Each year since 2010 there has been a story on the Ranch’s website describing the preceding year’s adventures/misadventures.  This year is slightly different, since I have included the year in pictures in the Photo Gallery.  The stories there are different than the ones in this narrative.  I just chose a few snapshots out of each month to show what happened as the year progressed. Naturally, the pictorial presentation starts with Solstice 2024 and proceeds thru the months with a few eye-catching photos to let the viewer know some of the highlights of 2025.

This year’s Update narrative is perhaps a bit shorter than other renditions, not that there were fewer adventures and memories made in 2025.  I have decided to be kinder to myself (self-compassion in action) and only choose ten highlights to update you with.  As usual,  the names of those who are not regular volunteers, friends and family do not appear in these stories.  However, your images will be part of the effort to record the events of the past year.  I hope that you will enjoy reliving the memories you have of time spent at Winning Ways.

I am a new subscriber to the App, CALM, which allows one to choose media that assist in staying/becoming calm/focused.  As I write, I can listen to the ocean, the rain falling, Pop Piano or, right now, the Wintertime Piano melodically performing Christmas songs.  It is my opinion that our world is moving too fast.  I say this to others and most agree they feel the pressure of deadlines, commitments, and expectations.  I’m not even going to venture into the quagmire of possible reasons. I’m just going say that our human bodies and minds have not evolved to this level.  Hence the huge interest in CALM.

I am also engaged in the study of teaching kids to be more resilient, courageous and compassionate.  To that end I have taken a self-compassion course for myself and found that I am fairly balanced and compassionate with myself.  I’m even willing to give myself a pat on the back occasionally.  In November I attended an FCC workshop with Paul, my nephew, where, among other topics, the speakers covered Mental Health.  One of the activities was to complete a Perceived Stress Scale.  You will note that it was  “perceived” stress.  How we look at the world, our beliefs and underlying values, influences our perception of that world.  My score was in the Low Stress range.  However, the younger adults consistently scored in the High perceived stress gamut.  Those in high stress need self-compassion to navigate the stress they are feeling on a daily basis.  They need to give themselves credit for having courage to show up every day and realize how amazing they are.  

Here on the Ranch we have clients/students/patrons who indulge in some self-care by becoming part of the Herd.  They experience a grounding exercise to bring them to the present moment so they can become more horse-like and join the herd of horses that are in the paddock with them.  The humans are then encouraged to speak with a horse as if it were a human friend and tell the horse their troubles and possibly discuss ideas for solving a problem.  Don’t laugh, the horses will tell the human what they think by their posture and behaviour—non-verbal communication.  Sometimes the horses push the human, other times they wrap themselves around the human, or if they really don’t agree with the human, they leave that relationship.  We have horses that follow several of our young students all around the pen and are very connected to the youngsters.

The weather in this part of the world has, as one volunteer put it, “been bipolar”!!  We had a period last February where the temperature stayed above zero for a couple of days.  On the other hand, prior to that it was -30 C or lower.  In July there was a morning where we woke up to +2 C and some folks lost plants in their gardens due to frost!!  We did get a few +30 C days, but it was mostly temperate through July and August. There was little precipitation and when we did get rain, it often occurred in a thunderstorm.

Father Sun has been rather riled up these past few months and has thrown out all sorts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which come in intense bursts that release vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation across the entire spectrum.  This of course leads to the intense and multi-hued Auroras that we have been fortunate to witness.  Some of the Ranch’s visitors have never seen this phenomenon before and are awestruck by these celestial displays forming dynamic patterns like arcs, spirals, and flickers.  The visitors with tripods capture the most vivid and breathtaking photos.

One morning at the end of May the sky was orange at daybreak because of the smoke from forest fires, near and far from here.  Later the sky turned black so that by 7:30 the incoming thunderstorm was very visible and noisy.  The threat of lightening strikes was very real this summer with dry conditions of the grass and other foliage.  There was a fire ban in place most of the spring, summer and fall.  That sort of cramped our bonfire season! 

We did have a bonfire for the Solstice celebration, Play ‘til the Sun Goes Down, on June 20.  There was a nice crowd of spectators along with our wonderful musicians Reg, Al, Rob, and John.  Paul lit the bonfire early and the table was loaded with food. Not only did we celebrate the Solstice but two of the Petit Trot Riding students received their Gold Certificates of completion.  We had volunteers from four countries all dressed up on magnificent horses as a color guard for the evening.  The music was fantastic; the company was enjoyable and there was lots of food for anyone who was hungry.  Our celebration was a good one!

Shortly before Solstice, Kelton visited us and had a good time catching up with some of his old buddies as well as family.  He helped get the truck to OK Tire when the front brakes went wonky and he had to pour water on them every few miles to keep them from overheating! He helped with the preparation for our celebration and enjoyed visiting with Brownie and our other guests that evening.

The morning after our Solstice celebration Kelton, one of the WW alumni (our photographer), Kelly and Amanda & Janet (in her car) headed to Zenon Park for the Graduation of Caslyn!  Yes, I have a grandgirl who has finished High School.  Since there were no other students in Caslyn’s Class of ’25, all the attention was on her.  Of course she got to choose her theme: Chasing Horizons, deliver the valedictory address and receive many accolades.

Pictures below:

The day started with a Graduation Mass at the local church. Pictures were taken in the wind just outside the church, hence Elissa's billowing skirt.  Caslyn's escort was her boyfriend, Moïse. 

As a surprise for Caslyn, Elissa played a beautiful piece of music composed by a Saskatchewan musician that I heard in the summer of 2024.  I purchased the sheet music and asked Elissa to play it at the graduation ceremony. Somehow Elissa practiced without her sister realizing that the music was especially for her. There were few dry eyes in the hall when this musical interlude was completed.

It was a bilingual valedictory address since the school is part of the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises system and my grandgirls are bilingual.

Previously, I mentioned that Brownie (Howard Brown) visited us for the Solstice Celebration.  Last February, Brownie went into the hospital and spent nearly a month there.  We were really concerned, as he had an infection that just wouldn’t let go, no matter which antibiotics were administered.  Finally in March he returned to his little apartment and Bob stayed with him to ensure he returned to walking and taking care of himself.  Homecare did, and still does, look in twice a day to ensure Brownie is doing okay.  During the summer, some Friedrich relatives came west for a visit.  One evening, they ate supper on the Ranch lawn.  Bob brought Brownie out for that occasion.  Brownie loves coming out, but he is becoming more fragile (he’s nearly 90!) and had to come inside for supper, because it was too chilly for him on the lawn.  Brownie still loves telling stories and from time to time he visits with Vawn or I on the phone.

Winning Ways has not only had family visiting this year but also many wonderful volunteers.  At least thirty helpful pairs of hands assisted with all the chores at Winning Ways. Volunteers from all over the world, folks from down under, Asia, Europe, South and North America  as well as friends from around the corner or from the other side of town made life better for all the life forms here on the Ranch, except for buzzing and biting insects.  Volunteers got to feel frost on their nose and eyelashes, see the dancing northern lights, smell the pungent odor of burnt hair at the brandings, taste homegrown beef, lamb and pork, listen to the crowd cheer the winning wagon over the finish line at the Chuckwagon Races.  Visiting Winning Ways is an in-depth experience that involves all of your senses and engages the mind in new ideas and concepts. The critters and I are very appreciative of the efforts of so many who joined our crew creating care and  camaraderie.

During the spring, Paul went looking for “a tractor” and thought he’d found one at the neighbours.  Unfortunately, Paul discovered that the tractor had a much bigger problem than he was willing to finance fixing.  He continued his search online and eventually found a cute little International with a front-end loader and a 3-point hitch.  He took a drive to make sure it was what he wanted, and then somehow convinced Al from OK Tire that it was light enough to haul on the little trailer that the shop uses for picking up tires and parts.  The truck and the trailer were both sitting close to the ground the morning Al brought the shinny little red machine into the yard. 

Paul has put his little red machine to beneficial use here on the Ranch.  Initially, Paul cleaned the garage to house the little tractor out of the elements.  This fall he put up a shelter, to which he dug an electric line to plug the tractor into, out in the bin yard.  He and one of the volunteers put in many new fence posts to keep the bulls in their pen.  Amanda helped with some of the post pounding as well. When I finally got a few loads of gravel delivered, Paul did an excellent job of leveling some of the many potholes in the yard.

Paul finally received his work visa for Canada and spent part of the fall working at OK Tire.  That gave him some Canadian experience in fixing broke down cars and trucks.  Not his line of expertise, but at least he was pulling wrenches.  Meeds Meadows had some tractors that needed repair and there, Paul was in this element.  One day as he was again going to help Bruce at Meeds Meadows, I had a calamity with my tractor.  I was in the Pony Pen pushing some trees out of the way when the ball joint on the front axel popped apart.  A tire crosswise under the front of the tractor was not helpful.  I called Paul and he immediately told me that there was a whole bunch of spare parts for the tractor I’m driving, on the old tractor parked by the bunkhouse.  Paul returned, took the part off the old tractor, and put it on the tractor that was sitting in the Pony Pen.  He knew how to do that job with his experience in fixing tractors during his apprenticeship.  He made it look simple! Thank goodness for a resident mechanic! 

There are always sad moments in every year when we have to say goodbye to one of the residents of the Ranch.  Last winter old Teddy was becoming increasingly unsteady, and I feared that one night he would go down and not be able to get up.  I made the decision that it was only humane to let him go before that eventuality.  A few months later I had to make the same decision with old Tango, who was slowly losing weight although the weather had warmed up, and spring was in the air.  You will find eulogies for our faithful old friends elsewhere on the website.

This summer I learned a valuable lesson about horse buying management.  In late July I purchased a pretty, little pinto pony from a gentleman who I’d met a few years ago.  I took the pony to the vet immediately, along with another horse, for testing for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), before I even brought him home.  Generally, the results for such tests are back in 3 or 4 days.  After an entire week had elapsed, I was suspicious something was wrong.  When I brought the pony home, we put him in isolation from the other horses/ponies so he could not sniff others or contaminate water others were drinking.  However, he was still within a few yards of the other horses.

Equine Infectious Anemia (otherwise known as Swamp Fever) is a blood borne disease that is transmitted by biting insects.  Since mosquitos can fly up to 75 miles, I’m not sure that any amount of distance is sufficient to stop the spread of disease.  However, the government regulations require 200 meters for a proper quarantine.   The pony was definitely closer than that, to the rest of my horse herd and he tested positive as a carrier of EIA.  Winning Ways was placed under CFIA quarantine for over six weeks and we could not take our horses to anyone else’s place nor could anyone bring horses to the Ranch.  It put a damper on several activities we had been planning.  However, in true Western spirit we preserved and on Oct 3 the CFIA veterinarian released the Ranch from quarantine.

I learned that I will not bring a horse/pony/donkey onto the Ranch without having a negative test for EIA.  I have subsequently made arrangements to place any horse that I can not test before moving, at a friend’s facility where there are no horses.  So, my advice to anyone who buys horses, make very sure the horse you purchase is not a carrier.  All carriers must be euthanized, and the government will reimburse the purchaser up to $2500.  Additionally, horse owners can purchase insurance for this unfortunate circumstance.

During the quarantine period I ended up with two new horses.  I was given a pony, however, he’s become an expensive gift horse.  I insisted that he be tested prior to picking him up.  That meant I had to pay the vet mileage on top of the fees for collection and testing.  The first blood sample never made it out of the vet’s truck (oops on vet’s part, thankfully he didn’t charge me for going a second time).  Then I had to pick the pony up, but that didn’t go as planned either.  The pony, after being needled twice, wanted nothing to do with humans.  Eventually the gift givers did get him captured and we got him to my friend’s yard.  My crew had to take him water and check on him, more miles for the gift pony.  They also renamed him Tim Tam. (Note the Aussie influence.)  Thankfully, he was away from our yard for less than a week before we could bring him home.  During that time, I took him to the Vet Clinic to have his front feet x-rayed for laminitis.  There was rotation of the coffin bone, but it is not extreme.  When the farrier came to trim his feet, she had to consider the structural changes that have occurred.  He’s never going to race, so I think his feet will be good for a lesson pony.

The second horse was a mare that my daughter insisted would make a good lesson horse.  However, the mare had been lame for most of the summer and the folks who had looked at her previously, were afraid she wasn’t sound.  By the time the quarantine was lifted, and the mare could arrive at the Ranch, she was no longer limping.  She does have similar traits to Slim.  She’s a very light grey who loves to get black, and she can be almost as laid back as Slim, in the arena.  However, on the trail she can be a handful, and I rode my first capriole on her back.  Had I not seen her execute it on the ground a few days earlier, I would not have known what it was.  [Check capriole out on Goggle with pictures!]

Since then, I have taken her to a Workshop with Scott Phillips in North Battleford.  She learned to be more focused and less anxious by trusting me to take her through obstacles and maneuvers.  She is comfortable to ride, but needs a bit more practice with groundwork.  While we were at the Workshop, I celebrated my 71^st birthday with a great day of camaraderie and riding, a cake, a moose (3 in fact) sighting, a very useful present and a very delightful one, supper and more cake AND to top it all off, the Saskatchewan Roughriders earned a spot in the Grey Cup.  (Which they subsequently won the next weekend—Yayyyy!!)

The Cowboy Christmas Parade was thankfully held on a much warmer day than our frigid Cattle Drive at the end of November.  We were not frozen to the bone as we had been on the Cattle Drive.  Riders delight in prettying up their mounts with lights, bells, garlands, and bows.  I think that Scout was one of the most lit up ponies in the parade.  We enjoy the work of our local photographer Carrie Arlett (Just Enjoy Photography) and appreciate her coming out to capture special moments.

This year the cattle market has taken one of the most significant upturns in history.  There were calves at the livestock market early in the fall selling for $10/#.  I have never heard of such prices except when some 4-H member’s Grand Champion steer was sold for an extraordinary price.  I have been in the cattle business for 60 years and this was the record setting year in my lifetime.  I believe that there will be good prices for cattle producers for the next few years.  Until this fall, there had not been a firmly established retention of females.  The sales sheets this fall, showed considerably fewer heifer calves being sold and I have seen more groups of bred heifers on offer this fall.  The cattle herd in North America has shrunk dramatically and is now down to numbers similar to the 1950’s.  In Canada, the numbers are down to pre 1990 levels, so we have a great deal of room for expansion!

The Winning Ways herd had a couple of losses this spring, one calf was attacked by coyotes and killed.  The cows were wild when Ebony, our dog, went out to the paddocks the next morning. The cows were ready to attack anything predator-like that came into their sight.  We also lost one calf to sickness, although we tried to treat it, we were unsuccessful. We were able to foster a calf from an old lame cow onto the cow whose sick calf died. That made our day!  When we sold calves this fall, the steers averaged 450# and brought over $3350/head.  We were pleased with our proceeds!  Unlike other producers my age, I did not decide to sell the herd while prices are high.  I like ranching and I like receiving payment for the effort I put into my Cattle business.

I also enjoy my Equine business and believe that Equine Assisted Learning/Horse Facilitated Development has a great deal of room to grow.  There has been lots of new research proving the benefit of nature and animals in helping humans heal.  Horses in particular have touched the souls of those who are suffering anxiety, tension, loss or mental anguish.  The horses’ hearts and breathing bring calm, restore heart-rate variability and reduced physical tension.  Equines can be someone’s friend and provide an outlet for affection and caring touch. Winning Ways is blessed with an extensive herd of soul healers.

I encourage all my readers to not only treat the holiday season (or any season) as an opportunity to spread kindness and love to those around you, but to also include yourself on the list of recipients.  Giving to worthy causes, attending children’s concerts, baking special treats, visiting those who are house bound, purchasing unique gifts for the significant people in your life are wonderful traditions to keep and hold dear.  Giving yourself moments of calm (breathing deeply or listening to restful music), spending a few minutes enjoying your favourite warm beverage, or reading an amusing anecdote (such as the stories in this Update) that makes you smile are self-compassion practices.   They help treat yourself with goodwill and help you cultivate emotional resources to give more to those you care for. There is an old adage,  “You can’t pour from an empty cup!”  Ensure that you fill up your cup of goodwill with self-compassion every day.  Those around you will be thankful and so will you.

Calm is a buzz word these days but rightfully so.  The world needs peace and serenity right now.  We have connection to every part of the world with the small handheld devices we have in our pockets.  As with all technology, we get to choose what to do with that connection.  I choose to reach out to family and friends with this little reminiscence of the year 2025.  I choose to reach out to people around the world who are looking for a place of calm.  Where you can watch the horses, cows, sheep and other critters rest in the sunshine, soaking up those good energy waves from the Sun.  A place where you can watch the everchanging landscape and the living skies.  A place where you can lay down your burdens and then choose which ones you will pick up to take with you when you return to your ordinary world.  Sure, there are days when the Ranch is not calm on the surface, but the underlying  value is that tranquility and serenity reside here.

It is my heartful wish to show appreciation to all those who have made Winning Ways Ranch a calm, caring, creative and connected center for all those who seek these attributes.  Thank you to my family and friends (both  those of many years and those I met recently) for your contributions of time, wisdom, labour and camaraderie.  Winning Ways is much richer for your involvement in the Ranch.

Take care of yourself and those around you!

‘til our trails kindly cross again,

Kelly