffing and running. Amazing ! The next project was putting two more rows of barbed wire on the one fence on the stud pen. We ran out of barbed wire and so we only finished the one line... At 5 pm we had a lesson with two students. I had to do a seat lesson with them. They did pretty good. After supper we grabbed Honour and Oreo and worked with them in the arena. I worked with Oreo. She did pretty good. She is like a young horse when it comes to training. Her focus always went away from me and out to other horses. But I could manage that she never drifted away to dreamland. That's what she is doing when she gets stressed... poor girl. And she is fast with that !!!

rain, clouds and wind... Summer ??

A rainy day again. It was pretty windy when I woke up in the morning. At feeding time (9am) it was raining. Linda decided to go to town again. I needed to go to the Service Canada office 'cause of my application for Employment Insureance. I totally forgot that ! It was a short visit in this office and then we carried on to the grocery store. We had to buy some ingredience for Lynn's birthday cake tomorrow. We decided to give him home made cookies and a home made birthday cake. It's difficult to find the right birthday present for guys sometimes.... So this is something he would like, I guess. He loves sweet stuff :) The weather is still crappy, cloudy and windy. We were suppost to go for a trail ride tonight :( Oh well, I guess I will get a few more chances to go for a trail ride here. Oh by the way I have an invitation for an interview in a barn in Sherwood park. :D it sounds interesting, learning how to break young horses. I really hope this time it works out better then the last time... would be awesome !!!

warm days and impatience

The weather wasn't too bad today. The sun was shining and a wind was blowing, in the afternoon we got some grey clouds which disappeared in the evening again. The black flys and horse flys were still pretty annoying. Fabienne and I put Honour and Oreo out in the outdoor arena so they can eat grass. Around 11 am we had to get them back in their pen 'cause the black flies were chasing them around. We also put fly spray on them. It was not the right weather to work with the horses 'cause of the flys. It would be pretty annoying and the horses would not concentrate on us at all. So Fabienne and I went to the one fence and put some more ribbons on it. The ribbons are good visibale for the horses especially the foals so they won't run in the fence. And it keeps wolves out too. At the moment it's a nice sun down.... I am getting pretty antsy and impatient soon. First signs are already here. It feels I am wasting my time just sit around without a real job. It's not that I don't like it here but this is not why I came to Canada this year ! I know it sounds not right when you look at the situation I am in now. I didn't think this job in Jasper will go south ! It happend.... Well, patience was never one of my strengh at all !!! I guess I would be happier when I would work the whole day and really tired in the evening.... That's what I need. I guess I have to ask Linda to give me a huge pile of work ;D

summer is here, 30 degrees in the shade :(

The summer is here, it was 30 degrees today. Waaay too hot for me. We had two lessons today and we were glad there was a light breeze otherwise we would get boiled ! After the afternoon lesson we all went in the house to get out of the sun. I tried to find a homepage where I can apply for a job at the race track. I found one but there you only can apply for the kitchen, restaurant, casino, housekeeping or other stuff. No offer for the horse part ! So frustrating ! After supper we had to feed the horses and birds. Linda wanted to trim a horse or two but she decided it is still too hot for this kind of work. So she said we could do what we want, since it is also way too hot to do ground work and the horse flys are still pretty active ! I decided to hide in my cool room and read. I don't like temperatures over 25 degrees. All I wanna do then is sleep. Yesterday, Fabienne figured out why Molly is so skinny. She is afraid of the self-service feeder. Looks like she had a bad experience with it. We feed her twice a day now outside the feeder. Molly is also afraid of small ice cream buckets which tells you she also had a bad experience with that ! We put the food on the ground and then she eats it. Molly is pretty sensitive and shy. Poor girl ! At least we know now the reason and can feed her which works pretty good.

day in town, muffins, brownies and watch a movie

Another rainy day. So Linda decided to go to town. I had to mail a letter and go to the bank so I said I will go with her. Linda suggested to go to the theathre in the evening to watch 'Eclipse'. GREAT IDEA ! I wanted to watch it anyway. It was still not the best weather when we left town and I was in the mood for brownies so I decided to bake some. And since I am in the kitchen anyway I could bake muffins as well... :) That's what I did. Both turned out very good. After supper we fed and Linda harrowed the pasture and now we are almost ready to head for town again. Theatre, here we come !!!! ;D

western games

Today we decided to go to the Rodeo ground of Edson to watch the games. These were kind of western games like wild cow milking, greased pig race, double barrel race, stake race, wild pony race,... It was soo funny to see the calves and ponys when they got away from the people :D awesome ! I had so much fun. Unfortunatly the one horse injured himself in the arena. I guess it did a wrong step and after that it was pretty lame. I guess it must injured his tendon. There was a vet who had a look at the horse, good thing she was there.

baby # 5

I can remember what we did yesterday morning... I guess not so much, just take it easy. After supper when the flies aren't so bad anymore we should help put round bales out in the pastures. I was just coming out of the door and looked over to the mom's and babies in the one pasture when I saw Jazz laying flat on the ground, holding her tail a bit strange... Oh, I guess something is not quit right there !! Linda walked over to check on her and yelled to bring the foaling kit. I ran in the house to grab the bag. When I reached the spot where Jazz was lying the two feets looked out of Jazz's butt. I had the idea to go back to the house and grab the camera which I did. I hurried out in the pasture again and there he was... a cute little man :) a black and white Pinto. He was in a hurry to get up and use his legs. Soooo cute. He looked like a spider with his legs streched out to the side. After awhile Linda decided to bring both in the garden where mom and kid can have a rest without all the noses of the other horses in their face. Then the placenta had to come out too. So we waited for that to happen. After around 3 hours Linda and Erin, Jazz' owner they started to talk about giving the mare an injection to speed up the process of getting rid of the placenta. I suggested to do acupressure. Linda holded to placenta to make sure it has enough weight on it to get pulled down and I did acupressure. The placenta came out and everything was good. So mare and foal had time to rest and we could go to bed as well ;)

two riding lessons

Today started with a 'say goodbye', Nora, the farmstay girl left. Linda brought her to the bus station. I stayed home and fed the animals. At 11am we had a girl coming for a riding lesson. Linda asked me if I wanna ride Scooty in the lesson. GREAT !!! :D Of course.... So I saddled him and headed for the arena. Holy... this horse has pretty quick movements, nothing dull or slow going forward. I had to tune myself down a lot otherwise we would trott and canter all the time. I was pretty busy to adjust to my animal under the saddle. But I made it and it was getting better. Then in the afternoon I had another lesson this time I was the teacher. I rode Scooty again this time in the english tack. My student should learn and work on a correct seat on the horse. I already showed her a few things before and so we continued what we started. It was basic stuff like feeling the horses barrel swinging, which feet is when on the ground, feel how the horse walks and follow with the hips and then as an exercise to practice the spirling in and out of a circle. We had a good time and so much fun. It was pretty warm and the horses took every chance to take a bath in the sun. It was good to work on the seat again. I also really needed that after my trail ride adventure in Jasper.

a drive to Jasper National park

Nora, Linda and I went for a drive to Jasper today. It was pretty hot when we left the farm and as closer we got to Jasper the more clouds where in the sky. That was not too bad then it wouldn't be too hot :) We were in Jasper Park around 2 pm and searched a spot where we could eat our lunch. First, we wanted to stop at the parking lot of 'the valley of the 5 lakes' but there was ever spot already occupied. So we decided to drive to the Athabasca Falls and eat there. Then we took our cameras and joined the other tourists. It was nice even the clouds were getting more and more. It was the third time I was there now and I still enjoyed the beauty of the falls. It is every time you see it pretty impressive how powerful the water can be... Unbelievable !!! I love it ! I love water falls in general. After this great experience we head for Jasper town. I bought a nice t-shirt with a wolf on the front and other little things. It was soo good to play the role of a real tourist again. In the meantime it was already 7 pm and we needed to head home. So we took all our stuff and went back to the car. It was a great day, a lot to see... I really enjoy Jasper National Park every time I am there. Unfortunatly we didn't see a bear, a moose or a cougar :( But we saw a Baby big horn sheep which was sooo cute !

get ready for the trip...

Linda, Krissi and Nora went for a trail ride weekend to Rochester. So we had to get the camper ready and get all the stuff for the ride. In the morning we went to town for shopping. Finally, I bougth my things I wanted to buy since a long time. Lenard and I stay here at the farm and do farm sitting. There is the one mare which should foal in the next days. That means we are also on night shifts. I already had a night shift last night. I had to check on Jess at 3 am. So tonight i guess I will have to take more shifts :) Oh well, that's fine. I only hope if she decides to have her baby tonight or the next night it won't be complicated ! I have a list with all kind of labour behavings and what will happend during the birth and there is also a list with telephon numbers in case we need help. We also can call Brenda, Linda's sister when we need help. And maybe she doesn't have it in the next two nights... who knows...

ground driving, lesson and trail ride

The day started pretty good. We didn't do a lot in the morning. Around noon the next thunder storm came this time without any hail. Good thing these storms don't last long ;) So when it was over we grabbed Honey, Scooti and Dan. Scooty and Dan got ready for ground driving and Honey got a head stall to get her used to that. We brought Scooty and Dan in the arena and worked with them. It was soooo nice to do that again. We also did the barrel race pattern :) Of course not in canter, only in the slow job of Dan. Dan has good ground manners and we could go over the bridge, around cones and barrels, stop, walk on, back up,... all kind of stuff like that. It was great ! I really enjoyed it. On 5 pm we had two girls coming for a lesson. Nora and I had to keep an eye on them while they got the horses ready. They did games to practice all kind of stuff. On 7 pm we had a trail ride with a student and her mother. I rode Dan. I enjoyed to ride a smaller horse which stands still while you mount it !!! I had to cinch him up out in the bush and he was standing and waiting til I was in the saddle again... That's how a guide horse should be ! But my neck didn't totally agree with me sitting in the saddle already again ! I could feel my neck muscles are tight again and I had a head ache. Part of this head ache is still from the helmet. So I guess i will still relax and take it easy...

in edson again

I am in Edson since yesterday. Krissie and Lenard picked me up on Sunday evening. I spent the night at their place and Lenard brought me to Edson on Monday. I recover from my fall and try to figure out what's next. I still can't believe that all that happend. It's like I live in a cloud or a dream and can't wake up. I figured out what was the problem with my neck. Two vertebraes were not aligned anymore and so the muscles were stiff which gave me the head ache and the dizzyness. I pushed the vertebraes back in line but the muscles are still sore. This will take a while I guess... I try not to work too much and relax a lot.

fall off a horse and quit the job

I got bucked off yesterday : result a sore neck, a head ache and dizzyness... I had to catch up my ride and wanted to leave the barn in a trott which I did before... This time Mohawk was pretty excited and started to buck after the first corner. I fell down right in a small tree. Thank god the tree was there it slowed my body down and so I only have a sore neck, no broken bone. Oh yeah the one vertebrae was not in line anymore, I could fix that. Since that I feel better. Mohawk had a huge bucking fit and ran back to the one corner, shopped and looked at me like he was surprised to see me on the ground, then he came back to me. So I just got up from the ground, grabbed my horse's reins when Dave came walking along the fence. He gave me shit about it is my fault that the horse started to buck. He was way too excited to make it safe to our group !! and so on and so on... Well, thanks !! That's what I really need to hear now ! He not even asked me if I got hurt... ! A.... !!! After he was done with what he needed to say I could put my horse in the barn. A 1/2 hour later I had to go in the office to see Dave. GREAT ! Do I get even more shit ??? Well, sort of... He wanted to talk to me so we can see where I am after a month of working in this barn. The positive things were there but only a few things, the bad stuff was way more... Dave didn't tell me right in the face I should quit but he meant it. That's another thing... Why can't he tell me straight in the face when he thinks I am not good enough for his barn ? Usually, he never hides his opinion about something !!! Coward !!! He also told me if I wanna stay he would need to find a job for me in his barn which I could handle. And he would support me to get to the level he needed me to... Bla bla bla...! This is just stupid ! I said thanks I will think about it. So I went over there today and told Dave I quit ! He wasn't surprised and said good choice ! I will get ready to leave as soon as possible. As soon as my laundry is done I will head for town and buy my train ticket to Edson. Then I will have to clean my room and pack my stuff ... :)

back on the trails of JPL

And today... back in the saddle here at JPL ! I only went on one trail ride today. I had the 2 hour one and 4 dudes. The boy was a bit annoying he kept sticking at my horse's butt like glue ! And Busley, the pony he rode, tried to bite Mohawk in the butt ! Stuff like that just makes me pissed ! We tell them not to be too close to the horse in front of them and tell them how to do that... still it doesn't work ! I am responsible for their safety so listen to me !!! Like I said before, some of these guys I only wanna slap left and right ! Oh, well I guess I am asking way too much of these people ! In the end I only had to look back and the boy behind me could keep the distance all of a sudden :D It was sunny today and I hope we will have weather like that for the weekend so we will be busy hopefully. Tomorrow we are busy according to Lynda. That's good, I don't like to sit around and wait til it's time to go home !!!

a visit in Dunster

On my days off (Wednesday and Thursday) I went to Dunster for a short (way too short !!) visit at Birgit's and Reg's place. I had more then one reason to do this trip : one was to pick up my belt and have a look at Reg's new pack horse and to get a break from the Freakshow here at JPL ! I took the train in Jasper, one way was 2 1/2 hours. A nice travel through the mountains and along the Fraser River. The train is almost like the one's we have in Switzerland, comfortable and enough space for long legs. And a clean washroom :) Unfortunatly, it was already afternoon when I arrived in Dunster. Birgit picked me up at the train station. As soon as we were home again she went riding one of the training horses, Nokee. I went to watch her. It was great to be at the Falling Star Ranch again. I felt like coming home ! On Thursday morning I took the bike and drove over to Reg's place. It was a hell of a bike ride. I promised to be there between 8 am and 8.30 am. I talked too long to Birgit and so I had to hurry. I reached Reg's place at 8.35am :), not too bad ;D We went down to the horses and have a look at Cactus (horrible name for a horse !). He is a percheron cross (I guess..), black and white, a paint. Poor guy had a sunburn on his pink nose. :( There is also another new horse of Reg's. A cute chestnut. All of them were pretty hungry and wanted their oats. We went back to the house 'cause Reg had to go to town. He droped me and the bike off at FSR and headed for McBride. I had to pack all my stuff and catch the train at the Dunster Train station at 1.30 pm. On the way back to Jasper I met Ann from Germany. She is a woofer (which means she stays on organic farms and get some experience there) She also got on the train in Dunster. We had a good time together. We saw three black bears between Dunster and Jasper. :) Amazing !

unload hay and a poor horse :(

Today was a nice sunny day again with a few clouds. All the guides were working today which means there were 5 of us. 1 were send out on a trail ride and the rest had to unload hay bales again. This was a job full of dust and sweat. In a 1/2 hour we were done. I guess it were around 145 bales. As soon as we were done Brad and I had to go on a ride. Ace, one of the dude horses was pretty slow and I need to keep an eye on them to yell a the person to make Ace go forward again. Usually, Ace is not that slow ! So I decided to keep an eye on that... In the afternoon I had another ride and Ace was with us again. This time I looked at him I knew there must be something wrong with his right hind leg he walks shorter then with his left hind and when you look at this butt you can see that his right hip /pelvis is lower then on the left side. Something must be happend maybe on a ride or when he was out with the other horses. I told Dave after we were back at the barn.... He checked Ace... No comment !! I am sure there is something not aligned anymore in this pelvis. So we untacked everyone and fed. Then we were done for the day. I wanted to read a bit to relax but soon I felt asleep. And now I am still not really awake yet. I guess I will go to bed early today :D Tossing hay bales needs a looot of energy....

three cuties and a sunny day

I had a good talk with Brad, our cowboy, yesterday evening. He told me some interesting things about our work with the dudes and about the horses. Cloudy must be quit a charactar... He looks so dull and old but he only does his job... :) Today, I was on the 1 1/2 hour ride with two dudes. It was nice weather and they really enjoyed it. I rode Ace, one of the dude horses. He was scared of a log and also acted scared about a bush with berries... Funny horse ! On our way back we met three elk moms with their kids. Sooo cute ! This time I saw the kids and could make a detour through the bush. There were no reason for the mommys to attack us :D It was the first time I saw baby elks. Then in the afternoon I had to clean the barn (I did the front part all by myself) and put the feed for breakfast in the stalls. I thought it took forever to clean this barn today.... Brad helped me cleaning and feeding. As soon as the horses were back from the afternoon ride we had to untack everyone and feed supper. We were done at 3.15 pm today. It was a short but fast day... Holy, I was so out of energy ! I decided to show Heather the trail from the 1 1/2 hour ride after work. So we went for a walk as soon as we were done. Now my left hip is sore from riding Ace. From the time I climbed down from Ace my hip hurts ! I guess I will check his pelvis the next time I have to tack him.... I think he is not straight anymore. I never had a chance on a ride to see him walk from behind. Ace is usually in the middle of the group. I made sure my stirrups are even and so I couldn't sit more to one side...

back in the saddle...

Back to work today. The day started pretty quiet. We had a ride at 9.30 am and 10.30 am and two in the afternoon. I was on the 10.30 am and the 2 hour in the afternoon. We had 6 rider in the afternoon. Two of them were sooo annoying ! You need to tell them when they don't behave but you shouldn't pick on them either... I really wanted to kick the one girl's butt. She kept ignoring us when we told her things to do.... And then we saw Mrs. Elk, she wasn't happy at all to see all the horses and rider. She stared at us and started to feint attack me ('cause I was the last rider). She made some funny noises with her nose so I guess her kid was somewhere near this spot. Mrs Elk followed us to make sure we really keep going in the direction we chose. Holy... I never saw an elk doing this. Stew from the JPL Security told me the behavier of mom elks when they wanna scare you away. She was pretty brave ! We were 8 horses and 8 riders and she was alone. I would say elk cows are pretty good mom's :D After that we were like kindergarden teacher. Tell rider x not to trott, rider y don't let the horse eat, rider a please make your horse go forward in the walk... And the guy in front of me was a total beginner. He took the reins too short and Jack started to dancing around. Okay, please give your horse more rein... which was the right choice. Jack calmed down and we could carry on. So I had to make a mark in my mind : if Jack starts to dance the dude will have too short reins, Bob likes to kick , Timmy is too slow and also Rocket.... All this we need to keep in mind when we guide. It's a lot ! But still it is great to be out there on the trails with these people. Some are nice and some... all you wanna do is slap them !!!

baby geese and a nice view

Today was my second day off. The weather was cloudy, windy and the sun didn't make it out of the clouds. After the party last night I had to sleep in (I went to bed at 11.45 pm). Then I saw a bunch of ants in my room and decided to go to town and buy something to make them move out of my room. The toxic stuff was way too expensive and I don't want to wait I don't know how many hours til I can go back in without getting a huge head ache from the smell. So I bought the natural version : cloves. Well, now my room smells not too bad :D In the afternoon I decided to go for a walk to Old Fort Point. It is around 20 to 30 min from Jasper park Lodge away. Since the one trail is closed for hikers and bikers I had to walk on the paved road. I took some pictures on my way there. Nice view, there were a big group of Canada Geese at the golf course. Two pairs had cuties. They were busy eating gras on the golf course. One goose attacked and hissed a golf ball which rolled in it's direction. He/She tried to protect their babys. It was funny. At Old Fort Point I saw strairs going up a hill and decided to go up. It was an amazing view, unfortunatly pretty windy. It must be nice up there when it's nice weather. I was hoping to see a moose down on the shore of the river :( Oh well, another time maybe... The only special thing I saw was bear poop.. That's fine, there are more day here to come.

BBQ at the lake.. a lot of drunk people

I had a long talk with Lynda about my concerns. She explained me some things and it made sense to me. So my horse only bucks when you let him run in a canter... This sounds normal to me ! Horses do that sometimes... Lynda asked me to think about my wish to quit and tell her after my two days off what I decided. So my decision is clear : I stay here. That's what I wanted since a long time and I can handle the rest... Wow, this is solved now... Then in the evening was the BBQ for the staff at Trefoil Lake. Of course, it was busy and loud. And sure as hell, everybody had a beer can in his/her hand (except me). And soon everyone was drunk. Unbelievable ! I learned people can drink here 10 beers per evening ! Even more unbelieveable ! I would lay under the table after a 1/2 can of beer ! So there were a few people to tried to talk me into drinking with them. I was polite and told them I don't drink. And there were a few I had to stare at them til they got that I mean what I said. The dessert was delicious :) of course I had to try it. Brownies, Blondies, pecan pie and other sweet stuff... great ! I had a few talks with different persons, some more drunk then the others. It's so funny to be the only sober person in a bunch of drunk people :D There you can entertain yourself with all the bullshit people talk when they are drunk. I had a such good time ! There was one guy he was soo impressed that I flew over from Switzerland to work in Canada. He thought I am a cool girl. There is this expression 'Hey, what's up ?' when a young person meets another young person. There was this guy, one of the guys from the golf course, he asked me 'Hey, Corinne, what's up ?' I looked at him and said I don't know ! The expression on his face was hilarious ! I had to laugh :D Now I know what they mean by 'what's up?'