ADVERTORIAL

A WHOLE LOTTA BULL

Dale Thompson (right) cowboyin’, previous to his workplace injury.

After suffering a ranch work injury, Dale Thompson was relieved to have Worker’s Compensation Coverage to help pull his family through a difficult time.

BY DEBBIE MACRAE

Growing up on a farm south of the Qu’Appelle River in southeast Saskatchewan, Dale Thompson inadvertently commenced his ranching career at the age of six. Like many prairie folk living in small farmhouses, the kitchen had been converted from an old granary and the living quarters housed whole families until their children left home at the age of 16 or 18. Thompson’s family worked for the Davis family and lived on Oakland Ridge Hereford Ranch, where his earliest teacher was his father. Thompson helped haul bales, feed cattle, cut firewood and plant fenceposts. Their equipment was operated by horses – for everything except the haying. Sometimes the horses helped with that as well. By the time he was 12-years-old, Thompson was an experienced ranch-hand – feeding 80 bulls every day on his way home from school – for 25 cents a week.

He also bought his first saddle at the age of 12. He’d been working at feeding those bulls and a friend by the name of Allan Foster had a saddle for sale. He wanted $12 for it. Thompson told him he wanted to buy that saddle and he was saving up as fast as he could. Sometime later, Allan asked again, if he had the money for the saddle, because if he didn’t, there was another guy who had the cash. Thompson told him, he’d only managed to save $5.

Thompson went home “…with a face longer than a wet week in harvest….” and his folks asked him what was wrong. He replied that Allan had a saddle for sale, but he wanted $12 for it – and he had only managed to save $5. His dad went into the bedroom and came out, handing him $7 so he could go buy the saddle.

Later, after he got his saddle, he saw his Dad sitting by the woodstove punching holes in the soles of his boots with an awl. He was sewing the boots together with snare wire. Thompson learned that his dad had been saving the money to buy himself a new pair of boots. Such is the sacrifice of love.

As a youngster before he left home, Thompson started taking on outside horses, but he never owned a horse until after he got married. He would have been in heaven if he could have gotten a fulltime riding job, but he was always stuck on a tractor. He also never thought he’d be a good enough cowboy.

Thompson left home somewhere between 16 and 18 years of age. Like most kids, he left more than once – coming back to a warm meal and the security of family. However, he really left home for good at about 18 and went to the west coast. Then he went north.

It was somewhere in this period of his life that Thompson met Miss Dorothy – they have since been married for 51-years.

When his first daughter was born

Thompson had work commitments and couldn’t return home to meet her until she was two-months-old. He decided right then that he needed to be at home to raise his family, so they moved to Grande Prairie, AB. The family bought a quarter and homesteaded it, and bid on a second quarter, getting it into seedbed condition.

Work with a pasture group started in Grovedale, AB, when he got into cows. He was also training colts now – a lifelong dream! The group started running cows on the Kleskun Lake pasture – an old lake bottom that had been drained with steam shovels in the 1920’s. The manager needed a part-time rider, and he asked Thompson. It was a great opportunity. Thompson could take his colts to the bush after they were started – ride eight days a month on the pasture – and then start roping cows and calves with training on both ends for the horses. That was a time when he actually made more money with the horses than with the cows for a while.

In 1955, the Alberta government, in hopes of establishing a provincial grazing reserve, began accumulating land in the Rannach district of Alberta. The original land base was gradually increased over the years, by land purchases from early settlers in the area, and in 1959, the Rannach Grazing Reserve was established. The area is a low aspen parkland eco region approximately 12 kilometers east of Two Hills along the North Saskatchewan River. Established for the purpose of livestock management, the provincial grazing reserves provide farmers and ranchers with summer pasture for livestock on public land, and may also offer a variety of recreational opportunities such as hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting, sightseeing, snowmobiling, and horseback riding.

Originally about 19,500 acres, the area has expanded to over 21,000 acres of rolling terrain with developed tame pasture and forestry. The Rannach Community Pasture Society is responsible for caring for the livestock and maintaining the pastureland in productive condition such that it can support approximately 1,500 animal units per month based on a daily intake of about 26 lbs of forage.

In 2017, the Society contracted the pasture management and maintenance to Bill Chesney, who in turn contracted Thompson to help him. Workers’ Compensation Coverage was one of the conditions of the contract, and Chesney could cover Thompson, or Thompson could obtain his own coverage given that he had his own ranching operations. Thompson chose to undertake the coverage himself. He elected to apply for voluntary coverage with optional coverage for himself and two of his family helpers for the Grazing Lease effective May 3, 2017. Thompson applied for minimum personal coverage of $31,300 per year. The cost of doing so was $2.97/$100 or $652 for all three persons. Thompson’s coverage was $593 per year for that first year. Then they went to work.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019 started like any other summer day on the prairies. Chesney and Thompson were pulling bulls out of the pasture. They had about 100 bulls to ship out (in several trips) in a trailer. Depending on how well they got along, they could manage to trailer four or five bulls at a time. The cowboys had just moved a herd up, and they had a small corral from which to load. There was a two-year-old Simmental bull they were trying to corral to load, but the bull had other ideas.

Chesney had already roped the bull and called Thompson to help, as the bull kept running his horse. Thompson roped a back leg so they would have more control on each end, hoping that maybe they could teach him a lesson or two about respect and cooperation.

The next 20 minutes unrolled like a Reader’s Digest real-life drama.

As the bull tried to ram his horse, Thompson would yank his foot up and Chesney would yank his head. Together they dumped him, trying to teach him a little respect for the horse. Every time he got up, he would ram the horses again, and again they would jerk him off his feet – not to hurt him, but to condition him not to run the horse. They had to dump him somewhere between eight or ten times, and each time the bull would get up and take another run at one of the horses.

He wasn’t a big bull, but even a small bull with an attitude can shake up a man or a horse. The horses were getting soured. They were spooky – out of character for a good horse – and the bull lay on the ground sulking.

In retrospect, Thompson knew he should have quit. At 74 years of age, he was getting tired; his hands were shaking and he felt shaky inside. He was going to tell Chesney he was getting too tired, but he didn’t and the bull charged.

As he came after Thompson’s horse, the horse bolted. The Cowboy was shaken up at this point, and he didn’t have the control and reflexes he normally would have. His coils had gone up his rein arm, so throwing the rope away would have jerked him backwards out of the saddle; rather, he tried to hold his horse in position with his legs while attempting to dally. In the process, Thompson’s dally hand somehow got turned over and went to the horn, thumb down. When the rope came tight, Thompson’s thumb and longest finger were between the saddle horn and the rope. The thumb was gone from below the knuckle – two-thirds of the way up, and the nail and flesh were scraped to the bone. The longest finger on his hand was now the shortest.

Thompson started to get dizzy – and in a moment of shock, dismounted his horse trying to undo his wildrag to wrap it around his hand. As he got off his horse, the bull ran him down again and the horse bolted, but didn’t go far. Chesney held the bull in abeyance until Thompson could remount and try and collect himself. Thompson rode to the gate about a mile away, and Chesney called his girlfriend to take Thompson to the hospital in Two Hills. On his arrival, they wanted to reattach the thumb – but the thumb was finger food for coyotes.

The next several months were in painful, slow motion. An ambulance took Thompson to Edmonton from Two Hills. A young doctor on call there had a little set of tweezers and glasses with little binoculars on them. He didn’t do anything with the thumb because it was bandaged, but they trimmed the bone on the fingers back and when Thompson asked, “What are you doing?”, he responded that he was, “…pulling the nerves so you won’t have phantom pain.” And he didn’t.

The thumb had to be grafted. It took two full days until the surgery took place. They started, and then couldn’t do it right away, so they started again on the third day. Thompson thought it would take a few hours, but when they sewed the graft on, it killed the nerve and blocked an artery, so the doctors had to start again. The graft came off the top of the pointer finger from the top knuckle to the middle knuckle. When they grafted the thumb, they split the thumb down the side. That graft and a nerve came from the arm. To this day, Thompson still doesn’t have any feeling

except where the nerve exists from his arm.

Often during plastic or reconstructive surgery, physicians will utilize leech therapy whereby leeches are used to improve blood flow into an area of tissue that has poor circulation. They remove the congested or clotted blood from the area, improving blood flow, and increasing the ability of the grafted skin to regenerate.

Throughout this process, the Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) provided Thompson with the medical, financial, and therapeutic assistance he required to recover, despite the fact he was not working in a “compulsory industry,” and his application for coverage was on a “voluntary” basis.

Thompson’s accident took place August 13, 2019. His paperwork was filed on August 15, 2019 with the assistance of his WCB representative. He received a letter of Claim acceptance and Entitlement on August 19, 2019, with wage replacement benefits effective from August 14, 2019, until he was fit to return to graduated work on April 6, 2020.

Accidents are exactly that – and animals are unpredictable. But, it’s important to know that WCB coverage is available, and is sometimes required on a mandatory basis in the farming and ranching industries.

Looking back, he has no regrets. Thompson marveled that his case manager, April, never even questioned “Why?” She didn’t blame him or challenge him for making a mistake.

“She doesn’t have any idea what she did for us,” he said. “The time-loss benefits from work, the medical care, the therapy and recovery. She got a room for Dorothy and paid for the meals and the mileage. It was a load off our shoulders.”

Thompson’s story is not intended to expound on the beatitudes of the Worker’s Compensation Board, nor reflect their legislation, policies or procedures. Some workers have not had the same experience. The intention here, is to educate the ranching and farming community on what might be available to them on an individual or commercial basis, in an environment which has traditionally maintained the belief that you need to “cowboy up” or “tough it out.” When you have an injury, accidents are just that – accidents. Most people can’t afford them.

Injuries are preventable, but Workers’ Compensation is based on the premise of “no-fault insurance.” In exchange for the benefits paid for by the employer, the worker gives up the right to pursue litigation against his employer in the event of a “work-related injury.”

The Farm Freedom and Safety Act came into effect on January 31, 2020 and applies to farm and ranch operations that employ waged, non-family workers. The new rules don’t apply to owners or their family members. Employers with six or more employees are required to ensure their waged workers are covered either through WCB or through private insurance. Small employers are not required to have workplace insurance if they have five or fewer employees, or hire workers for less than six consecutive months. If a small employer chooses to take out coverage, they can do so through WCB or private insurance.

Coverage for family members and non-waged workers remains optional; however, under the legislation, Workers’ Compensation requirements for greenhouses, nurseries, mushroom and sod farms remain mandatory.

But, like Thompson – you can protect yourself and your family from work-related accidents, in unpredictable situations by asking questions and pursuing answers for your personal situation. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

As at the time of this writing, Thompson’s claim was in excess of $58,000, with no consideration yet, for a permanent clinical impairment award. That entitlement is pending. Thompson returned to work on his ranch on April 6, 2020 and must wait until his injury has plateaued for two years, for that entitlement. In retrospect, he is grateful for everything and for his referral for representation but even more so, for the care and compassion afforded him by his case worker and for the medical support and services of his treatment team and caregivers.

That bull may have gotten the ‘upper hand’, so to speak, but the support and intervention from the WCB prevented financial losses which could have destroyed a lifetime of hard work. For that, Dale and Dorothy Thompson are eternally grateful. (This article does not necessarily reflect the perspective or opinions of the Workers’ Compensation Board. Please feel free to refer to their website at www.wcb. ab.ca (403) 517-6000 for questions, or contact the writer at successfactor@shaw. ca for private consultation regarding your own business circumstance. Questions regarding personal claims should be directed to the WCB at (780) 498-3999 or the Fair Practices Office at fpo@gov.ab.ca 1-(866-427-0115 for appeals.)

About the writer: D. MacRae is a business professional, having worked within the Workers’ Compensation Board from 1982, and as a private consultant, specializing in matters of Workers’ Compensation across Canada since 1995. WHR

Thompson’s reconstructed hand.

Over 45 years of experience! LARRY BRONSON ALL AROUND HORSES

Larry Bronson has worked extensively with Ray Hunt, who was an original instructor of “natural horsemanship,” using a horse’s natural reactions to promote desired behavior. He is also currently working with Clay Webster, starting his young horses and learning the intracacies of training reined cow horses. Larry’s vast ranch experiences provide a wealth of practical knowledge that helps produce confident horses and riders!

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Training out of TWIN CORAZONES RANCH

25 mins east of Okotoks, AB

Continued from page 58 head through the woman’s Coach bag – the value of which, likely exceeded that of my own car – and with a violent wrench, took off all crackerdog, up and down our gravel lane. The leather handbag bounced along the rocky road behind her and it was only after several trips and near misses, that we managed to flag her down.

Another day, Ella reared up to bestow a well-endowed customer with a wet and heartfelt kiss… only to hook one of her massive and horny paws into the woman’s brassiere on the way down. The woman was hooting and flopping, the hound was hollering and tugging, and I was yelling for all I was worth, up to my elbows stuffing the lady’s bosom back into her tank top. No thanks to Ella, these women became loyal customers and we laughed about these memories for years.

Ella had the uncanny ability of knowing how to open dresser drawers. A dog who didn’t recognize her own name and she could somehow do this?

Our teenagers learned, to their dismay, to stop hiding candy and chips in their bedside tables for midnight snacks. On one memorable occasion, Ella helped herself to Duncan’s entire bag of Starburst candies. Each individual wrapper was flattened and licked clean, lying on the bedroom floor like so much confetti, with nary a sweet in sight. The only evidence of her bingeing was her upset tummy. Despite her penchant for eating anything she could catch – and this included an antique sewing stand and a complete set of hardcover encyclopaedias – Ella had a very delicate stomach. We learned that whenever she indulged, it was at our collective peril.

Bassets are scent hounds and as such, their sense of smell has them knowing what will happen well into next week. Ella would make a trek of the garden each morning, following exactly the path I had taken during my early walkabouts. She, of course, was a late riser, sleeping in after her long night’s howling at the moon. She became a huge part of our family, never once losing her temper… unless Rowan the Sheltie got to close to the barbecue on steak nights. Only then, would she come undone.

Ella’s last morning, she awoke and went out on her usual tour of the garden, snuffling her way along the hedges and flower beds. She came in, wagged gently at our breakfast preparations, then headed downstairs. I found her, only minutes later, walking in confusion from bedroom to bedroom, the old hound crying in distress at not finding any of her kids. Children who were now grown and had been away from home for years… but she had forgotten. Ella would not be comforted. When she stopped and lay down on her side, panting, Mike and I realized that her life was drawing to its end.

Later that morning, on the floor at the vet clinic, Mike held Ella in his arms. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and I was finally, finally, moved to tell him the truth.

“You know all those years I told you that Ella was free to a good home?” I started. “Well, if you want to know something… after all the dog messes we cleaned up, all the food she stole, all the stuff she wrecked… I bought her for $400.” He conjured up a sad half-hearted chuckle, as though he had long suspected.

We brought Ella home, wrapped in Mike’s old bath robe… and laid her to rest in her garden. WHR