Travel, Nature & Us

We left Jasper as we arrived, in bad weather, we drove through the stunning scenery catching glimpses when the rain clouds lifted and headed West out of Alberta on Highway 16 back into British Columbia and jumping back a time zone. We then headed Southwest on Highway 5 through Kamloops and onto Logan Lake and to our next stop just outside of town; we had a pitch booked for 3 nights at Highland House, a horse ranch.

We spent the next 3 days helping out with the horses, spending time with them and watching Jay, a horse whisperer, work with two young horses; Willy a young gelding who had just been broken and Ruby a young mare who had come from a wild herd. Ruby was just a foal when her mother was tragically killed by a snowplough on the road by the ranch, they were wild horses and Ruby was rejected from the herd and eventually came back to the ranch of her own accord and stayed. She was completely wild in the beginning allowing no-one near her, but gradually over time she became more comfortable with humans. After just a few months with Jill and Jay a wildfire spread through the surrounding countryside to within 50 feet of the property, and the ranch had to be evacuated, no-one had handled Ruby by this point but her survival mode kicked in and she loaded herself into the horse trailer with the other horses. Once able to return to the ranch Jill and Jay have worked with Ruby and while we were there we were able to watch Jay’s incredible work with her, it was truly fascinating to watch their bond. Elizabeth was very honoured to be asked to work with Ruby on our last night at the ranch and spent time learning some natural horsemanship techniques.