Remember little Granite from a just a year ago. He was born into our resident herd from Babe and sired by Porterro. He has lived with us this past year, growing strong and healthy and was now ready to be gelded before going to his new home.
Here he is, now a year old and looking so handsome. The horses we are going to have gelded, we stand in our handling chute in order to administer a sedative. They are then led out into a pen and we wait for the sedative to fully take hold. At that point our veterinarian administer the anesthesia drug in order to make the horses go totally a sleep in order to do the castration surgery.
Here he is being prepped for the surgery.
We are so fortunate to have a highly trained team of veterinarian and vet techs from the University of Calgary come out to geld all the young studs we rescue. Here the team monitors his heart rate, breathing and oxygen levels during the whole process. Veterinarian students also take part in this as a hands on learning experience and to enhance their skills before they go into their own practices. WHOAS volunteers also take part in order to hold the horse steady and in the proper position to allow the surgery to go quickly and safely.
All horses that we geld are also branded with our own brand, given their first and later a second dose of vaccines, which includes West Nile and they also have their wolf teeth removed. An anti-inflammatory injection is also administered at this time as well as a bug creame being applied to their incisions to keep the bugs off and the horses healthy and safe.
Surgery done and he is slowly starting to move about. Young Granite has been adopted and will move onto his new forever and loving home as soon as he recovers.
Here is Harley being sedated. He is a 3 year old and has been with only a short time.
Getting sleepy. He is a beautiful boy and is still awaiting someone to adopt him and give him a good home. One thing about these Alberta Mountain Horses, is that they make extremely loyal and reliable horses for their human partners. They make great trail horses and can excel in any other discipline their new humans wish to take them. They are extremely smart and coming from the wild they have no human vices to impede their development.
The sun was very warm and with Harley still under the effects of the anesthesia he is not able to regulate all his body functions. We strung a tarp over him to protect him until he came around and stood up.
This is Hunter who is a strikingly beautiful two year old.
Here the anesthesia drug is administered. Hunter is available for adoption and as you can see he is a wonderful size and would make a great ladies or younger persons horse.
Surgery done and he is on his way to recovery.
We still have available for adoption Hoss is still undergoing his gentling process, but is ready to go to a new home with an experienced horse person.
If you are interested in adopting one of the three young boys that we have available, please contact us at WHOASalberta@gmail.com to arrange a visit to see if one of them is the perfect hose you have been looking for.
Nothing to do with horses, but on my way out to our facility I was on a backroad and I heard a funny call. When I stopped to listen this little fawn stood up and called out several more times.
I snapped a couple of quick pictures because it was so cute and then drove off to let it settle down and await mom’s return. Conservation officers and wildlife rescue organizations advise us to not pick up the young animals thinking they are abandoned. In almost all cases they are not and the mom’s are just off feeding and by being away they are also protecting their babies.
Got to love the wild horses and all the wildlife that inhabit our great and beautiful Alberta country.