Hey, guess what - It's still winter here! Honestly it's getting kind of stupid now. It warmed up considerably, reaching 9 degrees on a couple of days (meaning I was sweating buckets because apparently anything above freezing is too hot for me now), so all the snow started melting (giving way to sloppy mud - joy!) only for it to dip back to zero one night, snow all day and all night and put us right back to where we started again. How I long for winter in England where we get two days of snow and lots of rain. Really I never thought I would be hoping for rain.
So another week, another blog. I confess I am still struggling with this whole writing thing. I am still finding it difficult to come up with topics that I think are interesting enough to warrant a blog post, and most of all I am very much struggling with the fact that anything I write down I think is utter crap. I received some encouragement from my family though and was told some wise words spoken by my late grandfather who I unfortunately never got the chance to meet.
He said: "There is no such thing as useless information - Just information whose time has not yet arrived". This did put into perspective my idea that the stuff I am writing about is boring and dull because 'honestly who wants to read about endless days of snow'.
Enough of the depressing - onto the blog. With this seemingly endless winter continuing on, much to my chagrin, I have taken some advice and decided to talk about horse riding and horses in general.
When I planned my trip here I had no clue horses would be involved at all. I knew bears, moose, big cats and a whole host of other wildlife of varying sizes in between. What I didn't know was the shelter has a sister business in the shape of a trail riding company. When I first arrived here in summer I was invited to come on a couple of trail rides. Having never been on or near a horse before this was a bit daunting and also a bit exciting. There are also a few stories to tell because let's face it, it wouldn't be me if stuff didn't go hilariously and horribly wrong would it?
On my first trail ride, I was originally planning on riding a beautiful draft horse named Pixi. I fell in love with her as soon as I got her on the halter, only it turns out that she had been having some issues with bolting in the middle of trails recently. Putting someone with no horse experience on a horse that was likely to gallop off into the sunset without any prior warning was not the best idea it was concluded and instead I was left with Oprah. Oprah is a very sweet, very lovely old horse who unfortunately comes in one speed setting only - agonizingly slow. No matter what you do, what cues you give she will not go faster than her own snails pace, which meant that I ended up significantly and embarrassingly far behind the rest of the trail.
My second trail ride was arguably better and simultaneously worse at the same time. This time I was riding Tonka, another gorgeous white horse (Pictures of him can be seen back in my 'meet (some of) the animals' post from November), who did not have the tendency to go running away with his rider. He was very attentive, payed attention to my cues and this time I was able to keep up with the rest of the trail. Only Tonka seems to have his own agenda when it came to which horses he did and did not like. He appeared to have a strong dislike of the horse in front of me and kept nipping at it's butt. This didn't seem to be an issue (other than the noises of discomfort coming from the horse ahead), until it decided enough was enough and it kicked back at Tonka (who frankly deserved it at this point) sending him into a bit of a fit where he sped up and kicked back. Pretty nerve wracking when i'm on back clinging for dear life.
I also had the joy of going and visiting Ricki yesterday. Ricki is a foal born 2 months before I arrived at the shelter. He is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life and I got to work with him a fair bit, feeding him each day. He has a huge personality for a young horse and we seemed to get along very well. He moved to a farm a short drive away as they were willing too look after him for the winter and with their heated stalls and huge acreage this was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. I visited him for the first time since we dropped him off before Christmas and I was so happy that he recognised me and instantly walked up for cuddles. It was the highlight of the week for me!
There are also seven foals being born this year, in May and June. I am hoping I will get to help out at least a little bit as I have discovered working here that I really do love horses. However there are going to be volunteers dedicated entirely to the horses and with baby season at the same time, I might not have enough time to do both. I will at least get to see cute little foals around the farm for a few months which I am looking forward too!
As I said in a previous post, we are hoping to start riding again soon, and this time I will also hopefully be having actual lessons, which should make me feel a bit more at ease with the whole trusting a horse with my life thing, because frankly I don't want to be bucked off anytime soon. I'll make sure to keep you posted about how the riding goes, because honestly it will probably be entertaining to say the least.
Showing posts with label horses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horses. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Dangers
Today I was reminded of just how dangerous working with animals can be, whether they are wild or domestic. Of course I am always well aware of the dangers involved with my job, however after many months of calm, it can be very easy to become... complacent . In a related note I also discovered today that horses are terrified apparently, of moose.
Let me paint the scene, it is a usual day the other volunteer and I are driving down to the fields to feed the horses. Everything is going fine, we managed to get Ibis and Raven, the yearling horses, on the halters, tie them to the gate and they are happily eating away at their food, all is well. Until that is, we hear the two dogs barking and yelping, clearly agitated by something. The other volunteer jumps on the quad and shoots off back to the farm to check on them, leaving me with the horses, again all is well. Until that is, I hear some rustling from the tree behind me and I see Baby and Belle the two baby moose we are raising here making their way through the trees. All the horses, the 30 or so in the field and the two girls, flip out when the moose appear. The horses in the field start running around, while the girls start pulling at their halters and kicking the gate. Raven slips and falls into the fence, Ibis is freaking out, and I am standing in a field full of spooked horses, honestly not knowing where is safer, in the field or out with the girls. All I can do at this point is scream for the other volunteer to come back. Trying to help Ibis or Raven was completely out of the question, with the way they were freaking out going anywhere near them was way too dangerous.
To make matters worse Jasper the dog, came running down barking at the moose, scaring the horses even more. Luckily the other volunteer heard my screams and came to help. We managed to somehow get the two girls back into the field, and luckily everyone, horses and human escaped the whole ordeal with no injuries.
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty terrified, I am relatively new to working with horses, and the power they have can be pretty scary, so being surrounded by freaked out horses was terrifying to say the least, and being unable to help Raven and Ibis when they were clearly scared was even worse. I felt so helpless, but it was for my own safety that I stayed back, and i'm glad I did as my first instinct was to rush forwards and help.
It was a complete accident, and nothing really could have been done to prevent it. Later when we went up feeding, the moose were back up on the hill, so hopefully this is all over now and it won't happen again, because honestly I don't know if my heart could take another day like this.
Let me paint the scene, it is a usual day the other volunteer and I are driving down to the fields to feed the horses. Everything is going fine, we managed to get Ibis and Raven, the yearling horses, on the halters, tie them to the gate and they are happily eating away at their food, all is well. Until that is, we hear the two dogs barking and yelping, clearly agitated by something. The other volunteer jumps on the quad and shoots off back to the farm to check on them, leaving me with the horses, again all is well. Until that is, I hear some rustling from the tree behind me and I see Baby and Belle the two baby moose we are raising here making their way through the trees. All the horses, the 30 or so in the field and the two girls, flip out when the moose appear. The horses in the field start running around, while the girls start pulling at their halters and kicking the gate. Raven slips and falls into the fence, Ibis is freaking out, and I am standing in a field full of spooked horses, honestly not knowing where is safer, in the field or out with the girls. All I can do at this point is scream for the other volunteer to come back. Trying to help Ibis or Raven was completely out of the question, with the way they were freaking out going anywhere near them was way too dangerous.
To make matters worse Jasper the dog, came running down barking at the moose, scaring the horses even more. Luckily the other volunteer heard my screams and came to help. We managed to somehow get the two girls back into the field, and luckily everyone, horses and human escaped the whole ordeal with no injuries.
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty terrified, I am relatively new to working with horses, and the power they have can be pretty scary, so being surrounded by freaked out horses was terrifying to say the least, and being unable to help Raven and Ibis when they were clearly scared was even worse. I felt so helpless, but it was for my own safety that I stayed back, and i'm glad I did as my first instinct was to rush forwards and help.
It was a complete accident, and nothing really could have been done to prevent it. Later when we went up feeding, the moose were back up on the hill, so hopefully this is all over now and it won't happen again, because honestly I don't know if my heart could take another day like this.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Falling into a routine
I have completed my first two weeks at the shelter and I'm starting to fall into a routine, which is nice. I'm also finally over the jet lag, so not falling asleep by four in the afternoon, which is extremely helpful when it comes to afternoon feeding. Due to there not being any bears right now, there isn't a whole lot going on at the shelter, so apart from feeding the animals that are currently here, a lot of the work has been clearing out overgrown areas of land for enclosures and hospital pens to be built in, ready for the autumn and winter where there is suspected to be an increase in admitted animals.
I was talking to Angelika earlier in the week about the lack of bears at the shelter. Just a few months ago there was 34 bears ready to be released here. The lack of bears is very bittersweet though. On one hand It is a good sign that there are no bears, as it means that the cubs that did survive the winter and the disease that is circulating B.C right now are currently healthy and with their mothers and aren't in need of the shelter's help. However having no bears around means the shelter is abnormally quiet right now, which seems strange to the people who work here full time as according to them this place is usually extremely busy, and more than a little bit chaotic at times.
There is still plenty to be done though and one of my favourite tasks of the past two weeks has been feeding the baby moose. They are still quite young so are being bottle fed milk alongside their fruit and vegetables. Although they are only two months old they are already quite big and extremely strong, and can be very pushy if you don't give them their bottles straight away. I had to learn this the hard way when I hesitated and ended up on the receiving end of a very slobbery moose kiss to the cheek!
I have also been learning how to drive the four wheeler, which is like a large quad bike. It isn't difficult, however I have never driven anything before so it was challenging at first and I was a bit terrified of driving into a ditch or crashing into a building. Luckily that hasn't happened yet, and hopefully it never will, although Kim (another volunteer) and I had a close call yesterday when we went on a nature walk. A bear had been spotted up in the hay field so we took the four wheeler up there to have a look. However because the grass was so long it was hard to see where the path was and Kim drove us straight into a ditch and almost turned the quad over, but we managed to save it before that happened. We walked around the forest for around an hour and spotted many field signs of recent bear activity, such as fur tufts on the fences and claw marks on the trees, but no visual on the bear yet.
This weekend has been the annual fall fair in Smithers. It is comparable to the county fairs we have in the UK, however the focus is more on horses. They have many competitions and judges drive in to present ribbons in a whole variety of riding and horsemanship competitions. I got to watch the owners of the shelter and many of the kids here on summer camp show and the shelter won a whole bunch of ribbons, including one champion and one reserve champion, that gives them an extremely good reputation for their horse breeding. I also learnt that once fall fair is over we will be driving to Prince George to release the black fox that arrived here a little while before I arrived. Prince George is "only four hours away" as Angelika put it. To me four hours is a long drive, it only takes me three to drive to university. However the Province is so large that when they released the bears earlier in the year sometimes they were driving ten to fourteen hours each way to ensure they were released where they were found. So relatively speaking a town four hours away here is local, which I find very weird.
I was talking to Angelika earlier in the week about the lack of bears at the shelter. Just a few months ago there was 34 bears ready to be released here. The lack of bears is very bittersweet though. On one hand It is a good sign that there are no bears, as it means that the cubs that did survive the winter and the disease that is circulating B.C right now are currently healthy and with their mothers and aren't in need of the shelter's help. However having no bears around means the shelter is abnormally quiet right now, which seems strange to the people who work here full time as according to them this place is usually extremely busy, and more than a little bit chaotic at times.
There is still plenty to be done though and one of my favourite tasks of the past two weeks has been feeding the baby moose. They are still quite young so are being bottle fed milk alongside their fruit and vegetables. Although they are only two months old they are already quite big and extremely strong, and can be very pushy if you don't give them their bottles straight away. I had to learn this the hard way when I hesitated and ended up on the receiving end of a very slobbery moose kiss to the cheek!
I have also been learning how to drive the four wheeler, which is like a large quad bike. It isn't difficult, however I have never driven anything before so it was challenging at first and I was a bit terrified of driving into a ditch or crashing into a building. Luckily that hasn't happened yet, and hopefully it never will, although Kim (another volunteer) and I had a close call yesterday when we went on a nature walk. A bear had been spotted up in the hay field so we took the four wheeler up there to have a look. However because the grass was so long it was hard to see where the path was and Kim drove us straight into a ditch and almost turned the quad over, but we managed to save it before that happened. We walked around the forest for around an hour and spotted many field signs of recent bear activity, such as fur tufts on the fences and claw marks on the trees, but no visual on the bear yet.
This weekend has been the annual fall fair in Smithers. It is comparable to the county fairs we have in the UK, however the focus is more on horses. They have many competitions and judges drive in to present ribbons in a whole variety of riding and horsemanship competitions. I got to watch the owners of the shelter and many of the kids here on summer camp show and the shelter won a whole bunch of ribbons, including one champion and one reserve champion, that gives them an extremely good reputation for their horse breeding. I also learnt that once fall fair is over we will be driving to Prince George to release the black fox that arrived here a little while before I arrived. Prince George is "only four hours away" as Angelika put it. To me four hours is a long drive, it only takes me three to drive to university. However the Province is so large that when they released the bears earlier in the year sometimes they were driving ten to fourteen hours each way to ensure they were released where they were found. So relatively speaking a town four hours away here is local, which I find very weird.
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