This morning we left the ranch and wen a couple of hours north to a ranch to pull blood from horses that required a "coggins" test. It just tests for equine infectious anemia. Something which people require before horses go in a sale.
After that, we watched as one of the horses we pulled blood on got hot branded.
AFTER THAT! we went and collected the brainstem from a cow!!!! It was for a BSE test. Ranchers are subsidized for doing regular testing- as a way to ensure that Alberta is a BSE free province. So we shot a cow- one that had arthritis pretty bad - not just a healthy cow- and then cut off its head!!!! and then collected the brainstem and tagged the cow. We'll send the sample to the lab tomorrow and in the meantime the rancher will burry the cows close to the surface until the results come back and then- depending on a negative or positive result, the cow will be properly disposed of.
After that we got lost on some back road.... which as mild as that sounds, is pretty sketchy considering we were in the middle of no where to begin with! We eventuallly found our way to the next ranch, and took a lipoma off the side of a horse. We'll be returning to this place in a couple of weeks to take out the stitches and remove another lipoma on the other side of the horse. Apparently we'll also be heading up there again in October to round out their 2000 cows! All done on horse back, and...you should see the view!!!! Its right on the Red Deer River bed, and surrounded by coulee's. So I guess the trek to get the cows will be up and down these coulees.
We only got back to the ranch at 630 tonight, and we still had another call to do. 20 cows needed to be pregnancy checked. I went home though, and Bob went out to do that call on his own.
Tomorrow Im meeting Bob at the Tim Hortons near my cousin's home and we're going to drive down to the montana border where the largest grazing reserve in Alberta is located. They have close to 90 thousand acres apparently, and some 4000 cows and 4000 calves. We're going to test 63 bulls for Tricomoniasis! So it should be another EXTREMELY long day tomorrow!!!
This weekend is the Irvine Rodeo. Irvine is a town about 20 minutes east of Medicine Hat.
Anyway, that's all for now! Better get to bed. Im going to need all the sleep that I can get! AND! Im going to shut off my cell phone this time, because apparently my WONDERFUL father does not remember that Alberta is THREE time zones away from him and therefore SHOULD NOT call me a SIX THIRTY AM ATLANTIC TIME because that means that my cell phone goes off at THREE THIRTY AM MOUNTAIN TIME!!!!!!
Also, I learned today that a "township" = 36 sections and yesterday I learned that 1 section=640acres....and that some people, like the ranchers I met today own a township and a half of land!!!!!!! THATS A LOT OF ACRES!!!!
ok. bye for now!!
-A
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