Article in June Issue of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal

Wendy Dudley submitted a well-written article that appeared in the June issue of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal. Wendy captured the essence of what we are teaching and I am grateful for her interest in what we are doing. In fact during our interview, Wendy admitted that she could have used a program like this prior to acquiring her first equine friend. Wendy bought her acreage and with very little experience and knowledge, she purchased the wrong horse and was badly hurt. I have heard so many stories like that over the years. Unfortunately folks don't know what they don't know. Just Horsing Around has been designed to give folks enough information to make safe and knowledgeable decisions with regard to horse ownership. That could also mean that they decide horse ownership isn't for them and that is OK too. Better they are making an informed decision rather than jumping into something blindly and ending up injured or with another neglected horse in the pasture.

Many thanks to Wendy,
Tovie

Meet Clover - our new barn buddy...

Yesterday a new barn buddy showed up quite unexpectedly. My neighbour called to say her son had found a kitten wandering in downtown Calgary. They already have two cats and she knew I had recently lost my sweet little Mojo and thought I might consider taking this kitten. Naturally, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to help a kitten in need so I said, "sure bring him over". Now I didn't say it without reservation and really wasn't sure if this new addition would be welcome by my very possessive barn kitty, Brutus. Brutus can be very hard on other animals which makes it difficult to juggle them in and out of the barn without Brutus attacking them - he has even terrorized our huge Sheperd, Shilo. In fact the minute the kitten arrived, Brutus assumed the attack position and growled quite viciously so he had to stay out of the barn. All evening and early morning I wondered how this could work without Brutus scaring the kitten away so I called a friend of mine who specializes in Reiki (energy healing) who has had tremendous success working with animals. I asked Ellen to intervene with Brutus to see if she could create harmony between Brutus and the kitten. Whether you believe in energy healing or not, I'm here to say that for the first time ever, I saw Brutus actually play with another cat. To see Brutus, Clover, and Shilo together made my heart sing.

Anyway, the kitten's story didn't end here. He was so friendly, I thought perhaps somebody was missing him and so early this morning I went on-line to see if there had been a "lost" ad placed. Turns out I found an ad about him but it was someone looking for a home for him by June 28th because the were leaving the province and couldn't take him. There were photos and his name - Clover, and his age - 8 months. There was no doubt these folks couldn't find a home so just kicked him out to fend for himself and left town. I responded to their message saying I was appalled they would dump him in downtown Calgary and that he now has a loving home despite their neglectful treatment of him. It makes me sad that loving pets like Clover can be discarded like the trash when they no longer suit someone's agenda.

If you click on the title of this blog entry, you will find a link to the Kijiji site where I found out about Clover and his photo.



Clover has now been officially adopted into the "Horsing Around" family.

If you follow this blog site, then I know you love your pets as much as they love you.

Big hug,
Tovie