This weekend, I was invited to a women’s retreat at the V6 Ranch in Parkfield, CA. (This is why my blog posts were late for the past 3 days. We were riding and didn’t have internet until the afternoons.)
The V6 Ranch specializes in weekend events for those who want to experience the California cowboy experience. They have music festivals, retreats, cattle drives… all sorts of horse/cow/countryside activities.
The 20,000 acre ranch is amazing. Just the scenery I like… rolling hills with vast oak trees. (I love all kinds of scenery, really… but this type makes me feel like John Wayne.) The weather was perfect and the light was beautiful. The Horsegods were with us, for sure.
The V6 is the kind of ranch where the men where Carhartt jackets – because they need to.
MY HORSE
I like to rent a ranch horse because my horses are not in shape and they are no familiar. I’d much prefer a ‘been there, done that’ ranch horse who is tough as nail, incredibly strong, knows the territory – and the way home – and doesn’t spook at anything.
My horse was named Dozer. He was born on the ranch and was the owner’s heading horse for roping.
I don’t know what any of that really means… but I do know that Dozer was tall. He was the 2nd largest horse on the ranch. Of course. I was just about the shortest person there and I got the almost tallest horse. Ha!
But Dozer was solid as a rock and very smooth. I didn’t have to think about a thing. He listened to everything I asked and I really liked him.
I think they called him “Dozer” because he can sleep at any rest stop, but he also plows his way through any path.
I don’t know much about quarter horses, but if I was to guess, he looked to be an Appendix.
THE LADIES.
I’m not much of a Ladies’ Retreat kind of gal. Lots of times, the ladies aren’t very ladylike in manner or demeanor. But these ladies were awesome! Very friendly and so accepting. I was enamored.
THE TRAILS.
I cannot tell you how beautiful Fall is at the V6 ranch… And, photos don’t really show the depth of the landscape. But, I’ll try with this photojournal.
Gorggeous. I felt like I was in an oil painting.
Many of the 33 ladies brought their own horses.
One woman brought her Friesian. He was totally excited by this experience and it was glorious watching him.
Another view… like an oil painting – again. John, one of the ranch owners, is telling us about the history of the ranch and where he used to ride as a kid.
I swear my Dad had this painting hanging in his house…
There were birds of prey flying over this draw. You can see one of them in this pic.
We came out onto their new pistachio orchard. 100 acres of pistachio trees.
A lovely meadow.
We crossed a huge open area that John called, The Badlands. He didn’t tell us why… If my horses saw this big, open space, they would take off running. Dozer knew to conserve his energy.
On one of the days, we helped push the cattle into the pens so we could sort them and play Cowgirl!
Our last day was a Sunday… and we had mass out on the meadow. It was very moving. Dozer was very respectful of the minister.
This was our circle for Mass on Horseback. Loved it! That big arrow is pointing to a litle tiny Corgi puppy that the wrangler is holding.
This is the Corgi puppy. She was so cute! She looked like a stuffed animal.
There were two puppies and they played all the time.
This was our last ride on the last day. I was so sad to leave.
My Barnie with Dozer. He was way too tall but I loved him.
I HOPE YOUR WEEKEND WAS AS RELAXING AND WONDERFUL!
NOVEMBER BUCKET FUND HORSES: BONNIE AND CLYDE – Perfectly trained, sweet, polite – AND STARVED. Click here to read their story!
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Ha! I loved him!!
I rode Dozer when we went to the V6 ranch! Loved him. VERY forward-going horse.