A View From My Horse: Alberta Elk from World Equestrian Brands

I took this picture in the summer of 2009, where I worked perhaps every student rider’s dream. I am an eventer and have been since I was about 12. I usually ride my 10 yr. old mare, Kahlua, at home in Ontario, but in 2009 I took the summer off to take on a summer job which more suited my university degree (Environmental Science and Biology). I worked in the heart of Alberta at the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, surrounded by the Rockies, employed by Parks Canada to help run an aversive conditioning program on the resident elk population. In other words, I was an elk chaser! I have no ranching background whatsoever, never herded a cow, nothing… but I have been riding since I was 7 and I knew biology so they gave me the job. In a nutshell, we went out early every morning and did morning observations on the elk around the ranch (some had radio collars so they were easy to track) then we went back to the ranch,saddled up and chased them to specific location about 6 km away across the Red Deer River. It was a blast! I was getting paid to chase these buggers across some pretty crazy terrain on some awesome horses trained by (in my opinion) 2 of Alberta’s best cowboys. This particular picture was actually taken in the afternoon, and we were out on a hack scouting some of the elk that had returned. The horse I’m riding, Hector, aka Fatty Paint, was an awesome little guy with a huge heart and a sense of humour- at the particular moment of this picture being taken he was getting all pumped and ready for a chase, which sadly, he wasn’t allowed to do. The afternoons were spent hiking the Rockies doing some vegetation sampling and evenings were spent doing pretty much whatever we wanted. I missed cross-country, but on occasion my horse would jump across a ditch or a log, which put a smile on my face…at least it was something! I was very lucky and like I said, it was an absolute blast!