The Trail Less Travelled

There was less time in the saddle today but it was also one of the better riding days – I guess it goes to show sometimes less is more.

As I hinted yesterday, I started the day with ‘jingling in the horses’. This is something they used to offer the guests but don’t anymore – I had made a special request and was thankful they let me take part. I met wrangler Sue at 6am – still dark out and quite cool. I would have been challenged to catch my own horse in the dark but Sue is an expert at this since she does that every morning. After brushing, saddling and a little warm up inside, we were ready to head out. Luckily, it was starting to get light out but still had the morning dew / mist lifting in the fields.

Horses go out to pasture overnight every night. About 60 of them and they need to be brought back in the morning; that’s “jingling in the horses”. We trotted down a long driveway and then 3 pastures over to where they were. They know the gig – half of them were waiting at the gate and when we opened it, they just galloped out in the general direction of the ranch. They still have quite a wide area to wonder around in but they know the way and are heading in. In the meantime, Sue and I went and did a sweep of the full pasture to make sure none were left behind – sure enough, there were 2 stragglers grazing away in the far corner. We gathered them up and headed back, ‘sweeping’ the way back, gathering all of the horses who had now found nice grass spots along the way to eat and hang. When all of them are back in the large morning enclosure, our work is done for jingling! It is quite a special experience to be trotting along in the field with 60 horses in the morning mist as the sun is peaking over the mountain tops. Sue took a really good picture but I don’t have it yet.

It was 7:30am by the time I had put Cisco (the horse I rode to jingling) away, just enough time for breakfast and to change for the day ahead.

Today was kind of a special day up at graze. We weren’t looking for steers to take back however; it’s always good to keep track of where they are last seen. We were ‘exploring the mountain”, looking for new possible trails / ways to get around while 2 other groups were also riding up there, doing their own exploring. We didn’t get on the horses til 1030hrs and instead of taking the road we were on, we were off-roading within seconds! My group was wrangler Ash and my buddy Gill. Both of us were on new horses today – yes, they indulged me with Quick today…. another thank you for that! The 3 of us have ridden together since Tuesday so Ash is getting to know our abilities and that we like a little more excitement in our rides …. and she delivered for us today. We went up and down some pretty steep and unmarked trails – it was hard enough to ride through, I couldn’t manage any pictures, you’ll have to take my word for it! A go-pro would have been good today! It was FUN! We had a lunch date with the other 2 groups – usually we pack our lunches when out at graze but today, Phil & Kevin delivered a gourmet lunch to the top of the mountain. They had even brought wine & tablecloths…. FANCY! In total, there were 12 of us, we had good laughs, good food, took a group picture and then split back in our groups for an early afternoon finish back at the truck ……… but not before going down the unbeaten trail again and for quite a long ways.

After the rides, when we get back to the ranch and the horses have been unsaddled, we give them their grain, sponge them off and give them water. At the same time, it always feels good to take off our hats chaps that we have had on all day but there isn’t time to get changed or go back to our rooms so I usually put all my stuff together on the bench while I tend to the horses. After Quick was all done & back in the pasture, I went to gather my stuff but didn’t have my chaps. I looked all over for them and then went to check the truck in case I had left them in there. I found a pair of chaps, they were Sharon’s. I have to tell you about Sharon! She’s one of the guests and quite a character! She’s an OLD 75y.o. lady; here with her husband and they are long-time guests at the ranch. She signs up for activities well beyond what I would consider her capabilities (not to mention the safety). She has a cardiac condition and requires regular heart rate monitoring. Given that she has a hard time lifting her feet to walk or sitting straight on a chair, you can just imaging her on a horse! She’s always late. One morning, she was getting in the truck to leave when she realized she was still in her slippers – she held up the group at least half hour just to get her boots. She needs help doing up her chaps and getting on & off the horse. she insists in getting in and out of the truck on her own but it’s a scary sight. Needless to say, she needs 1:1 ratio with the wranglers when she rides. She is totally clueless that she is a disaster waiting to happen. And tonight she took my chaps! We had a good laugh about it after dinner. She’s sweet enough but I told Sue & Ash to please tell me not to come back if I’m ever at that stage! I got the chaps things sorted out for us tomorrow. Now I just hope she makes it to the end of the week with no serious injuries!

Indeed only one more day to go. I don’t want it to end. We were also joking at dinner that I’d come back as an intern- take 3 months off of work to come work here. Nice thought but I don’t know that I’d make it a week – these kids work day and night! Fun to to dream about it though.