https://www.facebook.com/1196106357142825/

West Ridge Ranch, Calgary, AB (2026)

10/28/2026

Winter Management for the Pregnant Mare ❄️🐴

Winter management of pregnant mares involves a lot more than making sure everyone has hay and a windbreak. As we head into the colder months, it's worth ensuring we're setting our mares up for a healthy pregnancy and a successful foaling season.

🌾 KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR HAY

Forage should be the foundation of your mare's diet, but not all hay is created equal. Feed testing gives you valuable information about its energy, protein, and mineral content, allowing you to make informed decisions about supplementation. Nutritional requirements increase significantly during late gestation, so what worked earlier in pregnancy may not be enough by the time foaling approaches.

Remember, supplements are meant to supplement a balanced diet, not replace one. Know what's in your forage before deciding what else your mare needs.

🐴 MONITOR BODY CONDITION

Winter coats can hide a lot! Regularly assess your mare's body condition by feeling over her ribs and topline rather than relying on appearances alone. Overweight mares can face additional health and metabolic challenges during pregnancy and foaling. Excess body fat can increase health risks, including having difficulty foaling, which can result in serious, potentially life-threatening consequences for both mare and foal.

Pregnancy is not an excuse to let a mare become overweight. Equally, underfeeding can leave her without the reserves needed to support pregnancy and lactation. The goal is to maintain a healthy body condition throughout gestation, adjusting her feeding program to meet her individual needs.

🩺 MONITOR FOR EARLY WARNING SIGNS

By around 8.5 of gestation, make routine mammary development checks part of your management program. Premature udder development can be an early warning sign of Placentitis, an inflammation of the placenta and an important cause of late-term pregnancy loss. While you're at it, look under your mare's tail daily, or at least every other day, for unusual vaginal discharge.

Neither sign automatically means Placentitis is present, but both warrant prompt veterinary attention. Placentitis can sometimes be treated successfully, particularly when identified early, so don't wait to see whether things progress. When something seems abnormal, call your veterinarian immediately.

💉 STAY ON TOP OF VACCINATIONS AND DEWORMING

Work with your veterinarian to establish a pregnancy-specific preventative health plan. Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), commonly called Rhino, can cause abortion in pregnant mares. Vaccination against EHV-1 is commonly recommended at five, seven, and nine months of gestation, using an appropriate vaccine and schedule under veterinary guidance.

Deworming should be based on your farm's parasite-control program, f***l testing where appropriate, and the products suitable for your mare and stage of pregnancy. Don't assume every mare needs the same product on the same schedule.

🦶 DON'T FORGET HER FEET

Pregnancy adds weight and changes the demands placed on a mare's limbs and feet. Keep up with routine farrier care, monitor for cracks, uneven wear, soreness, and changes in movement, and ensure she has safe footing around feeders, waterers, and shelters. Winter ice and frozen ruts add another layer of risk.

💧 WATER, SHELTER, AND MOVEMENT STILL MATTER

Ensure clean, accessible water is available and isn't frozen. Provide protection from wind and wet weather, adequate forage, and enough space to move comfortably. Reduced water intake during winter can contribute to digestive issues, including impaction colic, so don't overlook hydration.

The takeaway? Don't wait until foaling is around the corner to start paying attention.

Know your forage. Maintain a healthy body condition. Monitor your mare. Keep up with preventative care. Learn what's normal for her so you can recognize when something isn't right.

A few minutes of observation each day, combined with thoughtful nutrition and preventative care, can make a meaningful difference in your mare's pregnancy management.

Responsible breeding doesn't end when the mare is confirmed in foal. It means caring for her every step of the way. 🐴

10/26/2026

I'm practicing what I preach. 🌾🐴

If you know me, you know I'm a big believer in knowing what's in your feed before making decisions about what to add to it... So, let's talk about my hay test!

This sample represents my 2026 round bales, consisting of primarily Alfalfa. This hay was collected across multiple sources, but the majority of it came from within 800 yards of each other. It's the hay that makes up the bulk of my horses' diet as we move into winter, with higher quality square bales used to supplement it.

I have two easy-keeping horses who won't be doing any real work for the next 5–6 months, so their dietary needs are vastly different than those in work, but regardless, these round bales still leave a significant hole in my horses diet, which genuinely surprised me... even as someone who works closely with feed in a professional capacity.

The key points:
🔹 Crude protein: 9.7% - This is low; especially for Alfalfa. It isn't necessarily inadequate, but it reminds us that the type of forage doesn't tell us everything about its nutritional value. Just because it's Alfalfa, don't assume it's high in protein.

🔹 Total digestible nutrients (TDN): 55.46% - This is the usable energy hay provides. This gives me a better starting point for assessing the energy in my forage, rather than assuming alfalfa automatically means a high-energy feed. The amount of people say "I can't feed my horse Alfalfa, it makes them hot" always makes me giggle a little, and this hay is a testament to that.

🔹 Fibre: ADF 40.41% and NDF 63.27% - Both are relatively high. These values tell us the hay was mature, and as a result, has lower digestibility. With the weather local producers were challenged with this year, this is not surprising or uncommon.

🔹 Phosphorus: 0.11% - Low, and something I'll be paying attention to when I assess the overall mineral balance of the diet.

🔹 Sodium: 0.01% - Very low. This is another reminder that forage alone may not supply every mineral a horse needs, and free choice salt is always a valuable option.

🔹 Calcium: 0.51% - Lower than many people might expect from alfalfa, which is another reason not to make assumptions based on forage type alone.

The important part is what I do with this information... I'm so much further ahead in ensuring my horses diets are balanced, rather than just throwing supplements at them without knowing if they actually need it or not. Instead, I'll consider the hay analysis alongside their body condition, workload, forage intake and total diet to determine where adjustments may be appropriate.

For the next several months, these horses are going to be living the easy life. My job is to make sure their nutrition supports that lifestyle without overlooking the nutrients they still need. Good nutrition isn't about feeding the most. It's about feeding what your horse actually needs.

We spend a lot of time talking about soil health, forage production and livestock management in agriculture... Those principles don't stop at the barn door. Knowing what's in our feed is one more way we can make informed decisions and take better care of the animals relying on us.

I'm always happy to talk about feed testing, and I'll share more as I work through what these results mean for my own horses. After all, it's one thing to preach it, and another to practice it! 😉

10/23/2026

Mid day break to reset my nervous system and get some sunshine and horse time 🤎

10/23/2026

In so many ways, I feel like this horse chose me.

Contrary to what his performance at the NRR Finals this past August might suggest (apparently, his big boy pants were left at home), Gunner is generally a pretty chill guy. Not much ruffles his feathers under saddle, and he's accepting of just about anyone who climbs on. He'll do the things you ask of him, but generally not a stitch more unless you absolutely beg him.

He's an easy horse to like. Agreeable, accommodating, a little aloof... your typical gelding. Such a dude. But I'm learning there's a difference between a horse who accepts people and a horse who has really started to choose one.

Gunner has a whole other side to him on the ground that people don't always see. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body, but he's incredibly responsive and reactive to the slightest movement; he's far more 'plugged in' than most people would expect. He's also stand-offish with strangers, particularly men who want to do something to him on the ground.

Our biggest challenge has been the farrier. My farrier is wonderful: calm, quiet, and kind. Unfortunately, none of that seems to matter to Gunner. The second he sees that truck pull in, he does a complete 180. As he approaches with his gear, Gunner starts practicing his airborne acrobatics before the poor guy even gets close enough to pet him. He's never kicked, but he's very protective of his hind feet, pulling them away and launching himself forward or sideways.

The first time I picked up his hind feet, he launched himself into the fence he was tied to, and I immediately questioned my decision to buy him. The first trim, we couldn't even do his hind feet; he was downright dangerous to both me and himself, as well as the farrier. The next trim took almost an hour. Now, we're done all around in about 20 minutes, although he's still vibrating the entire time. He's also occasionally a little jumpy about things like boots, blanketing and having his tail grabbed unexpectedly. I've written a lot of it off as new experiences for him, and stored them in the "bag of quirks" he holds.

Despite that, what really gets me is that he doesn't do most of these things with me anymore. I had to learn him, and he had to learn me. It's challenging when the progress we've made doesn't always translate to other people, but it also highlights the trust we've built. Somewhere along the way, we found our rhythm. I see it in the little things: the way he responds to me, follows me, and physically relaxes when we're hanging out, pressure-free, in the pasture. The very first time I tried to take a selfie with him, he wouldn't let me touch his face. He pulled away, backed up, and genuinely wanted nothing to do with me being that close. Now he'll wrap me right up in his neck and nibble my face if I let him.

Gunner is perfectly happy to accept other people in his world. He doesn't need to be difficult for other people to show me that we have an exclusive relationship at the end of the day. Increasingly, there's something different about the way he chooses to be with me. He follows me just about anywhere, and the little signs of trust he gives me feel like something we've built together, not something he offers to everyone. He'd probably follow me through fire if I asked him to.

There's another side to this, too. Gunner is unlike any horse I've ever owned, but I'm also different from any owner he's ever had. Although he obviously had owners before, he came from a home where he spent the last 10 years in a mountain trail string where he always carried different riders. He never really had the opportunity to build this kind of long-term connection with one singular person, working through the hard things and learning to trust one another over time.

When I bought him, I was looking for an easygoing, laid-back, safe horse. Despite being a lifelong mare-lover, I wanted an uncomplicated gelding. I got that, but I'm also discovering I got so much more.

11 months ago I bought him off the internet, sight unseen, and had him shipped home. He wasn't even technically for sale; his owners reached out after seeing my ISO ad. People say certain horses come into our lives for a reason, and I truly believe that. As we approach his "gotcha day", I'm so grateful for the lessons he's teaching me, the relationship we're building, and the fact that I've gotten far more than I anticipated in him❤️

10/22/2026

Horse people, we need to talk about feed testing.

I think the horse industry is significantly behind the cattle industry when it comes to knowing what's actually in our feed. We're often quick to reach for a supplement to fix a problem we're seeing, sometimes without ever identifying whether we're actually addressing the underlying issue. Additionally, we tend to look at hay as suitable to all ages and stages when in-fact, it is not. Dietary needs vary vastly between breeds, ages, levels of work, and other factors that can change throughout a horses lifespan, so why are we just feeding what's available, in our budget, or comes in a pretty package?

The thing about supplements is that they're just that: supplements. They're meant to supplement a balanced diet that may be lacking in a particular nutrient, not make up for a feeding program we haven't taken the time to evaluate.

Horses are designed to eat a forage-based diet. Full stop. Their digestive systems are built around consuming small amounts of fibrous forage frequently throughout the day, not large meals followed by long periods without feed. While grain and concentrates have their place in certain feeding programs, they shouldn't automatically be the foundation. Despite their size, their stomach is only about the size of a football and the longer we can keep it functioning and digesting, the healthier the gut biome becomes.

So how do we know what our horses need if we don't know what's in the foundation of their diet?

Test your hay.

It's a relatively simple, inexpensive process that gives you valuable information about the nutritional content of your forage. From there, you can make informed decisions about whether your horse needs additional protein, energy, minerals, or other nutrients, rather than throwing supplements at them because your trainer told you to.

You might discover you're missing something important. You might discover your hay is already supplying more of a particular nutrient than you realized, and you're subsequently wasting your money on a supplement that isn't even being utilized. Either way, when you test your forage it allows you to make decisions based on information, instead of guesswork.

Feed testing is a small investment that can save you money, help you make better nutritional decisions, and ultimately support the health of your horses. We spend plenty of money on our horses. The least we can do is understand what we're feeding them.

10/21/2026

The highly requested Sea Can Tour 😂

10/20/2026

There is a difference between living on the land, and living with the land.

We spend a lot of time talking about land as something we own. We buy it, we sell it, we put up fences and buildings, we make plans for it, and eventually, our name ends up on a piece of paper saying that it's ours.

I grew up in suburbia and rode horses at a boarding barn. It wasn't until I moved to Alberta in 2010 that I really had the opportunity to immerse myself in agriculture. The longer I spend working with land, the less I think of it as something I own and the more I think of it as something I've been entrusted with.

There is a temptation, particularly in agriculture, to measure the value of land by what we can get from it. How many animals can it carry? How much can it produce? How much money can it make? How efficiently can we extract every possible bit of productivity from it?

But I don't want to look at our land that way... I want to know how much life we can support here.

I want healthy soil beneath our feet, healthy grass beneath our horses, and a landscape that isn't just productive, but alive. I want to see birds using the trees and shelterbelts, wildlife moving through the property, insects doing the work that often goes unnoticed, and native plants holding their place in the ecosystem. I want there to be room for things that don't necessarily have a price tag or contribute directly to our bottom line.

That doesn't mean profitability doesn't matter. It does. We want this place to be productive, and we want it to support our family and the animals that call it home. But I don't believe profitability and stewardship have to be opposing ideas. I believe people can make a living from the land without constantly asking how much more we can take from it.

Sometimes the best decision for a piece of land isn't the one that produces the most this year. Sometimes it's the decision that protects what will still be here twenty, fifty or a hundred years from now.

We're still learning this piece of land. We'll make mistakes, change our minds, try things that don't work and hopefully become better stewards because of them. Our goal isn't to maximize what we can extract from this little piece of property. It's to understand it, work with it instead of against it, and create a place where soil, plants, animals, wildlife and people can all thrive together.

One day this land won't be ours anymore, we're simply one chapter in its story, and I'd like our chapter to leave it healthier, more diverse and more alive than we found it.

Bottom Line? Stewardship > Ownership

10/20/2026

Winter is looming in the distance, and we’re definitely starting to feel the crunch at WRR! 🍂❄️

We moved in at the end of May, and looking back, it’s honestly shocking how much we’ve accomplished in just a few short months... But somehow, the to-do list is still a mile long, lol.
The Fall to-do list still includes building a horse shelter, wiring more lights and outlets in our outdoor buildings, butchering more birds and a handful of other time-consuming projects!

We’re trying to soak up every last bit of fall while racing the clock to get everything ready for winter. Farm life isn't new to me, so I don't get too worked up about the never-ending list of tasks.

Here’s hoping Mother Nature gives us a little more time! 🤞🌾

10/15/2026

I’ve made some past decisions that scared the hell out of me; walking away from things that no longer felt right and trusting that somehow, eventually, I’d find my way to the life I wanted. Some days it felt impossible; clawing my way through unchartered waters, broken and bleeding inside and out... These days, I wake up to a gorgeous sunrise lighting up the ridge, a pasture full of good horses, and a life that finally feels like mine. I’d say that was worth the risk.

10/12/2026

This Thanksgiving, I’m feeling especially grateful for the life I get to live.

I’m thankful for my family, my friends, my partner and my girl; for the people who show up, cheer me on, and make the hard days a little easier. I’m thankful for this beautiful farm, for the land I’m lucky enough to call home, and for the opportunity to build a life rooted in the things I love.

I’m thankful for a dream job that lets me do work I genuinely care about, and for the horses, animals, dirt, fresh air and all the little pieces of everyday life that make this place feel like home.

It isn’t always perfect, but it’s ours - and I’m pretty damn grateful for it. 🤎

Happy Thanksgiving from West Ridge Ranch 🦃🍂

West Ridge Ranch

10/28/2026

10/26/2026

10/23/2026

10/23/2026

10/22/2026

10/21/2026

10/20/2026

10/20/2026

10/15/2026

10/12/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Nearby pet stores & pet services

Other Calgary pet stores & pet services

Listing takedown request