Fourth Week: Horses

       After spending all day in the 90 degree heat and the sun, I am even more exhausted than I was yesterday! My first day in horses was a lot of work but a lot of fun. I spent my day with Ron, he's the Volunteer Coordinator of the Horse Department. He's worked with horses his entire life, so he knows a great deal about them! We spent the morning mucking the pastures in the lower canyon (AKA raking up poop) and filling their water troughs. Right now at the sanctuary, Ron said there's about 40 horses. They try to stay as close to 40 as possible in case of any emergencies or rescues. I'll show you some of them now...

This is Lady and Kate. "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine!"

This is Emma (the dog) and Felix (the horse). Emma is Ron's Bernese Mountain Dog. She's a very shy girl, but super sweet! She rode in "Kermit" with us all day -- mostly on my lap :). Kermit is the name of the Ranger that they use to drive from pasture to pasture. I even got to drive it too!

This is Sweetie. She's a donkey!

This is Daisy. She's only 2 years old!

And this is River! He's a beautiful horse. I love the brown spots all over his neck and chest.

      In the afternoon Ron, the volunteers, and I took off to muck the pastures in the upper canyon! In addition to mucking, Ron took us on an awesome tour of the sanctuary; a tour that many people don't get a chance to go on!

It's pretty hard to see, but in this picture, there's petroglyphs from the Anasazi Indians over 800 years ago! If you look above the rectangle of light, you see two triangles... Those represent people. And then above the people, you see a squiggly line. That represents a rattlesnake! Pretty neat!!

This is what they call "The Disney Barn". In the 1973 Disney move, 'One Little Indian', this barn was featured! It is still the same foundation and structure, the only improvements/restorations that were made were on the roof! It's located in one of the horse pastures.

This is Kanab Creek. It runs right through the sanctuary. A lot of people take dogs on walks over in this area!

This was on our drive through the other side of the canyon where they keep other horses. I didn't even know there were horses over here!

Behind the wooden fence, there's ruins of the Anasazi Indians. This is where they kept a lot of their food and other items. The reason they (meaning Best Friends) put the fence up is so cows don't go through here and mess it all up! It's unbelievable that we're still able to see the structure and the original layout. Here's a closer look...

So cool!

In the same location, this figure is featured on the rock wall. Ron said that this is a universal symbol of gratitude.

       To finish the day, Ron took us to Hidden Lake. I am so glad that he showed us Hidden Lake because, staying true to its' name, I never would have found it!

If you walk towards that black hole behind me (kinda creepy!), the water is basically right there. And once you're in the shade of the rocks, it is ridiculously cold in there!!! Once you're down near the water, Ron said that the lake extends back about 40 feet. He also said that divers have tried to determine the depth, but they weren't able to because they just kept going down... and down... and down. It is actually believed that Hidden Lake connects with other water sources throughout the canyon. Pretty awesome!

      Today went so fast, probably because I was so busy all day! I'm glad that I learned more about the horses and way more about the canyon itself! I'm sure the rest of my week will go fast as well. And that's a good thing, because I will be with dogs for my last week! Yay! I like knowing that I'm going to end my internship on a good note. Lots to look forward to in the next two weeks... Especially coming home at the end of it!!! :)