Humans discovering a different side of themselves… on a horse.

I was looking over the masses of Team Penning photos taken (by Reaction Photography) while we were at the R Lazy S Ranch in early August.

Now… you may say to yourself, “Team Penning is not something I would ever do or care about…”.

Right.

Exactly my point.

The first two years I was at the R Lazy S Ranch, I didn’t do the Team Penning either. I thought it was something only kids did… or something I simply couldn’t do – no skills for it and really not interested.

But last year I did it with Hubby and our friends from Grass Valley. We had SO MUCH FUN that we signed up for Team Penning on the very first day of our trip this year.

This simple game, on a horse, with cows… changed our perspectives on ourselves and our capabilities. Last year, my team came in 2nd place. For a while there, we actually had the best times. Wow! Huh? Us? A coupla gals from Grass Valley?

But besides the times, just doing it was exhilarating! We were laughing and eating dust with glee!

So, while reviewing these new pics, (we lost horribly this year…), I wanted to share the wonderment through description. I will describe the ‘title’ of each player and you can see who far they are outside of their boxes…

THE PLAYERS!

This guy in a beautiful shirt, is a cyber intelligence worker who lives in Virginia. He only rides when he comes to the R Lazy S. (Look at Freckles in the background… He was helping.)

This is his 16 year old daughter who is not a rider, either, but she had a great time on this fabulous pony. All of us were on the sidelines, waiting our turns. (Nobody is using cell phones – we rarely saw them at the ranch.)

This is Leslie. She is a fertility worker who actually makes the babies in the lab. Riding is not something she does often, either. Look at her go!

Look at that face! This is Joyce. She is a very successful pharmaceutical rep from NY/SF. She never rides.

This is Katelynn from Washington (above Oregon). She is one of the Ranch’s chefs (Thank you for the excellent food!). Katelynn is a ringer. You want her on your teeam.

Happy kid! This is the son of the Cyber guy. He is not a rider, but look at him!…

This is Tom on Pirate. He loves this horse… Tom is a retired Railroad employee from Alabama. He only rides when he comes to the R Lazy S – once a year..

This is me. Our team lost miserably… but not due to my fabulous horse, Teewinot. He was totally into it!

This is the 16 year old who didn’t really want to do Team Penning. Look at her here!

This is our friend, Adam. He owns an Internet provider company. Doesn’t he look like a natural? He also never rides.

Hubby and Tom celebrating their time. They were really excited! This Team Penning got under their skin,for sure!

This is the cyber intelligence expert with his two sons, who never ride. Imagine how cool this was for them – and imagine the memories…

Hubby’s team. All were charging forward on their third go.

This is a really nice kid who lives in New Hampshire. He never rides but sure had fun on this day!

This is New Hampshire’s little brother who had THE BEST VOICE! This kid was such a delight! I loved watching him ride. He said, “It isn’t if we win or lose, it is if we improve! That’s what matters!” Good parents.

Me, again. I’m looking for my team…. a good example of why we lost. Note how my horse is totally into this. Freckles is helping in the background.

Teenage girls, not on their phones, and laughing a lot!

This is a 20 year old kid from Ohio. He was doing this with his little brother who was 12 – just to make him comfortable. Well… they BOTH had an incredible time! (Neither rode before coming to R Lazy S!)

This is the older New Hampshire brother, yelling at the cows. Freckles is helping again.

Your blogger… looking like a bad guy tomato, having a blast! (My red clothes come from Goode Rider… you can get it all Riding Warehouse – linked at the bottom of this blog – or Goode Rider!)