April 29, 2025
Lately I have been the late very late and great Yogi, the writer. I guess I can blame it on the election hullaballoo. I voted on Easter weekend and then blocked all the news broadcast. Cons outdid themselves in the hate and negative. There was so little that was positive with their campaign. And this certainly messed up my concept of time. Sunday was Monday, Tuesday was Wednesday. Thank heavens I got Wednesday right, that is the day we take the black bin to the road. I have to start getting things a little right. The good thing was: I did not have to know what day it was to take the heater out of the water tubs. The temperature told me to do that. I clap my hands taking out 1500KWH heater out of the tub. The power bill should be lower next month. The Mariah type winds have shifted a lot of trees. The barn shook the other night, more than it did with Fiona. All I could wish, ”Please keep the bunkhouse standing”. I am still waiting to get it tied down. It needs a new roof and I do not want to put the money there until it is more secure. It is just another worry to keep my hair grey. Last week was Volunteer Week, the sanctuary would not be able to continue this long without my barn heroes. The last seven years have been fraught with medical issues for me. I cannot carry 100 lb of oats anymore, heck 50 lbs of Seaweed is a toughie for me. I have been fortunate to be a recipient of volunteer days practised by several corporations. Their employees come over 20 on the day complete with work gloves and lunches. McKelvey Stewart employee shingled the Bunkhouse. It was a great day. Only one fellow had done any roof shingling. He was a great coach though and they got it done in a day. Elanco employees came for their one day and helped with fences and dragging brush from the big wind that year, they planted a whack of Crocus for me. Yesterday I sat and watch Bumble Bees and Honey bees fly about the Scilla and the crocus. It was satisfying to think that 9 years ago volunteers planted 25 Scilla and 100 Crocus. They have all have multiplied to over 1000 blooms especially the Scilla it has multiplied into the adventure grove as well. The neat thing is; you can have a lawn of flowers blooming long before you need to cut the grass. It is so beautiful and a lovely inspiration on those cold windy days to look out the window and see bright colours. Good news, I have received student funding, let the summer begin. The province is always late letting us know if the application is successful. Post Secondary students usually have their summer jobs organized to begin soon after their last exam at the end of April. I hate to advertise before I know I have the funding. I always ask for funding for 2 students and get one. I count myself lucky for that. But 2 students for 12 weeks has been the dream.
The barn has been full of Trailblazers on Saturdays. We have 6 newbies, they are being fast tracked into the feeding and barn routine. First lesson is Comfort around horses. They learn to lead and handle the horse with care for their own safety. This herd is pretty safe to be around. Learning the correct handling methods will give them skills to work with most horses. I give them the sheet to learn horse parts. If you are gonna walk the walk, you have to learn the talk. I do not do much testing. If the student is keen, they will learn all the parts of the horse. Next is a diagram of the GI system. I want everyone to understand that there is close to 125 ft from the throat to their butt of stomach, small intestine, Cecum, large intestine, and the bowel. It is up to us to keep it full, and healthy. Next will be the diagram of the skeleton. I wish that everyone understands the way the skeleton is put together. Horses do not have joints. Their bones are one on another and held together by muscle and ligaments. Not like ours, we have shoulder and hip ball and socket joints. In teaching all this my theory with my mission to save horses, “The more we know and understand the makings of the animal” the less damage we will do in the raising and training of the horse. I am still not finished in the divulging of information. Finally I give them the diagram of all the muscles and ligaments we have to care for. From there on it is practice practice in the care and management of he herd. Take the time to be kind love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.