Archive for the 'General' Category

At The Office

Herring Eggs on Beach

The beach in front of our “island office” is covered in herring eggs this morning. The sea was rough yesterday and piled them all up on our beach. Here’s hoping they get washed back out before they start to smell like rotting eggs.

Alberta 4-H Scholarship Deadline

This year the Alberta 4-H Scholarship program will award over 100 scholarships with a total value of more than $80,000. In order to be eligible for a scholarship you must be a past or present member of an Alberta 4-H Club that is enrolled in a post secondary institution. The deadline to apply is May 5.

http://www.4h.ab.ca/About/scholarships.html

2009 NCHA Futurity Sale

The Actual Average for the Western Bloodstock’s 10th Annual NCHA Futurity Sale on December 8 thru 13, 2009 at $13,260 was only down slightly from the 2008 average of $13,688 . The fact that this year’s average is still the 2nd lowest average of the past 10 years makes me think  there were still some excellent buying opportunities at this year’s sale.

Out of 974 lots offered, 778 sold. That makes 80% completed sales.

More stats at NCHA Futurity Sales

Natural Supplements for Horses

Dr. Wendy Pearson, author of more than 20 scientific peer-reviewed research papers and speaker at events in the UK, UAE, China, Ireland, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Botswana, USA and Canada, is one of the 17 international presenters on the agenda at the 28th annual Horse Breeders and Owners Conference (HBOC) being held in Red Deer on January 15 to 17, 2010. Her presentation is titled Natural Supplements for the Performance Horse – Sorting the Chalk from the Cheese. Continue Reading »

Unbelievably Lucky Coyote

Meet the wiliest of all coyotes: Hit by a car at 75mph, embedded in the fender, rode for 600 miles – and SURVIVED!

When a brother and sister struck a coyote at 75mph they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on.  They didn’t realize this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run.  Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender – and very much alive. Continue Reading »

Faith – The Dog

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs – He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.
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His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep’.

But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.

She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by himself.

She named him ‘Faith’. Continue Reading »

Horse Owners Need to Prepare for Colder Temperatures

Horses Running

The onset of winter means horse owners need to ensure their animals have adequate water, feed and shelter. “Our Alberta winters from north to south have a great deal of variance, but there is one thing that is common: Our livestock need to be fed,” says Bill desBarres, chairman of the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada and member of the Alberta Equestrian Federation – the Alberta Equine Welfare Group and the Alberta Farm Animal Care Association (AFAC). Continue Reading »

Wild Deuce Videos

Wild Deuce Drifter

Wild Deuce Drifter

The Wild Duece Girls spend a whole lot of time with their horses and get them used to things that most of us would never attempt. Although I certainly am not suggesting you all should go out and give this a try it shows what a horse can be trained to accept and no longer fear by people with the time and skills to bring him to this level.  I am posting links to 2 videos of Drifter. As you can see he has had extensive training before being asked to do this. Need a new trusty mount? I hear he is for sale. If he was mine he wouldn’t be.

Short Video

Longer Video

I would put a similar disclaimer on this as is on some car commercials. This is not to be attempted by non-professionals.  You not only need real horse training skills – you also need chain saw skills.  These people have both.

Longmuirs honored with AQHA Legacy Award

JackLongmuir

Jack Longmuir has been breeding Quarter Horses for over 50 consecutive years and therefore has qualified for the AQHA Legacy Award which he will be presented with this fall. The experience and knowledge that Jack has acquired in his 89 years of working with and raising horses continues to guide his decisions today. Take a look at the entries in their annual production sale (coming up this weekend) where you have the opportunity to purchase horses from this outstanding legacy.

Jack’s father & mother came west from Campbellford, Ontario area looking for land in the 1920’s. They eventually settled in the Empress area. The family survived by buying & seling work horses, shipping from Empress, AB Stockyards to Havelock, Ontario via train. This was a yearly event each spring and supplied horses to the Ontario farmers. Continue Reading »

Big Winds in Medicine Hat?

MedHatWind2

Medicine Hat Wind

We received these photos in an email. They say they are from a really big wind storm in the Medicine Hat, Alberta area. Anybody know if this is true? Do you think the wind blew all these round bales around like this? Or are we being duped by some folks with some Photoshop skills?

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