Mandy and Me webpage ... 2024

Welcome to our website   (I had this done up a lot fancier, but am nixing it do to not really user friendly  for the price i am paying to use the website!  May try to redirect mandy and me to fort socs, for now...  July 18th 2025 .. they are separate but the price has jumped up and it adds up, even if just a couple american a month.. up to about $20 Canadian / month.   

Mandy and Me has been sharing trailrides, stories and songs from about 1982 until 2023.   Since moving from West Kelowna in about 2016 it has been migrating more to the song and story side of things and have been gaining stories from each place we have lived since  ..  Mount Boucherie, East Kelowna,  McCulloch lake area,  Lake Country and Ellison.    As of 2023, we have been one place for about 6 years.   On the good side, where we are now is probably a much better place to do farm tours and set up the Petterson Peace park than Petterson Road was.. much easier access for more people to help and easier to  get to other places.
    Mrs Petterson used to tell stories of the wild horses and her own horses in a way that made the person hearing them feel as if they were there!   Here is to telling farm and pet stories,  tilling for more stories and inspiring folk to grow their own.   While living on Petterson rd,  Mandy and Me inspired many memories for more than us and many pictures were taken to help remember them.  The saying pictures are a thousand words may be an understatement.... pictures say so much.  This website will be based around  pics that we used as stickers.   What started as a 30 acre plan,  is now more like a 3000 acre plan with the last two zero's being the infinity sign...  the pets that have passed  have no boundaries now and neither does our imaginations!

    Fort Socs Calvary Theme Song (slight changes to Mandy and Me)     Put a smile upon your face, a little hustle in your pace, you'd be amazed what you can do working with horses you’re wild and you're free; you can be yourself, at Fort Soc Trading! Working with horses, all the day long Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs working with horses, all the day long; Just like Roy Rogers when we sing our songs working with horses you’re wild and you're free you can be yourself, at Fort Socs Trading! You can get a lot of things done, and have a lot of fun; Just when you sing this tune:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Calmitall K (special K?) Calmitall K, Calmitall K, She'll save the day, Calmitall K Calmitall K, Calmitall K hip hip hooray, for Calmitall K Kay was a lady who wanted to ride a horse we made it to be a self paying course She'd help clean up and get the rides ready Taking rides out is fun, but the work load can be heavy Her favorite horse was one named Ebony when Kay rode her, she would sing happily She would ride the trails, though it meant working off her tale Not a dime would she take, she rode for riding's sake Calmitall K,,Calmitall K She'll save the day, Calmitall K, Calmitall K Calmitall K, hip hip hooray, for Calmitall K One day she went beyond the call of duty walking thru the mud, she lost her booty. Later as she pulled in the rear Suddenly Noah did appear. She grabbed his chain and carried on without fuss but then Prince Buffy added himself to the trailriding bus! Noah wrapped his chain around ebony, Leaving Kay hanging to the horn with the inside of her knee When the three with 4 legs settled down Kay climbed off, calm as a clam By the time I/ the lead guide looked to see if things were all right Kay had Noah in tow and Prince Buffy was out of sight Calmitall K,,Calmitall K She'll save the day, Calmitall K, Calmitall K Calmitall K, hip hip hooray, for Calmitall K For her helping beyond the call of any mortal whims at all. We made an award in her name now she has eternal fame... Calmitall K, you are quite the dame, thanks my friend!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          A Story of Justice this is a big part of our story.. more at www.fortsocs.ca Justice is a horse, he’d taken a bad course of events. The vet thought he may have broken his spine (or pelvis to be more defined) He jumped a fence over 20 years ago now, 2 days later he couldn’t get up, malnutrition and worms contributed to his bad luck. But he’s going to make it; you just gotta believe; he’s going to make it, no other thought you must conceive We’d been massaging and feeding him twice a day; at the place where his mishap preyed. We would run, ride or drive to get to where he was at. Twice his sling did break (getting the new one was not a piece of cake) Neighbors and friends helped us, do the lifting to get him back up. The caring of new and old friends makes me want to sing. he’s going to make it; you just gotta believe; he’s going to make it, no other thought you must conceive Diamond H made a sling overnight, meanwhile he had to lie on the ground; The next day he was in the new sling and everything was relatively sound. But he’s going to make it; you just gotta believe; he’s going to make it, no other thought you must conceive Burt got his truck and we loaded him carefully, into the back of his chevy S10, not sure how long after but it has been many years since; We hung him to a pole under a barn, saving us a lot of work and time; later he was able to get some exercise when Burt made him a zipline I remember having quite the thrill on his first zip, I was hoping that he would not do a flying lesson at the end of his first rip! The line held his weight when he first tried to walk but couldn’t. He gained speed as his body travelled to an end with a swivel unit. He was able to walk and learned to rock and roll that line as he did. He would rest as if it was a hammock, giving him support and keeping him from needing to do a full body lift from the ground. People would see him or hear about him and a few wanted to help. Some people learning horse healing skills got to practice on him and we were grateful for any assistance. Probably the greatest asset was Kay and she would joke that the sling always would break when I wasn’t around but seemed to manage. There came a time where winter was coming and it made no sense to continue. Gave him a chance to walk to our arena or.. not. He got about half way there before falling, but was able to get up with some help. He walked the rest of the way so we figured he was going to be okay. A couple of times during this period he would fall and get stuck. Sometimes it took at least a couple of people to help him, but he always got up. One lady thought acupuncture would be a good idea and contributed to its cost. $100 a treatment is expensive, but it may have helped. I shared with her that we had the treatment done and that he later was walking without the zipline. She sent a cheque for another $100 and we booked another time. Over the winter we would exercise him, but it took two of us. He wanted to play with other horses but we didn’t want him jumping up on them. If we kept him in the middle things were ok and we didn’t have to worry about him getting kicked. There was a time we would walk him in the orchard because the road was too slick. He was such a cheeky guy. He liked to lie down in the fresh snow and jerk the rope from one of us. I remember one time when he got up and then took off before the rope was retrieved, tearing loose the other rope and eventually racing both of us on our steeds! It was funny at first, but the icy road was coming up. We didn’t want him to cross it and then potentially really get messed up! I don’t remember what happened. Did he slow or did we catch up? That was one of many times that he would show his cheeky side. Could write a book about him but will just leave a few more short asides. In the spring it became apparent that he needed to be gelded. The natural steroids may have helped heal him, but his trying to get to the mares by getting over the fence was sure to cause damage to more than the fences. Later we added a few times in the lake to try to help him gain strength. There was a point where his original person came to visit him. She was happy that he was still around but lived a couple of provinces away, so was not able to take him. In time, we were able to ride him and he mostly did well. That is not saying we didn’t have a few challenges. I remember one time riding him solo and thought I would take him for his first trip down to the creek. Not sure what got into his head, but he gave a jump to the side and next thing you know, I had to get off and had to encourage him up the bank. Only his front legs were on the trail… I couldn’t let him fall after all we had been through though. It wasn’t all roses, he did have some falls. Truth is on at least two of them I was hurt and one of the falls was because I tackled him after he slipped through the gate. He may have learned some of his stubbornness from me... I think as we rolled, he stepped on my face, hand and leg. I can only blame myself for anything. Not like I could or would ever sue. There are a lot of memories and he is a friend true and true.