Welcome to Fern Valley

Here in central Alberta prime farm country,my husband Martin and I work together raising beef cattle and Appaloosa horses. Fern valley appaloosas have long been known for their quality of temperament conformation and color.I have recently rediscovered a love of writing and have published 2 collections of poetry. "Telling Tails" and Tails Trails and Campfire stories" . I look forward to a future spreading my wings as an author and as a horse woman .

Monday 2 July 2012

If stupid was illegal...


Warning, this is a bit of a rant, because, well I AM SEVERELY P*SSED!

As I said in me earlier post this is a holiday weekend , and along with the great folks that come out and holiday, there are, well the others, the thoughtless careless, jerks who  feel among other things that their ownership of a  tiny piece of lakefront ,or familial tries to a local, entitles them to free reign over the county . racing up and down on quads on the gravel road, not only at high speed , but  zig zagging as well which makes the road rough and dusty , grabbing their buddies, some guns and (I hope target shooting ) right alongside other folks livestock!
This (according to the RCMP) is legal in this county if done on their own property and X# of meters from roads and houses, but there seems to be no provision for proximity to livestock.
So these fools were tearing all over on their quad or ATV of some breed last evening shooting right alongside the mares. Real freakin heroes!!! Tough guys on their Manly man kick. Hey boys, wanna feel like a hero??? How about stand your ground and face down 7 panicked 100lb + mares that are running straight at you in a fear? Now that will start your heart! 
My girls normally don't react to this type of thing ,so I have to assume that something  came too close for comfort , and I thank my lucky stars that every horse I own knows what a hand up and a firm WHOA means ,else I might not have come through it as  well as I did . Got the girls settled into a  different pen then went back to what I was doing , which by the way was , working with Comet and Quinn,(who are a testament to the kind of  quiet horses I raise, they were totally unfazed by the excitement , both responsive and attentive to me )
Then came into the house to settle myself down and read on another blog that Lisa of Laughing Orca Ranch was dealing with a similar group of genius!

Seriously? I know I was raised to have respect for others and be mindful of my actions the consequences, as were most folks I know. Where do these selfish, careless rotters come from? And in light of the terrible events south of here where my friends horse was shot, and several cows, can you imagine how much sleep I got last night?

I commented yesterday that "you can't fix stupid" , and it made me smile as I remembered my old trainer Ernie, leaned up against the barn wall chewing a straw and looking every bit the cowboy saying one day "nope , you can't  fix stupid, You can fix ugly, but not stupid"
Not really related to this, but the memory gave me a smile, which I really needed about then!
So I guess, not only can we not fix it, we also can't make it illegal. The advice I got from the RCMP was this, "if they are on their own property and not in proximity to  houses or roads , we cannot do anything , however if I  find any spent shells or projectiles of any kind on my property I am to report it immediately and they will be charges with careless discharge of a firearm ."
Think I am going to go for a little walk
Stay safe my friends and I promise a happier post soon

8 comments:

NeighGirl said...

I know, People have NO respect for animals or people!
I was riding down the road last week and these JERKS, who knew I was there, and knew I was on a horse, set of a bunch of fire crackers. Molly was a pro, and only jumped, then let me have the pleasure of walking ALL the way to the end of the road.I feel Your Pain,
Neighgirl

sally said...

I hear you ....just recently we had a duck shooting season and their was one time when the shot gun pellets actually hit the house they got that close....as for the horses they were terrified. The guys in question thought it was funny (till I called the police). I hope the holiday time passes with no more incidents.stay safe

RoeH said...

Good night! Can't there me some security hanging around somewhere? That's terrible. Makes me want to grab the guns and use it on them. Fools. Idhots.

Crystal said...

Sure hope you find something! I am so glad we are so far away from any vacation spot that noone unfamiliar comes around here.

kden said...

Oh that makes me sad. All animals, big and small are scared of fireworks and anything like it. You can't explain it to them like you can a child. Hope the rest of the week goes smoothly.

Reddunappy said...

Hope things settle soon!!

Rising Rainbow said...

The idiots were out here as well. The news last night carried the story of a horse, not far from here, who lost his life due to the stupidity and disrespect of others. Why people think celebrating needs to be so raucous and intrusive is beyond me. There is no joy is terrorizing or harming innocent animals.

GoLightly said...

sorry I missed this, good grief, people do need to grow up. Partying doesn't have to mean shooting things.