Week 9 at the Ranch

In July, summer still hadn't arrived here in Bonnyville. It didn't rain as much as last week, but it was mostly cloudy and cool.

My day started by feeding hay to the client horses, then we brought the mare and the two foals into the stable and gave them their feed. After that, Tanya rode her client horses and I joined her, riding another horse. By then, the morning was mostly over. In the afternoon, we took care of some small tasks. The lawn had to be mowed again, I untangled the wire so we could use it when we needed to set up a fence again, and I played with Tanya and Rob's grandchildren, who often visited us as they were on summer holidays. On Saturday evening, we made a fire again and had sausages and marshmallows. The three dogs were lucky that Tanya dropped her sausage over the fire. Cody managed to save the sausage before it burned and shared it fairly among the dogs.

This week, I had a lot of time for myself, which I often spent in my room. There was a tense atmosphere, Tanya and Rob always had many discussions, but they had been getting more heated lately. On Sunday evening, Rob approached me for a conversation. They didn't want me to witness and endure all of it, so he offered me the option to leave the ranch. However, he was reluctant to let me go because he valued my work. The three options I had were to find a new ranch with the organization that placed me here, return home, or start my journey through the Rocky Mountains. What they didn't know was that I had already booked all the accommodations for my trip through the Rockies. So, my plan was to spend the next seven weeks on another ranch. Later in the evening, Tanya came to me to let me know that this completely went against her decision. She needed me as a worker on the ranch, especially next week, as Rob would be visiting his mother in Calgary from Monday to Tuesday and going to a car race with Cody from Friday to Sunday. Tanya would be alone on the ranch, but some tasks required two people.

I think I will stay at the ranch next week to support Tanya, but then I will leave. It's not really enjoyable to work and live in such an atmosphere. However, before making a final decision, I will sleep on it one more night and talk to Tanya again tomorrow.