Come Hell, or High Water...

Jingle has now survived two massive floods...

The first occurred when he was a yearling at the Ranch he was born and raised at in 2005...

This lodge, and this river, was turned into this...

This is the right side of the lodge, a dorm called the "Burrow"

The damage was insane... The Flood completely changed the landscape, including creating still-existent riverways that had never been there before.

It turned the Wagon Cube, our area where we did our dances...

(Sidenote: I chose this photo because it's hilarious. Lisa was comforting a very homesick camper, who told her that he really missed his dog. She then told him that she would be his dog at the dance. So weird. So strange. The kid loved it.)

to an absolute mud pit.

I think this photo really gives you an idea of how dirty and damaging floods can be. 

I was pretty young then, and remember crying in my mom's arms as she received the email with attached photos of the damage, saying that the first week of camp was cancelled. For the owners, it was a huge blow, bridges were swept away, tack was ruined, houses were damaged, and the river changed the landscape. Finally, horses were hurt, changed and lost. My favourite story of all time that came out of the flood was that of Tad. Tad was the Rancher's horse for awhile, then he came down the string and ended up being the most responsible and trusting of horses. I've witnessed 3 year olds go on trail rides aboard Tad. He's a wonderful old man. Anyways, after the flood had hit they began to restore what was left, and try to relocate the horses. They were standing in the barn yard, formulating a plan, when Tad ran in whinnying, he then proceeded to run out, and then come back, and then leave again. Finally, they decided to follow him... sure enough, he led them to a mare bogged down. They had to pull her out, and if Tad hadn't brought them to her, she would have definitely died there. He's a hero horse, and a grand old man.

Tad, who spent the summer wandering the lawn and watching over our 5 yearlings. (Seriously, he never let them leave his sight)

A dapper old man

I have a hard time picturing a yearling Jingle in a flood situation. Knowing how my horse can be (haha) I just imagine him running around like an absolute wing-bat, and somehow he survived. Jingle, it seems, is a survivor at the best of times, and at the worst of times.

& in that thought, yesterday I got the go-ahead to start riding my boy again, after three and a half weeks of him being off! The vet came out and did multiple flexion tests, we hand-trotted, we lunged, he even had me get on and ride him. Which was surreal after not riding for over three weeks, and then annoying when Jingle decided that he did NOT want to lope his right lead and spent a little bit of time burying his head and humping around. Nice behaviour infront of our new vet, Jingle. Anyway, the vet concluded that Jingle maybe strained his fetlock, because that was the only test that he showed any signs of being off with. Jingle looked, and felt, great yesterday, but still seemed to be carrying himself slightly off. The vet said that he was traveling "uniquely" in his front, but that it didn't appear to be lameness because it wasn't agitated by any of the stress and flexion tests. He did say that perhaps when he actually was lame, it became accentuated, and more apparent to me because I was looking for something.

The Vet concluded that I should start riding (sidenote: we don't have arenas right now due to flooding and the mosquitos are overwhelming.. ugh) he said that I should start basic and build him back up, but that, for now, Jingle is sound. He also said that if there is a lameness, unfortunately riding will cause it to come back, and once he's back to being off, that is when they can best do more testing. So, a little nerve-wracking to start riding him again, incase it does re-appear, but for now, I'm very happy that I got the go-ahead to ride my boy again. Even if he's decided that loping is just not for him. Sigh... with almost two months off I fear we may be back to square one.

So... come hell, or high water... or bucking fits... we're going to start riding again! yippee.

& for my bates-ers that read this blog, remember these familiar faces? Sigh.. How time flies.

Gotta give a major shout-out to Garry for the photos, love ya buddy and appreciate it!

The "Great Flood" - Alberta Flooding 2013

As many of you know a majority of Alberta was absolutely rocked by flood waters over the past few days. As the water begins to recede, mud and debris is left to deal with. Thousands are still displaced as evacuation orders are slowly being lifted and power is turned back on. Many lost their homes, their animals, and some paid the price of their lives. It is an absolutely devastating tragedy and my heart breaks for my province, and my community.

Images have been pouring out of Calgary, and communities throughout southern alberta of the absolute devastation that the flood waters have caused...

A shot showing the amount of water that raged through the downtown core from Thursday through until now...

High River, a town just 30 minutes south of Calgary was absolutely destroyed. This shows their mainstreet, fans of the show "Heartland" will recognize Maggie's Diner on the right hand side. High River is still now allowing people to return to their homes due to the structural danger that the water has created.

Calgary (and Alberta), in true Calgarian fashion is rallying together to help those affected by the flood. Volunteers are pouring out of the woodwork to help, and people canada-wide are donating and coming to alberta to help in this situation. Today Alison Redford commented that it may take up to 10 years, and over a billion dollars for the province to recover. It is absolute insanity. 

Tragedy is tragedy anywhere it is, it's breaking my heart that so many people, places and animals that I know and love are being displaced and watching their homes be ruined by this flood. It doesn't matter who you are and where you live, loosing a home is still a heart-wrenching and debilitating experience. My prayers and thoughts go out to everyone in Alberta at this time, although I know we are a fortunate and lucky province, it doesn't make this devastation any easier to take.

I posted this as my Facebook status on Friday, and it still sums up much of what I am feeling.

Personally, I was very lucky and unaffected by the flood. My house, and community, in southeast Calgary was un-touched. However, Thursday was a tense day for us as we watched videos like this...

This is probably less 5 km away from my barn, in the Hamlet of Bragg Creek. The amount of nights we've spent in Bragg after long rides are countless, and it is shocking to see such devastation in an area you know some intimately. I can't even begin to fathom how those that live in these towns are feeling. Thankfully, my barn, which has a small creek running through it but isn't close to some of the major river systems, remained out of the evacuation order. Both of our arenas, and the front lawn of our barn were very flooded, the buildings remain structurally sound and none of the horses were at all effected by the flood. Still, even in an area barely effected you can see the signs of flooding... dirt and gravel from our parking lot is now eerily moved closer to the barn, a large pool of stagnant water sits in the centre of our indoor arena, the trailer area is now a lake, the ditches along the road we used to ride in are completely full and moving fast, and sometimes pooling over onto the road.. it is surreal.

I know that many horses, and people and barns in the horse community, were not as lucky as we were. In speaking with a vet today, he said that he thinks it'll still be a few days before they begin getting calls of horses hurt in the flood. Many people were forced to let their horses free and cut down their fences as they fleed their own homes, hoping the horses would survive. Many of those people have still not been allowed home, and so their horses still have yet to be located.

Finally, as it always is in Calgary, the Calgary Stampede is a hot topic on everyone's minds...

This was the state of affairs at the infield...

The Saddledome has reports of being 14 rows under water, meaning that all the Calgary Flames dressing rooms were completely submerged, as well as storage areas, hallways filled with priceless memorabilia, and the Jumbotron control room, which has millions worth of of technology in it.

The Calgary Stampede released this ad... which I think is brilliant and terrific...

The Stampede has pledged that it will go on, despite the huge damage to the grounds, buildings, barns, etc. Everyone I talked to seems split down the middle about whether or not this is a good thing. However, I think that not only will the Stampede stand as a symbol of Calgary being able to rally against insurmountable odds, it will also be a good thing for the economy. Downtown is still, for the most part, shut down. Also canceling the Stampede would be an absolute blow to the Calgary economy, which thrives on the Stampede for ten days. I got wind today that we (Ranch Girls) will not be performing at a rodeo that was scheduled on the grounds this upcoming Friday, and that the rodeo area is being inspected now to see what has to be done.

If I have truly learned one thing through all of this, is how devastating water truly is. The mud, debris, and mould left behind is unbelievable, and the structural integrity of so many buildings is now questionable. It seems at times that Mother nature is man's most formidable opponent. However, the good that is shining through all of this is how truly amazing and kind the people of Alberta are, and how, together, we'll be able to patch up our city and go forth as planned. The Calgary police service, the city, fire and EMS have shown how strong and united they can be in grave situations. Our Mayor, Naheed Nenshi, literally stayed awake for days on end as he reported the situation to the world. How wonderful to see when other Mayors in Canada are stepping down due to drug scandals and fraud claims. People are moving rapidly to donate and help their friends, families, neighbors, and people they've never before met. It's a beautiful thing to watch a City rise up from and against the mud and debris left by this terrible catastrophe.