Bryce Canyon

      Today, I took a trip out to Bryce Canyon which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Kanab! It's been pretty hot in Kanab all week, including today. But for whatever reason, it was much cooler in Bryce today! It was like the mid 70s. And unfortunately, as the day went on, the clouds got thicker... So my pictures don't look as cool as they should! I definitely missed the sun today. 

       
       So once I got to Bryce Canyon, I decided to start out by hitting all of the "View Points" before I went on a hike. I'm just going to show you a string of pictures in the order that I made each stop! (The elevations are all over the place, just so you know! They don't go in ascending order.)

      All of these views were absolutely gorgeous. Even with all of the cloud cover! After I was done being a tourist, I decided to go on a hike at Sunset & Sunrise Points! (They're only about a half mile away from one another!). At Sunrise and Sunset Points, you're looking down into the canyon and seeing all of the Hoodoos. Hoodoos are the oblong, vertical rock structures; and they are magnificent!

So all of these pictures were taken from Sunset Point, looking down into the canyon! Then I decided to hike down to the bottom of the canyon on a trail called Queen's Garden. It's about a mile long, and you basically just follow a very steep path that winds down through the canyon, it's awesome! Here are some pictures I took on my way down...

That line of trees towards the top of the picture is where I was taking pictures from Sunset Point!

       Then I finally made it to the "bottom" of the canyon...

I'm sure there's a cool name for this tunnel, but I do not know what it is!

       Climbing back up the canyon was definitely more challenging and tiring! Hence, why I did all my picture-taking on the way down! But overall, it was a really great hike! And very peaceful to do it all by myself :). My pictures DO NOT do Bryce Canyon justice... And the overcast sky didn't help me out either! If you have the opportunity, I definitely recommend scheduling a trip to come out and see Bryce Canyon, it's an extraordinary place. There's nothing else like it in the entire world! It's amazing how small and insignificant you feel when you're looking at something so spectacular :). Yet another humbling experience!

Week Four: Complete!

   

       My last day in horses was filled with many different things so I was super busy today! I started off my morning by walking around the lower canyon to fill all of the water troughs. It was nice to walk around and enjoy the cool, beautiful weather! (If only it stayed that way all day!!!) I thought I'd snap a picture of the beautiful scenery...

Gorgeous, right?

      After I got done filling the troughs, I went over to the goat barn to help Alice with the morning feedings and the mucking. Soon enough, I had to go to a presentation at 10:30 with the rest of the interns. Today, we had two presentations! The first presentation was on adoptions. Sherri, who mainly does cat adoptions, gave the presentation. She just explained all of the different fees and policies that Best Friends has, as well as, some of the numbers from 2013. Last year, Best Friends adopted out over 560 dogs and 300 cats! WOW! To adopt a dog, Best Friends asks for a $100 donation, and for cats, a $65 donation. For those of you who aren't familiar with Best Friends, they also have a return-guarantee policy. If something happens, or if you can no longer look after the animal, Best Friends will always take that animal back. Most shelters don't have the ability -- whether it be financial or physical limitations -- to deploy this kind of policy. So it's pretty amazing that Best Friends' animals truly have a forever home!

       Our second presentation was from the manager of the Volunteer Department, Lori! She informed us of all the ways that we can stay involved with Best Friends even after we leave. Best Friends has programs and events all over the country that constantly require the help of volunteers. Each year, they have an fundraising event called Strut Your Mutt that is held in cities across the US, and they're expanding every year! Here's a link so that you can check it out!

http://bestfriends.org/What-We-Do/Events/Strut-Your-Mutt/

      Once you copy and paste that link, on the left-hand side of the page, you will see other events that are happening, like Pet Super Adoptions! Although there aren't too many events located closely to Reading, PA... I still want to find a way to stay involved and help out Best Friends in anyway that I can! You guys should think about getting involved too :). It's really easy! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me!!

       So after our two morning presentations, I ate lunch, and went back to horses. This afternoon, I was scheduled to shadow Ann, who is a horse trainer. Ann has over 20 years of experience in the 'horse world' and she's an established trainer using the Parelli method. Parelli is a natural horsemanship program for training horses. And although I don't know much about Parelli itself, I know that it's an extremely humane and wildly popular training method. Today, Ann wanted to work with Jewel. Jewel arrived at Best Friends just three weeks ago, and she was not a happy horse! She was extremely stressed out, and to let everyone know that she was stressed out, she would bite, kick, and strike. When she first arrived, staff members, including Ann, couldn't even be in her pen with her because she was so unpredictable. But in these three short weeks, Jewel has made tremendous progress. She's no longer doing any of the harmful behavior, and she has become approachable. Ann wanted to do Parelli with Jewel because she thinks that no one ever took the time to train Jewel and give her any sort of stimulation. Throughout the afternoon, Ann gave me so much information on horses! I really feel like I've gained a better understanding about their body language, their nonverbal cues, and just their behavior in general. I'm so amazed at how receptive and sensitive horses are to everything. Jewel did exceedingly well on her outing today! Here's some pictures of her... (she's such a pretty girl!)

In this picture, Ann is playing the 'touch game', which is part of the Parelli program. Ann wanted Jewel to touch the sign with her nose. Using the rope that's attached to Jewel's halter, she swings it quickly back and forth, and by doing so, it lets Jewel know where she's supposed to go. After a few tries, Jewel really started to pick up on the touch game! It was awesome to watch her improve so quickly.

Here, Ann wanted Jewel to do a figure-eight around the two cones while still being lead by the rope attached to her halter. Jewel had practiced this task before, but she remembered what to do right away!

     Overall, my afternoon was jam-packed with information about horses! They are such fascinating animals and I am beyond happy that I got the chance to spend a week with them! Now that my week is done, I definitely feel more comfortable around horses, and that's simply because I understand them more! I can't even begin to tell you how much I learned in the past week. Out of the twelve people that run the horse and pig departments, eleven of them are women!!! If that's not amazing, I don't know what is. I am beyond impressed by how hard-working and passionate all of these women (and Ron!) are about their work, and they do such a phenomenal job! You guys have heard me whine all week about how tough the work is, but I have no right to complain, because these women do it day in and day out! I think I'm just a wimp :).

       FINALLY, I will be in my element next week!!!! YAY! I am so excited to spend some time with dogs before I leave. I'm sure my last week of this internship will definitely end on a good note! I'm going to try my hardest to not bring another piece of "luggage" home with me! :)

Ray

     One more day in Horses, I think I'll survive!!! This morning I did hay nets with Diane and took care of the goats with Katie. The goats are so comical... It is such a challenge trying to separate some of the goats for the feedings! When I was watching Buddy & Lambert eat this morning, I couldn't help but think of the sheep from the movie "Babe". Lol. I loved that movie when I was a kid! Anyway, here they are...

       Every Thursday, they have a Lunch Talk at the Village Cafe! Each animal area has a representative that stands up in front of everyone to talk about an adoption story, an informational story, etc. Today, I did the Lunch Talk with Michele! She wanted everyone to hear about bunnies from an intern's perspective. As nerve-racking as it was, I think I did ok! I explained how when I started working at bunnies, I didn't think there was much to them besides their cuteness. But after my week was over, I realized how much I had learned about bunnies and I think that everyone else needs to give bunnies a chance too! :)

       As I ate lunch and waited for our turn to talk, I couldn't help but notice this cute, little pitbull named Ray outside on the patio. Ray is one of the "Vicktory Dogs". He, among many others, have been adopted out in the years passed. He's a very sweet, and friendly dog... He walks up to everyone and says hello. As people greeted Ray, his owner explained that he was a Vicktory Dog. Many people were so surprised and just in awe of how far he had come and how nice of a dog he was after all he'd been through. Many people took pictures of Ray and admired his calm, easygoing demeanor. I sat back, also admiring his awesome demeanor. But then I couldn't help but think... What does Ray think of all this?? People are taking his picture, fawning all over him, speaking so highly of him. Not that he doesn't deserve all of this special treatment (because he does), but I think Ray could care less about all of the special attention. Even after everything that Ray has endured in his life... He's still kind, humble, affectionate, selfless... You name it. He didn't ask for any of his circumstances, but he did what he had to do to overcome them. Ray is a prime example of why I love dogs. Their resilience to come back from anything, their humility, and their lack of ego and pride in any given situation, is the most beautiful thing in the entire world. Dogs don't care if you want to take a picture with them because they overcame unimaginable circumstances, or if you tell them how proud you are of them for making it through the hard times. That's worthless to a dog. They don't need all of the shallow, ego-boosting crap.  All a dog wants is your love and your affection. If only people could begin to learn a thing or two from dogs, the world would be a much better place. Wouldn't it?

       Anyway, I just thought I would share my very small revelation that I had at lunch! Thanks for that, Ray :). After lunch was over, I had a few minutes before I needed to be back at horses. I decided to stop at Angels Rest. 

At Angels Rest, they have wind chimes everywhere. The reason for the wind chimes is because each time the wind blows, it's to remind us that our loved ones are near, or that they're doing ok. When I started to walk through Angels Rest, the wind was pretty still. A minute or two had passed, and suddenly, the wind picked up. All I could hear were wind chimes. It was such a beautiful, humbling experience. So many animals that had been loved by so many, that had forever changed people's lives, and that made this world a better place simply by being themselves. To feel all of those things at once, took my breath away. I was astounded by the amount of love and warmth that I felt within Angels Rest. It was undeniable. I feel like I could go on and on about how amazing Angels Rest is. It is definitely something you need to experience for yourself!

       After my lunch hour ended, I returned to horses. I basically did the same things in the afternoon that I did in the morning. But I got a chance to hang out with my favorite horse, Lady! I mentioned her already, but she is beautiful girl, and such a sweetheart! She's super friendly, and she loves all people. Lady let me pet her for a good 20 minutes. As many of you know, being near horses (let alone petting them) is a huge step for me! I think that I can honestly say that my fear of horses has been diminished! Yay! I actually think I'm going to miss the horses once I'm gone!

Feeding Day

      It's only Wednesday and I feel like I've been working in horses for over a month. I have NO CLUE how the staff does this all year round! It is beyond impressive. Today, it was my turn to go with Alice on the feed runs. Alice is the Head Feeder, meaning she's in charge of knowing what everyone gets to eat. These horses eat like champs! Some horses get flax seeds, sunflower seeds, papaya, and a bunch of different oils and supplements. Every horse has such a specific diet, and Alice knows them all! All of the horses get exactly what they need because they have such an amazing, caring, wonderful staff to take care of them!


      In addition to the feeding runs, I did LOTS of heavy lifting today! I moved hay bales upwards of 75 lbs and I helped Alice restock all of the feeds and pellets. It was a tough day! But even though it was a tough day, I still got a chance to takes some pictures!

From left to right: this is Fiona, Blaze, and Buddy enjoying their morning meals!

This is Uno and Red enjoying an afternoon dip.

Here's Uno and Daisy, getting very excited for their afternoon feeding!

It's not a very good picture, but these are two mini horses. The one in the front is Luna and the one behind her is Trixie. They're goofy little buddies!

These are the only two sheep at the sanctuary: Buddy & Lambert!

I'm blanking on this sweet goat's name right now!!! Isn't he/she so cute?!

LOL. This is a funny picture of Joseph. It got kind of blurry, but yes, that is his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth!

       I would write more if I wasn't so tired. It's only 6:00 in Utah, and I'm just about ready for bed! Today was another great, informative day, and I got a chance to work with another awesome staff member, Alice. As grueling as the work is down at Horses, the people I've been working with have been delightful. It truly does make a difference! They have a great philosophy at horses... If the people are laid back and calm, then the animals will follow their lead. Their philosophy is wildly successful! Everybody with two and four legs seems to be pretty happy... They're doing something (a lot of things) right!

Hoof Mapping

      Today was an interesting day at work, I did a lot of different things! In the morning, I went with Jackie to do hay nets. Hay nets are exactly what you think they are... A net that they put hay flakes into for feeding. Certain horses get hay nets to slow down their eating.  After we got done with that, I went with Katie to feed goats. Goats are such weird and funny! Some of the older goats get moistened hay, and most of the other goats get regular hay in their feeders. Here's an example of an older goat that is eating the moistened hay.

This is Joseph. He kneels over like that to eat to relieve some of the pain from his arthritis.

This is Emily, just hangin' out. She's a sweetheart!

And this is Lily... She's always up to no good!

      After feeding the goats and cleaning the barn, the interns had a Stages of Puppyhood Presentation. It was a pretty short, and informal presentation. We talked about puppies all the way from their gestation periods to their destructive adolescent stages! We learned about the various stages of puppyhood that are so incredibly crucial to developing their temperaments, confidence, sociability, etc. And unfortunately, if you or your dog don't do these things in the correct stage of development, it can affect the dog for the rest of his life! So luckily for me, I was able to get my puppy fix before the presentation started! I walked into Dogtown Headquarters and one of the staff members asked me if I wanted to socialize with a puppy... I said, "Say no more!!!"

This is Kavi. He's an 8-10 week old mixed breed puppy. They aren't exactly sure what he is yet! As soon as I walked in the room, he was so happy to see me! I laid down on the floor to play with him, he climbed all over me and eventually he laid right down on my chest and fell asleep. He was so precious.

Right now, Kavi is being kept separate from his siblings because he's having some health issues. He's also not eating that well, so I tried to hand-feed him and give him some treats. He did very well with the treats, and as you can see in the first picture, he knows how to sit; but I couldn't get him to eat his kibble. Either way, this pup was such a love and I'm so glad I got a chance to play with him today!!!

      After lunch, the Horse Haven staff and the Piggy Paradise staff went on a little adventure. Jen, the manager of both Horse Haven and Piggy Paradise, does tutorials/informative sessions the first Tuesday of every month. Today, she was teaching everyone how to map a horse's hooves. Jen has many, many years of experience in the horse industry, so she has a wealth of knowledge about them! I couldn't quite follow all of the anatomical jargon that she was saying, but I still found her demonstration to be extremely interesting. Not only is mapping and trimming horse hooves incredibly difficult, but it's so fascinating! There's a lot of logistics that go into the entire process. Not sure if I'll ever need to perform hoof mapping in my lifetime, but I'm glad that I at least know what it is now!

This is Jen doing hoof mapping on Jewel. Linda, one of the horse trainers, is holding Jewel while Jen works! I don't know how Jen managed to do this in the 90 degree heat and beating sun! She's awesome!

       To finish the day, I also got to watch Dr. Tara examine Linda's horse because of some oozing in his one ear. She first had to sedate Petey, and then she performed the exam. Even under sedation, Petey was not happy with Dr. Tara messing with his ear! She ended up finding a tick in his ear, which I guess horses are prone to, and then she flushed out his ear with saline. Dr. Tara is the large animal vet at Best Friends, and it's pretty impressive to watch her work! She's very quick, and knows exactly what to do.

Petey was falling asleep after Dr. Tara finished her exam! He was so cute.

So I finished the afternoon doing hay nets with Jackie, and the afternoon feedings for the goats with Katie. Like I said, it was an interesting day with lots of new experiences! I'm looking forward to spending more time with Linda to learn more about the horses. She's a wonderfully skilled trainer, and just like the rest of the staff at Horse Haven, she knows so much! We'll see where tomorrow takes me!

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!!! :)

Week Three: Complete!

       Now that I've worked with bunnies, pigs, and cats... It's time to move on to horses! Most of you know that I have a fear or horses, but I'm hoping that after this week, that fear will be no more! I'm anxious to learn more about horses, and I'm sure that once I gain a better understanding, I'll love them just as much as I love all of the other animals I've worked with!


      I apologize for not posting for a few days... But after work on Friday, I hopped in my car and headed for Las Vegas! Fortunately for me, some friends from home were going out to Vegas to celebrate her brother getting married. It was really good to see people from back home! We had a lot of fun, and I am super exhausted! Here's a picture of my best friend, Amanda, and me before Alex's (her brother) wedding. It was a short but beautiful ceremony right at the hotel we stayed in, the Excalibur. Congratulations Alex & Meghan!!! :)

       To finish my week in cats, on Friday we had a presentation by Dr. Frank on quality of life. It was a very interesting presentation, and once again, I learned a ton of new information! In both the human world and the animal world, we tend to equate quality of life with health and only health. But Dr. Frank encouraged us to also consider happiness as a large component of quality of life. Doctors and veterinarians tend to only look at the physical well-being of the subject, and they disregard the mental or emotional well-being that can have just as much of an impact, if not more, on one's quality of life. Overall, when assessing an animal's quality of life, it is never "black and white". There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration before the veterinarian and the owner can make the best possible decision for that animal. 

       Another good point that Dr. Frank brought up was how many people say, "All my dog does is eat and sleep, he's got it made!". And in reality, it means anything but. Just like humans do, dogs can use sleep as a coping mechanism to deal with stress, boredom, fear, etc. When you're sleeping, you can escape your stressors or your fears. The same goes for dogs. If a dog has a lot of anxiety, or even if he's just really bored... He will probably sleep more often in order to rid himself of those unpleasant feelings. Now this isn't to say that every time your dog is sleeping, he's stressed out or unhappy (because obviously animals need sleep to function), but it's important to recognize that sometimes it may be more than just fatigue that is making your dog sleep.

        I think a lot of us, including myself, take for granted that our pets need so little to survive. But I believe that every single one of us wants our pets to do way more than merely 'survive'. Everybody wants their pets to lead healthy, happy, enriched lives! Something as simple as going for a walk, reading to your pet, trying to teach new tricks, grooming, etc., can make a huge improvement to your pet's quality of life. Thanks to Dr. Frank, I am much more cognizant of all the things that are required for my baby girl, Lola, to live the best life she possibly can. There's no greater feeling than knowing when she is truly happy and at peace. She deserves more of those joyful moments. I am going to be a better dog mom! I love and miss you so much Lola Bean, 13 more days until I can give you a BIG HUG! :)