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Published: March 2nd 2014
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October 2013 So after shaking off the sad feeling from the hard goodbyes and getting all my own stuff packed up, it was time to get excited and set off for my next adventure.
Through the organisation Wwoof (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) I secured a placement for 4 weeks at a farm just south of Vancouver in Langley. The farm was Dragonfly Acres, owned and operated by Lisa and her husband Doug and their main business is the breeding/training/showing of horses. The way Wwoof works is that you set up a placement at a farm and the owners provide you with food and accomodation and in return, you work for them. I'd said all along that while in Canada I wanted to try something new and different and this would certainly qualify as that!!
I don't think I could have wished for this experience to go any better than it did. The farm itself was a lovely place, with 8 amazingly friendly horses (well 7 and the stallion Otto who was not to be messed with) and my hosts Lisa and Doug were warm and welcoming.
So life on the farm went like
this:
Up and out the door by 8am to do the morning feed. Once everyone had gotten some hay slung at them, it was time to grab the wheelbarrow and the poop fork and clean out all the paddocks. We split the work and handle 4 horses each, which results in about 3 full wheelbarrows full each, that needs to be picked up and deposited on the poo pile. The horses are pretty friendly so cleaning up normally involves the occassional pause to scratch a big horse butt and trying to move between the paddocks without one of them following you out and trying not to inadvertantly lean on the electric fence (I got stung by it twice, it hurt, a lot)
Depending on what kind of mood the horses were in and how many times you had to stop to back one of them up, feeding and cleaning were normally completed by about 9:30am/10am. On most days, Lisa and/or her trainer Katherine will take a horse down to the riding arena for some training, so I would help out with getting them ready and then watch the lesson at the arena, on hand to do some more poop
scooping (horses poop a lot!) Then after the lesson it's back to the barn to clean up the saddles and bridles that have just been used, give the floor of the barn a quick sweeping and then it's normally time to sling another round of hay to everyone and then hit the kitchen for your own lunch.
The afternoons are then spent doing whatever else needs to be done around the place like grooming, the seemingly endless task of raking up leaves, general barn maintenance and a multitude of other things. The days work normally wraps up around 5pm with another feed and then a leisurely evening that normally involves trying to stay awake long enough to nip back out for the 8pm and final 10pm feed. Sleeping on the farm is not normally an issue for me!
I got to do and learn so much in the short time I was there, that it's hard to get it all down but the highlights include:
• Watching Lisa working with her horses. It's pretty amazing to see the patience and understanding that go into getting them trained.
• The first time I successfully managed to groom a horse,
including getting the mane into braids (horses don't like to stand still for too long and become a moving target) These are fresian horses, they have a lot of hair!
• Managing to never accidentally let a horse escape
• Helping out at a horse show and seeing all the work and prep that goes into it
• Seeing the process that goes into selling a horse
• Hopping on Otto the stallion for a ride and playing football while riding Sissie
• Getting to go to the vets with Fargo and being in the room while he got a scan done of his leg (had to wear the lead vest and everything)
• Raising up a fence using the power of sledgehammers, chains and a tractor
• Carving my first Halloween pumpkin
• Experiencing a Canadian Thanksgiving
And finally just the feeling of getting out there everyday, doing something different and useful
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