August 21, 2025
It has been a lovely summer, too hot for some, it is no problem for me when the wind blows on the hill. There were a few days with no wind, they were tough ones. I tried to be kind to the students, by doing the grunt work in the morning before it got really really hot. In the afternoon the stable is cooler and not many flies. Funny summer, the flies were not the problem. The mosquitoes were everywhere and flying in thick waves to perform the attack. I have always thought that they needed a wet place to multiply, it obviously is not so. Everything is so dry but the little attackers have overcome the problem. Or perhaps they could let us know where the moisture is. Perhaps it is a new species of Mosquito. There is one type of mosquito that carries “West Nile Virus”. In the 90’s I vaccinated a herd of 35 horses and ponies, at great cost to the Sanctuary, only to discover that they needed a booster at 30 days. Ka Ching Ka Ching again. A PEI study was done to distinguish the mosquitoes, very few of the species that carried the virus were found, I did not vaccinate after that. I get health alerts for the equine community on a regular basis. The majority are from the good old U.S.A. Once in a while there is a report of an unvaccinated horse with WNV and that it has been euthanized. We do vaccinate the herd with a 5-way vaccine, I will have to check further to see if WNV is covered in that. I do not have the worry of much communicable diseases now. It is a seldom thing for the herd to leave South Granville, we do no parades, no shows and no endurance competitions. And I ask visitors if they have been to another barn before they came to visit our herd. In my opinion all competitions should require proof of vaccination for the horse. If not the riders should honour the 10-foot rule. Always 10 feet away from everyone else. Seems I rant every once in a while.
Please pick the Tansy Ragwort before it goes to seed, it is in full bloom right now. The sneaky plant hides amongst the Goldenrod, the yellow daisy flowers are a more brilliant yellow than the Goldenrod. PULL ‘EM.
We have been successful, our goal for Trailblazers is the LOOP. I wish that our training gives them a good seat and confidence to go the 11 km. 4 Trailblazers have completed the loop. Yippee, this is an almost 2-hour ride. No one complained the next day about sore butts, they have it figured out, I would tell them that sympathy is found in the dictionary.
I very nearly wiped out a tourist last week. A very special tourist, she came from Jamaica to celebrate her 21st birthday by coming to the horse Sanctuary. In my day a 21st birthday was truly a celebration, you got the key to the front door, just a little bit of freedom to come home when you wanted to. NO CURFEW!! I am told that is not the thing now. The story is, I take my visitors to meet the herd on “Jehoshaphat” the farm truck. I have a lovely bench seat in the back, for their safety I do not let them on the ground with the herd. Especially with summer footwear. So off we go down to the gates of the back field. Of course the herd knows the truck has treats and crowded the gate. I backed up, INTO THE BUSHES, there were great cries of STOP!! I did, good thing, I did not want to be responsible that the young lady would never celebrate another 21 years. The herd came through the gate and gave everyone a magnificent display that was a joy to see as they ran to the top of the hill. I guess I did not cause too much damage to my visitors, they left me a lovely donation.
Tuesday was the last day for this Trailblazer session. We will start up again on Saturday September 6th. And while we still have lots of daylight we will start at 9am and finish at 4pm. We start Trailblazers at 10 years old. It has been thing with me, I very seldom take siblings. In the past 40 years I have found that very few brothers sisters get along, they bring contentious behaviour and bad manners to the barn. Interesting that behaving in public is not a thing anymore. This destroys my sense of harmony, and I strive for a peaceful time at the barn. Besides all that, lack of respect takes time away from the horses and I am past the day of being a referee. I just tell them to go home. I have never had patience with bad manners. The key to good manners is kindness and that is what we all need. Check out our website and facebook.
Love and hugs from Yogi and the Herd.