It can’t be over already :-(

Last day of the ranch vacation already – it went way too fast. All good things must come to an end ………… but WHY?

We had fabulous weather all week but given the rain forecast for our last day at the ranch, Gill and I opted for a trail ride to moose pond in the morning and ‘ground work’ in the afternoon. It did rain all day as forecasted so it was the perfect way to end the week.

Trail ride with Ash, our wrangler of the week was perfect – easy, slow paced and scenic. We did stop for horsemanship exercises on the way – figure 8s and directing our horses without reins in between trees – that’s very handy when bushwhacking / chasing steers. The only disappointment was …. no moose to be seen!

Since we were back at the ranch for lunch no need to pack a lunch, we had access to the ‘leftover fridge’ – yesterday’s parmesan chicken & lemon risotto was refreshing change to the squished sandwich we get out of our saddlebags at the top of the mountain.

For the afternoon, we had signed up for a “ground work” session in the arena. That’s a series of exercises used to either warm up the horses in the morning or work on some problem areas. It is also a great way to ‘connect’ with your horse. I was back with Catman today and we had fun ‘dancing’ in the arena. Some of the exercises / moves are supposed to be like a dance – leave it to me to have 2 left foot to dance with! The exercises were also a series of progressive moves so it got harder and harder as the afternoon went on. Thank goodness Catman was good at it so made me look good too!

We also got to watch Roby, the real pro, at working a colt to get it ready to be ridden – his technique was so unique and out there and he made it look sooooooo easy that you’d think everyone could start a colt! He was actually on another young horse, with this young colt tied to the saddle of the horse he was riding and he worked the 2 horses at the same time …… I was drooling in ahhhhh!

After another yummy dinner (and the best desert EVER – momofucku’s butter cake!), we had live entertainment with first a dinosaur race – not kidding, look up T-Rex Race. 4 of the wranglers got into inflatable dinosaur costumes and ran around the field – I’m sure it’s one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments but trust me, it WAS funny! Then there was a live band performing for the evening. We managed to ignore the rain and have an excellent last day!

Sad to see another great week at the ranch come to an end but so happy about the great memories created. I settled my bill tonight and …………. drum roll…………. I booked for next year already! I will just have to confirm the dates after I check in with cousin Kim who has expressed interest in coming with me next year.

It’s now time to get some sleep, 13hr drive back home tomorrow.

Sorry – photos won’t collaborate tonight, I need to study my new computer!