BETH HORSBURGH adores animals. When she was growing up in Windsor, "other girls played with dolls, but I had a toy cattle truck," she recalls. "I was always fascinated with animals and farm life." She had her heart set on becoming a veterinarian, but she was told this wasn't a suitable career for women. Instead, she was urged to go into nursing. So she did, and she has made a great success of it. She's now the dean of the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing, Canada's largest nursing school. Yet her attraction to animals, especially horses, never diminished. She and her husband, Greg, have three mares and a colt on their 10-acre property west of Edmonton. Also in residence are their teenage son, Chad, and daughter Jessica, a hair stylist in nearby Spruce Grove. Amy, their oldest, is entering graduate studies in the United States. The family also includes three dogs, three cats, a cockatiel and tropical fish. They acquired all the pets in Saskatoon, during the five years Beth was Dean of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan. It was there that they tried acreage living and loved it. Greg was away a fair amount, concluding his 27-year career in the automotive industry in Ontario and Michigan. "Every time he was away, we'd get another pet," Beth says with a grin. "They were usually waifs. We'd go to the local animal shelter, and say, 'Show us your death row inmates.'" They also bought their first mare, a sturdy pony named Smudgy. Later, they purchased two quarterhorses, Maria and Misty. Beth and Chad took riding lessons, and soon they were all saddling up. These days, Greg and Beth think nothing of loading their horses in the trailer and driving around Alberta to enjoy a trail ride. "Neither of us have a country background, so we welcome advice wherever we can find it," Greg says. For instance, when someone came to install blinds for the house last spring, the family was abuzz over the arrival of Moonshadow, Misty's offspring. The installer had some experience with horses, and suggested a technique for getting a halter on a frisky colt. "I was told it works if you pull the head up high, put your hand under the jaw and then have someone pull on the tail," Greg says. "They have short, stubby little tails at this age, and that freezes them." When Beth was recruited to the U of A, they knew they wanted another country property, with a barn and ample space for the horses. "This has been Beth's lifelong dream," Greg says. "And now she has someone to look after it for her." Beth's commute to and from the university takes about half an hour. "I like living on the west side of the city," she says. "That way, I get to enjoy both the morning sky and the night sky while I drive." While she's at work, Greg is busy with various chores around the place. They've built corrals and a riding arena and planted pasture. After attending a fire awareness session sponsored by the local fire department, he cleaned up deadfall and trimmed the low-lying branches of all the large evergreens close to the house. "I was concerned about the risk of grass fires," he explains. Greg has also been in charge of their bed and breakfast, Spruce Moose B & B. That is to say, he's the official innkeeper, but Beth leaves him his marching orders each morning, "just like she has for the last 30 years," Greg jokes. In mock dismay, he adds, "I launder a lot of sheets, and now she tells me she wants them ironed, too!" Naturally, she's taught him how to do "hospital corners" on the sheets when he's making up the beds. "We've stayed at inns ourselves, in Europe and Hawaii, and found it a great way to meet people," says Beth. "And Greg's a real people person." When they have visitors, Beth and Greg often share duties in the spacious kitchen, appointed with stainless steel appliances and red ceramic tiles on walls and floor. Greg gets up early and tends to the horses, then brings a coffee tray to the guests. The "breakfast" part of the bed and breakfast includes freshly squeezed orange juice and omelets or pancakes. Beth pays attention to such details as mint leaves in the individual bowls of fresh blueberries. The Horsburghs' home originated with a smaller, circa-1950 house that was transformed by an architect in the 1980s. The result is a 5,500-square-foot gem, a gracious, multi-level design with vaulted ceilings, a circular wood-and-steel staircase to the second level, five bedrooms, soaring cedar beams and paneling and expanses of glass. The guest facilities fill one wing of the lower main floor. Guests have their own library and "great room" featuring a stone fireplace. The elevated formal dining area, where breakfast is served, nestles in the curve of a towering brick fireplace and a bank of two-storey windows. In the underground, three-car garage, a dumb waiter makes it easy to transfer groceries and other goods to the kitchen. The lower level also contains a den and a wine cellar. "The wine cellar was a shooting range, a hobby of the original owner," Greg says. The home boasts a multi-level deck and patio. The site has spectacular views of rolling grainfields, mature spruce and aspen trees and a pond. The wetland bordering their property often attracts moose, hence the name of their business. They also see deer, coyotes and foxes, muskrats and beavers, great grey owls and waterfowl. Beth's career has taken the family from Ontario to Saskatchewan to Alberta. "Being out in nature and having all these animals gives us balance in our lives," she says, adding, "If we ever move again, I think I'd like a smaller house and more land." As this issue of Acreage Life was going to press, the Horsburghs announced that they are closing their B & B and returning to Saskatchewan. Beth has accepted a research position with the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Health Region. Their new country place will, indeed, have a smaller house and more land.