Horses Are Safe

I was able to get a hold of my stable owners and the ponies are currently safe, wet, but safe.  Cell phone service is not good right now so we weren't able to talk long, but it was pouring out there in the afternoon.  The creek is getting pretty high but luckily Artemis does have some pretty high ground in her pasture so she can get away from it, and the my barn owner's are pretty confidant the creek won't reach the paddocks or their house.  Like I said before, the creek isn't glacier fed, it isn't connected to any of the flooding rivers so it won't have the water in it that all the rivers do.

We're going to try to drive out tomorrow and check on them.  I'll feel better once I see with my own eyes that they're okay.  I'm once again so thankful that not only do I happen to live in a safe area, but my horses are in a safe area.  Everything's gone to hell around us, but we're safe so far.

Unfortunately not many are as lucky.  People who cannot trailer their animals out, which has been many, have been instructed to open their gates and cut their fences so their animals can escape.  It's terrifying to think of all these animals out on their own, but they have a much better chance of survival if they're not locked in fields, and especially not in barns.  And do not leave halters or ropes of any kind on your animals.  They may make your animals easier to catch once the flooding is over, but the risk of them catching on branches or other objects is too great and your animals are safer without them on.  I've heard of people painting their phone number on the sides of their animals and then setting them free. 

The latest update I've heard on the flooding is that river levels are constant for the moment, but there is still a chance that the Bow River could rise some more.  It's crested in Banff and so should be rising in Canmore and Calgary sometime during the night.