Our mountain trip

Cadomin here we come!

We had a wonderful break in the mountains, riding rocky trails, wading through rivers, enjoying the scenery and  experiencing the mountain weather!

We got hailed on, we got rained on and the sun warmed us up again.
We got really cold.
Not just cold, but icy cold!
Saturday morning started out good and then once we had saddled up and left camp it just rained and rained non stop. After a wrong turn we missed going up to Fiddle pass, but ended up at the Whitehorse Creek Waterfalls.

Somehow, a waterfall in the pouring rain does not have the same appeal that a warm summer day brings with it…The diehards continued on to Fiddle Pass in the afternoon while the wusses returned to camp!



 Our evenings where dry and we sat around the camp fire. We exchanged our scary bear stories (somewhere darn right funny), while enjoying a nice steaming cup of Baileys and coffee.  
Windi shared her poems, sang songs and we had a wonderful time together.

Michele, our very own camp cook made sure we were well fed and kept the home fires burning while we where out exploring the mountains.

Sunday, was a beautiful day so we set out again to explore, some of the trails where very steep and rocky.
The adrenaline rush sure made us feel alive!!

We had one small mishap, when  my Allie fell down and rolled… luckily, nobody was injured as I had baled off before she went over. Other than a small scratch she was not injured. After that I lead her up the rest of the incline, once at the top I was wheezing and out of breath, sounding like I was having some kind of attack..
my pride was hurt.

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Jolien, who left after this weekend.
It was great meeting and getting to know her!

What to do when it keeps raining?

Well, when it rains, we cannot make hay.
Haying is a big summer activity here.
We need to hay over 1200 acres.
However, we have had non stop rain, for what feels like months now.
So, we are not getting around to hay making yet.

So, I am heading off with some friends and Jess for a weekend camping trip in the mountains with the horses.

I am so, looking forward to this mini holiday!

So, I'll be back to blogging next week.
If I am not blogging by then,

it could  mean that we are making hay...

Cattle Handeling Clinic

The first question Dylan Biggs asked at the indoor session of the two day clinic was:
"Who is the yeller and who is being yelled at?"

When a Dylan Biggs Cattle Handling Clinic was organised in the area,

we decided it would be a good event to attend.

After clarifying the first question and explaining why people yell,
its effects on the helpers, cattle and stock dogs,
it became apparent that this would be an informative clinic...

Key phrases that were used where things like:
create flow, voluntary movement, positioning, distance.

The hands on participants got to wade around in the wet pastures creating flow in a herd of 120 cows and their calves,

Dylan coached quietly from the side,
no yelling, arm waving or stress.

Much that was said was not new to me, as many of the things we try to strive for when training stock dogs are based on these principles.
Square movement (90 degree angle) off the cattle, some weaving motion to start the herd going, move toward the hip or head,
all things we like to train our collies to do in order to control the sheep in a quiet manner.

The weather, despite being very threatening, held up during our outdoor sessions.

Not only was this clinic informative about cattle handling,
but we also got lessons in human behaviour...

Unfortunately, Eric could not attend day 1,
so once we got home I insisted that he attend day 2...

The true test has not been ,
as we have not not needed to work cattle together yet.

After the clinic, Dylan came to our ranch to look at our operation, our guardian dogs and sheep.
We had a wonderful evening socializing and sharing experiences.
Take a look at their ranch website,
where they directly market beef, lamb and pork to the consumer:
www.tkranch.com