Moon Ridge Acres - Becca Hammon

Today I'm talking with Becca at Moon Ridge Acres. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters, and topics adjacent. I'm your host, Mary Lewis.  A Tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Homegrown Collective, a free-to-use farm-to-table platform emphasizing local connections with ability to sell online, buy, sell, trade in local garden groups, and help us grow a new food system.  You can find them at homegrowncollective.org.

00:25
Today I'm talking with Becca at Moon Ridge Acres in Alberta, Canada? Yes,  that's right. Yes, okay.  Good afternoon, Becca. How are you?  I'm great. How are you? I'm good. It's a gray, drizzly kind of day here in Minnesota. What's it doing in Alberta? It is actually sun, shiny, and beautiful. After a mega thunderstorm last night,  it's actually quite lovely. The birds are chirping. Everyone is.

00:53
Seemingly good the calm after the storm, I Yeah, the weather has been absolutely insane everywhere  this past weekend was Memorial Day weekend here in the States and In Minnesota where I am Friday and Saturday and Sunday were absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous days Right that doesn't usually happen. Usually one day of Memorial Day weekend is a washout and it didn't happen

01:21
That's impressive. Our, our May Long was like last weekend and it was  absolutely frozen. It was so cold. It was like,  it was terrible. We couldn't do anything.  Oh, God, mother, mother nature.  didn't get snow though, which is,  you know,  it is normal for us to get snow on May Long. We say we don't plant our gardens until after May Long  and we didn't get snow, but it was like in the, in the single digit.

01:50
So it felt very cold, but today it is, oh, it's got to be close to 20 degrees already. Which is what in Fahrenheit? Because I'm really bad at it. I'm really bad at it too. I would say that's like 45, 50, I think. Warmish. It's warmish there. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Wait.

02:16
Yeah,  I could be wrong on the conversion. I'm sure someone will correct me. I can always look it up and put it in the show notes and be like, here's the chart that says what's it actually is.  When I went to the US, my car had this really handy feature that it just converted it automatically for me, which was so handy. And it's funny how quickly I was able to go from Celsius into

02:46
um, the Imperial system and then,  and then back and it just felt totally normal with that, you know, system in my car. But like, if you asked me to convert it like right now,  there's no way.  Yeah. And one of my best friends is from Canada and you would, I've known her for over 20 years. You would think that I would have made a point of learning this, but I still haven't. It's terrible.

03:09
And my parents are old enough that they still use the Imperial system for like 90 % of things. Like the metric system was kind of imposed upon them  like after they were out of school. So they're still very much on the Imperial system. They're always talking in Fahrenheit and I'm like, what?  And you'd think I would pick up on it, you know, but no, like I'm, I got Celsius on the brain, but I use inches though, which is a very Canadian thing to do.

03:39
Yeah, I feel like whatever you're first introduced to, like I am not a Macintosh computer kind of girl. I really do like Windows. Right. And I tried using a Macintosh Apple as they were known when I was in school and that was a very long time ago. I'm 55, you can do the math. And I can do it.

04:06
but it's like retraining my brain to find where files are if I use that. So yeah, it's what you're introduced to as a brand new thing, what you tend to gravitate towards. So, okay, so got the weather covered, got the small talk covered. You have been going through some fits and issues with Facebook lately. Did you want to vent for a couple of minutes about that? Oh, absolutely. I would love to.

04:36
So as a Canadian, when it comes to content creation across social media, we are very limited in what we can access for monetization. We don't get paid for TikTok. And then we have Facebook and YouTube.

04:57
I believe Instagram also monetizes, but I don't think Instagram pays very well. think Instagram is very much targeted for  like attracting brands to do brand deals.  And for me,  as a millennial where Facebook was like the OG platform, actually like just be like, we were just saying, I love creating on Facebook. I love that there's multiple different,  um,

05:25
like ways, like I can do text, can do photo, I can do groups, I love Facebook. So that is where I've put a ton of my effort. I'm also on TikTok and TikTok is fantastic for like discoverability. The algorithm is absolutely great for getting you in front of new people. But again, I can't monetize my TikTok and TikTok is also really great for like filming face to camera videos.

05:55
It's just very user friendly and  I'm  old enough that I struggle with technology, but like young enough to have a general grasp. um,  so I, I  often repost my TikToks over to Facebook and I bring all of my content over to Facebook, but Facebook is where I've put my heart and soul  because I genuinely really liked the platform  and YouTube is a whole other beast  of,  you know,

06:23
needing to be prepared and having to  really, um, just like pre-plan your content and doing this long form stuff and like the editing and the amount of work that goes into a YouTube video is like at least five times more than what goes into a TikTok.  Absolutely. Yes. Yes, it is. It's, it's, it's a lot.  So  as a one person show who has two kids, who has like also running the farm on the side of things,

06:53
I've really put my heart and soul into Facebook and I got monetized on Facebook last year. I think it was around March where I made my first like $5. I was like, oh my gosh, it's working. And of course you can't get paid out until you reach a certain threshold, which I think is $100. And I finally had a viral video on Facebook in June of last year.

07:23
and I got like $125 and I thought I was a rock star.  And  that's 125 USD.  So in Canada, I really was a rock star. That was like 200 bucks.  And so I was doing, was  like, things were good. And after that point,  I started seeing fairly consistent income. Again, it was not like life-changing money by any means,  but it was,  you know, okay, like now I can buy.

07:51
Uh, you know, that covers my feed store trip or that covers whatever. And the job that I had been working at previously, um, I was school bus driving and as someone with ADHD, the like school bus driving, was waking up in the morning. think that was really the hardest part. Um, I am a night owl. stay up till two in the morning.

08:18
whether I want to or not.  waking up at five in the morning every day, getting two kids into the bus and like they were coming with me  and it just,  it made me kind of like,  hate my life. I was miserable.  I was tired all the time. I wasn't enjoying the horses anymore. And it was around this time when I like started considering purchasing George  and I was like, what if, you know,

08:47
I could get this really amazing little horse  and  also potentially boost my social media enough that I don't have to continue bus driving.  That's all I wanted. I just wanted to replace that income.  And  sure enough, I ended up saying,  let's do it. Let's invest in this little horse that could be a great asset to my breeding program,  but also be an investment in my social media business.

09:17
And it worked. It was exactly as I hoped it would be.  I started really seeing  that replacement income  in around September, October.  Like, again, it wasn't a full replacement, but it was enough to say like, okay, this is possible. Sure.  And like clockwork, those every month that those funds would would come into my account as  as they were supposed to and never had a hitch.

09:46
So  December rolled around, same thing. Everything was going great. At this point, George had almost paid for himself.  And I was gearing up to like go pick him up in Tennessee from Katie Van Syke.  so  January,  so the way Facebook works, I'm not sure if you're familiar, but you get paid for the month prior.

10:15
on the  21st  of the month. So on January  21st, I would be getting paid for December. Right, yep.  And  December was my first like  very, like very good payment, like over four figures. is,  know, yeah, right? Like it was good money.  And I was like super excited.  And  I  was met with  an error from

10:44
from Facebook and said the payment didn't go through.  You need to update your payment method, which is  odd because I hadn't changed my payout method. Everything had remained the same. So  I  contacted support  and they were like, oh, just update it. Like maybe it's a glitch and you know, like it just needs you to like reenter it. Okay, cool. So I do that.  And then they're like, well, now you have to wait until February.

11:13
because we only process payments once a month.  Oh, man.  Which at this time, so I'm gearing up to go get George. have this big trip to Tennessee. In my head, I'm like, all right, well, that's a great way for me to not spend that money, right? Like, sure, it's in the bank  and I'll save it for the trip. That's no problem.  And so February rolls around, same problem.  And  I'm like, okay.  So at this point,  I

11:43
subscribe to MetaVerified, which is the little blue check mark, which is like a stupid amount of money every month.  And the reason I did this was because they say enhance support, like you get to actually talk to a person instead of a robot. So I was like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to go ahead and do that.  And I did that, filed the new support team  and they looked into it and they were like, Oh yeah, like it looks like there was like some kind of error.  So

12:11
just re-enter your information again and it looks like that problem is fixed. Which sounds a lot like the first story, right?  But again, I'm like, okay, well this is a real person this time because I was not sure the first time.  And so I did as they instructed and then again, oh, now you're gonna have to wait until March.  And.

12:33
So that was very frustrating considering I was leaving to get Georgian March and I would be in Tennessee when that payment was supposed to come into my account. Yeah. And so that was stressful in itself being like, am I going to get this money while I'm down there? Because I had  hoped to do some shopping in the US and  have a really fun trip.

13:02
Um, so I was, I, you know, just made sure that if it didn't come through, that I was going to be okay to get home and whatever.  But I said, let's, let's go. If I end up not being able to shop down there, I guess that's, that's the worst worst case scenario. Right.  And so  sure enough, March  21st, same error.  And at this point I'm like, well, that's disappointing. Like I just did.

13:30
all of these miles, like I had so many things I wanted to buy in the US because you guys just have so much more accessibility to  everything.  Like  I went into tractor supply and I probably could have filled my horse trailer with just stuff that we don't even have available here. Yep.  And  so I again contacted support  and they this time they were like, Oh, this has been happening.

13:59
You know, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna pass you on to a specialized team  and we're gonna get this sorted out. Okay, great. So  I  go,  like I'm continuing on my trip to go get George. I  just carry on.  And I think it was a week and a half  before  they  finally reached back out to me because mind you,

14:24
They have you on this chat. say they've passed you to a specialized unit  and then they mute your conversation. So you can't even like say, hey, like just wanting to follow  up, just, you know,  you know, there's none of that. No, it's muted. It's like, this is an automated message. We'll get back to you when we're ready. And it's like, cool, cool, It's like, hurry up and wait. So  I  carry on the trip  and I can't even remember when they finally got back to me.

14:52
I think I was already back in Canada and  they said, okay,  we're not sure why this isn't working with your PayPal. So  can, you have a bank account you can use? Try that.  Okay,  sure. So I open up a USD bank account because we can only receive  payments  in  U S dollar. I opened that up with my bank.

15:18
and I put all the information in  and  set it all up and sure enough, wait till April 21st.  So.  Becca,  this is getting real long.  So you still haven't been paid yet, yes or no? No, no. Okay. I did some research yesterday after I saw the other posts you shared from the other creator that hasn't been paid. Really? And I looked up.

15:45
Why is Facebook not paying creators? And if you look it up, there's a party line on a couple different results that say that Facebook is looking into changing how they're doing this. Why I wanted you to share is because this is why it's never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket to be a homestead quote here. you're not doing that.

16:12
proud of you for realizing that you can't necessarily always count the chickens before they hatch.  Right. But what a freaking mess. I'm sorry you're going through it.  Yeah. And  I just got to the point where I can receive stars on my Facebook page. Right.  And I looked it up and  oh, you have to actually, as someone who wants to give stars to a creator, you have to buy the stars. Oh yes. Great. Fantastic.

16:42
So,  if you are a Facebook creator who just got the ability to receive stars and haven't received any, that's probably why, because people are probably pretty stingy with who they give stars to.  Oh, absolutely.  Another thing, I just wanted to throw it out there.  When you mentioned that they were switching how they were doing things, they switched from the performance bonus program  to content monetization.

17:11
If I remember correctly, I joined the content monetization program last December. So I am almost certain that this is a content monetization problem,  specifically with amounts over four figures.  probably. So I think I think there's something there.  And unfortunately,  we're it's just a waiting game until they figure out what the heck's going on.  I do think I'll get it. I'm not I'm not worried about that. I'm just like how

17:40
You know, like right now I'm prepping for horse shows  and I'm like, well,  that was kind of the money that I was going to use for my entry fees and all of that stuff. So now I'm having to pivot and do a whole bunch of other things that  to try and generate enough money to  continue on doing what I wanted to do with my money that I should have.  Yes, exactly. So  17 minutes in,  I'm going to back us both up a little bit.

18:08
I thought- So sorry. No, that's okay. That's okay. I gave you the floor and you took it and  people should know. People should said you wanted to vent and I'm like, I will tell you the whole story. Yeah. People should know that being a content creator is not all candy and hearts and roses. It's work and you should be paid for your work.  So, I'm to back us up to the beginning. You and I spoke back in January of this year, first time we'd ever spoken. So this is a catch up episode.

18:37
Becca's had a lot going on.  mentioned Katie Van Slyke back in the first episode because I'm a fan of Katie and so is Becca.  Becca basically told me that Katie Van Slyke was her  inspiration for getting into raising mini horses. So that's what Becca does. Becca raises mini horses and now we're caught up. So you went  in March to buy

19:05
George, a baby mini horse from Katie van Slyke.  And it was an adventure from what I saw on Facebook. So, so go ahead and take another 10 minutes and tell me about that trip.  All right. Well, I'll try to be a little bit more, more concise with it.  Um,  it was, it was a fantastic trip. We left Alberta and I was traveling alone with my two kids,  um,  pulling the horse trailer and I traveled,  uh,

19:34
all the way down to Oklahoma with another miniature stallion that a friend had sold to someone in Oklahoma.  So that helped cover  most of the cost of the trip down,  which was really, really nice. But traveling with kids, we ended up not being able to do quite as many miles as I had anticipated. So we did have like a little bit more,  like I think there was an extra stop from what I had originally planned, which just

20:04
because  instead of driving 12 hours, we were driving nine,  right? so  we got into Montana. Montana is absolutely beautiful. We didn't have any crazy weather.  And then  as we're leaving Montana to get to,  our goal was to get down to Colorado that second day, but we got stopped in Sheridan, Wyoming. There was a freak blizzard  and  the roads were closed.

20:34
because apparently in the US you guys close roads.  We sure do.  And we find it so funny because like I understand that  the wind  is a large factor in a lot of these spaces, but like here I don't think I've ever seen a road closed unless there was a major accident.  And  like we drive in like absolutely crazy weather all the time, but that's just normal to us.  So.

21:03
That  was an interesting thing, but I'm glad that it happened where it did because Sheridan actually ended up being probably one of my favorite stops.  I just really enjoyed that little town. was like very cowpoke country. Like it feels like you could ride your horse down the street in the middle of the day in the summer and it would be totally normal.  I  loved it. So  after that,  we...

21:30
Um, we went down to Colorado. There was some major like wind issues, but we never actually hit any of the wind issues. We darted across, uh, Kansas and down to, um, is that, is it Oklahoma? That's right below Kansas. I think so. Right. I am. I think so. It's been a long time. I've taught a geography, but I think so. Yeah.

21:56
Okay, so from Kansas down to Oklahoma, we dropped Titan off  and then we took a little little side quest to Texas,  which is where my friend  Nicole.  Um, Pierce all lives.  So if you don't know Nicole,  she is DVM miniatures. She's  just got like, she's got some freaky horses. Like they are so unbelievably gorgeous.

22:26
Um,  I know last year, I think  her horses were  like winning the grand champions at both,  um,  the  AMHR nationals and the AMHA worlds. Like she had quite a lot  of, uh, grand champion wins  and she's got this  like elite breeding farm down in Texas and miniature horses. was like, of course.

22:53
I need to go see her and she does like TikTok and Facebook as well.  So  we stopped there. I got to like learn all about  her breeding program and just like finally meet her. Cause we've been friends on social media for a while.  And  honestly, that was incredible. I got to snuggle all the cute little babies  and  just spend a couple of days there with them.  And  then we had to  rush to get to Tennessee because there was like

23:23
800 million tornado warnings.  Yes. Yes. I remember reading about that. Yes. was so many tornadoes and like somehow I made it through  all of them  and we got to Tennessee. We picked up George.  I  didn't spend a whole lot of time at Katie's.  She strikes me as a very, very busy woman.  I feel like she's got a lot going on even with the help that she does have.

23:53
a lot going on all the time.  Absolutely. Like she's,  she is busy and I could just feel that vibe when I was like, I think I'm busy.  And so we picked up George  and George was very nervous. That was his first time on the trailer. So  we could have made it a little bit further that night, but I decided, you know what, we're just going to find a hotel in the area  and let George be in the trailer  and have a minute.

24:23
because  he was just vibrating in his boots. He had no idea what was happening.  he  was, how old was he? So he was born in July of last year. So in March, he would have been, what is that, eight months? Yeah, about. Yeah. So still a baby, but you know, like he grew up there  and he'd never been off the farm. So hopping into a trailer with people you don't know, like that's a lot.  And so we just parked it and

24:52
you know, tried to get to know him for the night  and  whatever. So after that we  carried  on, um, driving  north. headed straight north because I had a mayor in Niagara falls that I have wanted for three years. I am absolutely in love with this mayor. She is the mother to  my, um, my other stallion, Max.

25:20
she's just, she's stunning, she's gorgeous and I've wanted her forever. So I said, you know what, I'm going to go up through Canada because at this time we were also concerned about the tariffs.  yes, yes, I remember. remember you, I,  uh,  I can't talk.  messaged you and said, you buying George from Katie van Slyke? And you said yes. And you had said something to me, I think about wanting to get him before the tariff situation went into effect.

25:49
Right. Because at that time, I think they were set to go in  on April 2nd and no one knew  what it was going to mean for like livestock.  Right? Like it was very up in the air. No one had any idea. Whatever. So I was like, you know, let's just dart across the border, get back into Canada. I don't want to pay tariffs on him.  And  that's what I did. So I got into Canada and then we were met with some serious weather.

26:18
Because Canada.  And we were, I think we were parked  for a full week, basically just kind of hanging out in Ontario  and,  you know, doing our thing in the hotel. was honestly so relaxing. I,  I enjoyed it. I'm not going to lie. It was, it was nice breakfast made out for dinner. Like  I spent all of my money in Canada.  You, you had a, you had a mini vacation.

26:47
I did. was, you know, in the States, I was being so frugal because I was like, we need to get home. And then by time I got to Canada, I was just like, whatever, let's go out to eat. Let's,  let's just enjoy this.  And we stayed there for quite some time. had an ice storm that had like  half an inch of ice on the side of my car. was absolutely crazy.  Um, and then after we got through Ontario, which is where all the nasty weather happened, then it was.

27:17
pretty smooth sailing and we got home and  George is, George took no time at all to settle in. He's just  out here living his best life.  Like he was here his whole life. Like he's my best buddy. He's an absolute pocket pony. He just wants to be my best friend  and I love that. That's  exactly what I was hoping he would be.

27:40
And I love that for you. And that's not the snarky. love that for you. That's the I actually love that for you. That's fantastic.  I have a question about George.  His registered name is RS King of the North. Is that right? It's RS Ruler of the North. Ruler of the North. Sorry. Ruler of the North. Yes, because his sire  is  Oak Bay Salsa's Cardinal Rule. Yeah. And his bar name is Ruler.

28:09
His sire is  the main reason that I really  wanted George is his sire is pretty spectacular.  And  we thought it was fitting to have ruler of the North because  Katie kept referring to him as, you're to go be king of the North, you know, and  I thought it was cute. was like, cause I had no idea what to call them.  And that one just kind of fit and I love it.  So my question is,

28:36
How come I know RS stands for running Springs. So how come it's RS and not whatever your  your thing is. Because it was he was bred by Katie. Okay.  So and I think I think with the minis she's going with  running Springs ruler of the north as opposed to RS because  in miniature horses with naming them we have like 36 characters as opposed to quarter horses who only have like 20.

29:04
So we can be a lot more outlandish with our names. And I am almost certain that I've seen names longer than the 36 characters. So I don't, I'm not even sure if the registries care. Okay. Okay. And sorry, sorry if I screw up names and things. I follow you. I follow Katie. I just started following the one you mentioned in Texas. just started following Nicole. Yes. Yes.

29:28
And it's only because you guys are so freaking entertaining and the babies are so cute that I follow you because I don't have any interest in getting mini horses. I'm good.  Right. But those baby horses are the sweetest freaking things I've ever seen when they're  on another level. And Nicole and I, we might be slightly biased, but we did agree that miniature horses  are cuter than big coals  any, any day of the week. are so stinking cute.  And the,

29:57
Like now, like I used to love big foals, but now I see them and they just don't do it quite the same for me. To me, the mini foals  look kind of goofy, like stuffed animals. Yeah, yeah, like they're almost like cartoonish. Yeah, and the regular size foals look like deer to me.  And so I think it's the cartoonish stuffed animal thing with the minis that gets me. they are just...

30:25
They're so beautiful, but they're so goofy looking. Yeah, yeah.  Yeah, no, I am a huge fan of  my mini babies.  Yeah. And I don't want to make you sad, but I also don't want people to think this is all starlight and roses and candy.  You also had a  pretty serious loss a month or so ago.  Yeah, it was, oh, that was honestly...

30:50
I've dealt with a lot of loss in my life, but that one was especially hard because that...  So for those that don't know,  our mayor, Angie,  she was, know, due any day, I was right outside. I had just checked on her  and,  you know, not a hair out of place, nothing looking abnormal. And  I  was  putting eye drops in our other fool's eye because she had an eye ulcer.

31:19
You know, that takes a few minutes because we needed to  do the drop separately.  So we were kind of  doing that  and I look over  and  Andrew's having this dang thing. And I race over to her  and  this thing is limp.  It's  just, it's not responding. my best guess is that it was a red bag delivery. And with red bags, you can be there in the room and still have it not.

31:49
end up good.  But it just kills me that I was right there.  And maybe I could have made a difference. Maybe I couldn't have. It's hard to say.  But  the icing on the cake was that foal  was our  only foal that we were able to get this year from  our late stallion SRF Premier who  was this

32:14
gorgeous, gorgeous little buckskin stallion. was 28 inches tall and he passed away last fall due to complications with Cushing's disease  or equine PPID.  And it just killed me because he got one pregnant and it was that one that we lost. that  is  just heartbreaking.  Heartbreaking is the best way to put it.

32:42
That one messed me up.  I'm so glad that my next two falls after that  were completely smooth without a hitch,  not a single problem. Like they  were beautiful and textbook.  And I'm grateful for that because I had some serious anxiety after, after Angie, because  again, I'm one person doing this. I don't have a team.  I do need to sleep at some point.  Um,  and

33:11
You know, it just,  I was right there and that sucks. will haunt me for a very long time knowing that I was  right there and maybe could have made a difference. But  the coulda, shoulda, woulda's don't bring anything back. And unfortunately life goes on very quickly on the farm.

33:33
Okay, so I'm just one person. I need to sleep at some point, but trying to be there for these mayors when they foal and all of the things that go along with foaling, it's ideal if you can be there 24-7. And one day I hope that I will be able to hire foal monitors and...

34:00
all of those things that can like better enable me to  be there  like right as things start to progress. But unfortunately, the reality is like you can only do what you can with what you have.  And  when you're  starting from the ground up,  kind of like I am, like  I have a lot of support and I'm very blessed in that way,  but  I'm not someone who was given

34:28
you know, all of these alerts and systems to get started with. So it's something that we have to build up to and it'll haunt me forever knowing that  I was  quite literally right there  and this still happened and that we lost that beautiful baby.  And  it is what it is. Unfortunately, life goes on very, very quickly on the farm and you just have to learn to cry your tears  and  wipe them away and get on with your day.

34:58
And that's one of the hardest things about this life  is.  Yeah. And except that you didn't necessarily do anything wrong.  Right. You have no idea why that baby died. Exactly. It could have been something completely genetic. We will never know.  And  it's unfortunate  trying to separate yourself because it's so easy to blame yourself and so easy to

35:26
think of the woulda, coulda, shoulda's,  but unfortunately all you can do  is learn  and  hope to  hell next time you look over a minute sooner. It's  just sad. Yeah. Well, just so you know, I saw the video you posted about that and you were crying and I was crying with you. Oh.  And I am like a really soft heart. I've said this on the podcast a bunch of times.

35:55
When our first barn cat got hit by a car and died, I cried for hours.  And there was nothing I could do about that, obviously. And so for the people that have these beautiful,  expensive animals that they love and they have sunk money into and vet costs into and  hoping to have them show someday, I can't imagine how hard that is.

36:23
I'm such a dork that I sobbed for six hours over the first barn cat we lost.  I would have been destroyed for a week if I had a  full. Yeah.  And I  think you,  I don't want to say you get used to it, but like you get better at  processing things.  because our, you know, first loss was the same thing. Like I was devastated for days and days and days.

36:53
And like that, think that was like with a rabbit, like, and rabbits are notorious for  being terrible mothers.  Um,  so,  you know, and then to move it up to,  oh, that was my first foal that we've ever lost.  And unfortunately  it's,  it's just part of it.  And you do get  better at  dealing with the pain.  doesn't,  it doesn't get easier when it's happening. You're.

37:22
still  devastated. It's just you process it better and faster, I guess.  Yep. And I didn't want to make you relive the story, but I also want people who listen to this podcast to know that just because you have a place that's big enough to have animals  and just because you have what it takes to get the animals,  it's not always perfect. There are things that go wrong.  There are also things that go really, really right.

37:52
Yep.  So, well, I mean, if you look at Katie's a great example of someone who,  like,  I don't think I know anyone who does as much  vet care as she does.  Um,  and you know, she's got vets right there all the time and she still has stuff go wrong.  And, you know, like, of course she's doing everything in her power to prevent those things.  Um,  and it absolutely.

38:20
destroys me when I hear people like, you know, hate on her for  whatever, because like she's clearly doing everything she possibly can to prevent tragedy.  I  can't think of anything that she could do  differently.  And, you know, to see that and then to know that her reality is also not the reality for 99 % of farmers or people in the industry.

38:49
Like, it's, her reality is beautiful and it's so nice to see, you know, the level of care that she provides her animals. But that is not the norm for 99.9 % of people because 99.9 % of people don't have an unlimited budget. They don't, you know, make money from views and stuff like that. So at some point you always have to

39:18
say, okay, like at this point, we're gonna have to pull the plug or we're gonna have to make that hard choice because we can't justify spending that, right?  And I think  that's  one of the like dangers  of Katie's content and not her specifically, just  her like how privileged her life really truly is.  And

39:44
like how unrelatable it is for so many other people that have animals. And it's not because  she's doing anything wrong. She's amazing.  But it is  really, really challenging to not compare yourself to  someone with all of these means.  And I don't want anyone to ever think that just because you can't provide what Katie provides,  that you shouldn't own animals  because

40:14
The vast majority of people can't provide the level of care that she does. And when wildly she still gets hated on for not providing enough, which is insanity to me. people have fans, they also have haters. It's just how it goes. Hey, I have my own Reddit page now. So I think I've made it. think I'm doing great. Very nice.

40:40
And the other thing that I would throw in here is that we as humans are all  one  unknown step away from falling off a cliff. Absolutely. Absolutely.  You don't know. You just don't know what's coming next and you do everything you can  to do the right things and plan for things and hope with everything you've got that everything turns out the way you would like it to.  But a friend of mine's husband just passed away unexpectedly like a month and a half ago.

41:09
Oh man.  she had no idea that that was going to be her last day with him.  Oh, that's so, yeah. it's, life is just insane when you think about it. It's just crazy.  And all you can do is live the day that you're given and hope for the next one. But just do, do what you can with what you have right now. And, always strive to be better, you know, like  I,  I, I don't want anyone to ever feel like they need to.

41:37
or they shouldn't own animals because they're not willing to spend, you know, $200,000 on a horse, right? In vet bills, right? Because I think animals bring so much joy to people and like we just had a serious vet bill with our Pomeranian puppy. He broke his leg and it was, I think it was like $5,500 once it was all said and done.

42:01
Um, and there were so many people that were like, Oh, I would never be able to do that. And like feeling guilty. And I, I hate that it's like, there are other options. We chose the expensive option, but there, there was another option and don't ever feel like, you know,  like that's a good, good case for getting pet insurance sort of thing. Like I think, you know, there's a fine line between being cognizant of what you can afford. Um, but also.

42:27
being too hard on yourself because you don't need an unlimited budget to enjoy the love of animals, right? You don't. And I think I mentioned Maggie to you when we talked before, but our dog is a mini Australian Shepherd. She is way too fancy a dog for us, I swear to you. She is beautiful. She is a classic black tri mini Australian Shepherd. And she cost us $500. And when we got her,

42:57
Five years ago  in October, I think, is the anniversary of when we picked her up.  had the funds to spend $500 on a puppy. And at the time I thought, Jesus, that's a lot of money for a farm dog, basically. She's got a dog and that's it.  But I was in love and it was the first time we'd had space to have a dog and I really wanted a puppy. So we got Maggie.  Maggie has been the biggest blessing of my life.

43:25
I love her. She lets me know when people pull in the driveway and I can tell from her barks whether it's somebody that we know or if it's a stranger. And that lets me know whether I should be on alert or just be happy that somebody I know has come to visit. But we have spent money on her well visits. We spent money to get her

43:47
spayed because we did not want her to have puppies and she's absolutely she's been spayed. She will never be a mama but boy is she a mama to the barn kittens when we have them. I love that. I love that. And there were a couple months this winter where money was very very tight and I was like I gotta make some more money so I can keep my beautiful too fancy for me dog fed you know. Yeah absolutely and I mean

44:14
Right now, it's such a trying time too, because things are so volatile  with pricing and like there's no way to have a budget because all of a sudden my groceries cost $100 more than it should have last month, you know?  Like it's so  hard to  be living in this  absolutely chaotic,  like just pricing, tariff, everything, all of the things  making life more expensive.

44:42
And like, I just want to sit out here and watch my ponies eat grass. Like that's, that's what I want in my life. I, you know, like the shows are great. Um, if I have to not show this year because  of the whole Facebook drama thing,  um,  that's okay. I'll be, I'll be all right. I can show next year. That's not the end of the world,  but as long as  I can feed them  and,  know, keep them happy and contained and  just love on them, that's, that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about.

45:11
Yeah, absolutely. And there's only so much we can control. I  groceries are pretty goddamn spendy here in the US too.  It's terrible. When I was down there, there was something I noticed actually that  in Canada, we always have this  perception that everything is so much cheaper in the United States.  It's not, especially if you factor in the exchange rate because our dollar is so terrible.

45:41
Yeah.  I didn't find like we want we went through a few grocery stores and I didn't find anything  like cheaper at all. I found some things to be quite a bit more expensive actually. And I think that was like  a perception that we had from  from a long time ago because things used to be a lot cheaper there. And there were some things for sure that were cheaper.  But  like groceries and food. No, not really.

46:10
I didn't find that. Yeah, we're so very thankful that we're rolling into June  this weekend.  Yeah. Because the farmers markets really start kicking here in June. Right.  And we benefit from that because we buy stuff from the farmers market, but we also benefit from it because we sell at the farmers market. Right. Right. And I am a big, I love salads. I love lettuce. I love radishes. I love cucumbers and tomatoes.  Right.

46:40
it'll be a lot less expensive to eat over the summer. It always is because we eat really late in the summertime. Right. Yeah.  I, um,  I unfortunately am a big meat fan.  that is just not, it's not cheap at all.  Um,  it's just gone up and up and up and up.  And if you try and buy direct from a farmer, it's more expensive for some reason.  And you'd think that it wouldn't be, but it is.  Um,

47:10
And  yeah, but I like, would rather buy direct from a farmer because  I'm sick and tired of these big billion dollar corporations  getting all the, all the profit while the farmers suffer and then the consumers suffer.  And  you know, they,  there's one store here in Canada,  so going off on too much of a tangent, they hiked up  a  very  like

47:36
quite a lot of prices over the pandemic and beyond.  And  they  renovated all of their stores to be like so much more bougie.  And it was like, you guys, like, you could have like,  not done that and just let us have our groceries at a better price.  no, you renovated, like they renovated our local store, I think three separate times.  And just,  and I could see that it's just  because they wanted a write off, right?

48:06
But it kills me. It kills me. think farmers really need to band together and create some kind of like  stick it to the man supermarket of some kind, which is like a farmer's market, but more accessible. I don't know. Good business idea for somebody who has the time.  Yeah. So she's not you right now.  No, it's not.

48:28
I was talking with my husband about this a week or so ago and I said, did we just happen to be born at the right time, be born in the golden age of growing up? And he said, what you talking about? And my husband is like five and a half months older than I am. I was born in 1969. Right. And he was born five and a half months before me  in 1969. Wow.  And  he said, you know,  he says, we were teenagers during the cold war. It was still the cold war. It was before the Berlin Wall.

48:58
was taken down. Right. I'm like, thank you for pointing out to me how freaking ancient I am. And he's like, yes, I know, honey. He says the eighties and the nineties were very easy for us  as young adults. And I said, I think so too. said, I can't imagine being in my twenties right now. I wouldn't know. I would not be able to afford to live. I wouldn't be able to afford to eat or live in a home.

49:27
And most of them can't, unfortunately. Like even, even the young bucks here who are up in the oil field grinding it away are struggling. And it's, it's terrible. And I mean, this is why I said, you know what, I'm pursuing this social media thing because to me as someone who

49:51
You know, this has been my dream since I was a little kid is owning horses and just being in the country and  living a quiet, peaceful life.  I  like this kind of life is extremely expensive  and  I  truly  feel that social media is was and is my only ticket  to being able to live that life and build that life  so that my kids can have it too.

50:18
when they're old, if they want it, you know?  Because I feel like I've missed my mark for going to law school  or med school.  And  those jobs still require you to be so busy.  like, don't get me wrong, I'm  so busy with social media and doing all of the things, but  I'm here talking to you watching my horse eat her mash.  And  that to me is  like,

50:46
the most blessed life I could possibly live. And if I could,  you know, make enough to  support my dreams, I don't need to be, you know, a millionaire. I don't need to live lavish. I just want to support exactly what I'm doing right now.  And,  you know, hopefully I can help benefit others in the process.  think going back to Katie, again, that's something she does so beautifully is

51:12
bringing people into her circle and letting everyone have a piece of her  pie that she created for herself.  And it's just,  it's,  I truly think it's the only way because if I go out and get any  kind of, you know, even a decent paying job,  like my husband has a decent paying job and he's just noticed that prices go up, but his wage stays the same and he's getting,  you know, you.

51:40
All this inflation happens, but it doesn't happen to the wages.  And so he's being bumped down,  you know, 20 years ago in his industry, he was considered like a high income earner and now he's like  considered a very like medium to low income earner. And like, to me, that's just not right.  And  so many people are dealing with that and  it's the real tragedy  of our existence, I think.  Right now, yeah.

52:10
It's terrible. There is a word for people who do tourism on their farms. It's agritourism. Yes. Yes.  So do you think that all this social media that is promoting farms and ranches and homesteads and stuff, do think we should call it agri-content? I mean, you could, or I mean,  like there's farm talk, there's horse talk, there's, yeah, like you could definitely call it that.  And I think

52:39
The  the whole idea of it is the agritourism but minus all of the insane insurance costs, right?  So digital agritourism. Yeah, exactly because like I mean I would have I would have loved to have a petting zoo  I don't have the space for it right now But like I've looked into like even like a mobile petting zoo and the insurance. Oh, it's just  Insane because animals are unpredictable. Unfortunately

53:07
And insurance is just insane.  Our place is registered as an LLC.  And we looked into getting LLC insurance because people do come to  the farm as it were  and buy stuff from the farm stand and they want to see the chickens and they want to see the barn kittens when we have them.  And our insurance guy who we love, he's no longer our insurance guy. retired. We are very sad about this.  He was great.

53:35
And we told him what we were doing and he said, you really should have insurance for the LLC.  Because if anything happens to people on your farm, homestead, whatever you're calling it,  you could get sued and that would be really bad. the  LLC insurance is expensive. And  my husband, said, is it worth it? Is it worth it to pay this? And he's like,

54:00
Do you like being able to sell eggs and produce in the farm stand all summer? And I was like, yes. He said, then it's worth it.  Oh, that's a good husband right there.  But insurance, matter what kind it is, is always expensive. And  what makes me insane about it is that  I have health insurance, you know, through my husband's work.  I  rarely  ever need to use it.  And yet we're paying out like,

54:30
hundreds of dollars at a very paycheck for health insurance.  Yeah. I'm like, is this a racket or is it really worth it? You know?  Right. I mean, it's not worth it until you need it. And then it's worth every penny. Right.  And that's the like, here's another crazy business idea for some insurance company who might be listening.  Like group pet insurance. I would love to have pet insurance  on the pom poms  and the dogs and all of those animals. Because like I said, we just had like this huge vet bill.

54:59
Um, but try to have pet insurance on the amount of animals that I have.  Like it's crazy. Um,  but I would love to see like some kind of pet insurance that's like  shaped like a life insurance policy where, know, if your pet never needs anything, you get a portion back or something, you know?  Yeah. I,  so just putting that out into the universe again for someone who has time.  Uh huh. Exactly.

55:28
Well, I wanted to get caught up with you. I wanted to hear the story about George. Thank you for sharing it.  I  really wanted you to tell a story about Angie's baby because people need to know this is not all sunshine and bubblegum. It sure is not.  It's work. It's good work and it will hurt your heart, but it will also make your heart sing at the same time. So absolutely.  And I wanted to give you some room to talk about Facebook because I think that people who are not content creators have no understanding of

55:57
of how it works or why we do it. Right, right. Yeah. And a lot of people, you know, maybe don't see the value in it.  Um, but I think  quite a few studies show that people are watching TikTok or Facebook reels or whatever YouTube  more than they're watching TV and like these pre-produced Hollywood things. And when you think about it,

56:21
That means that we're taking a little bit of  the money out of Hollywood's pocket and putting it into real people's pocket. And I think that's freaking awesome because  we don't need any more Kim K's.  No, we do not. You are correct. No,  I'm not going to sit here and throw shade at the Kardashians.  They're doing their thing. They're living their life the way they want to live it.  I  say you do you and like I'm inspired by you,  but

56:51
you have too much money.  It's not fair for the rest of us. I will never know what it's like to have too much money and I am okay with that. I'm perfectly fine with that.  All right, Becca, where can people find you?  So  my Facebook name is Becca Hammond. It has a little blue check mark now. So  that's it's the one with the blue check mark.  The username is at Becca Bia Moon.

57:18
Uh, that's for Instagram and Facebook. And then over on TikTok,  am  at moonridgeacres as well as YouTube as well. So I really need to like make those all the same at some point. I haven't got there yet.  Okay. Well, I would highly suggest if people are interested in mini horses and everything that goes into having them,  raising them and crying over them,  you should go out, go and check Becca's Facebook page for sure.

57:46
And as always, guys can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, See you next time. Bye. Bye-bye.