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OUR FIRST TRAILRIDE: RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY…!
Hubby and I are now at the fabulous R Lazy S Ranch in Wyoming!
— I came here by happenstance last year… I wrote several blogs about it then.
My experience here was so incredible, Hubby wanted to come here with me – so he arranged for a trip this year. Very exciting!!
Click image to go to the website.
OUR FIRST MORNING!
The way it works here, the Head Wrangler sizes you up and decides which horse would be a good fit.
Last year, I had a wonderful horse named Sky. He and I were brand new at the ranch together. He was the first Arab I had ever ridden and I was the first blogger he had ever carried.
I loved him! Sky was alert, a bit fussy and snorty, but also honest and daring. I wanted to take him home.
So this year, I requested him… and heard the awful news that he had broken his leg earlier this year and they couldn’t save him. So sad. In fact, the Head Wrangler, Dan, came up to me and apologized that Sky wasn’t available – Dan tried to assuage my sadness by telling me that he had picked out a special mount for me.
Nice!
–As an aside, I must say that the crew here sure makes one feel welcomed… Everyone that I had met previously, came up to welcome me and ask if I needed anything. I fact, one employee told me that she had supplied our room with softer pillows since I had used a softer pillow last year…
Anyway, back to the horses… Hubby and I got all rigged up to go to the Corrals for Orientation. There, Hubby listened attentively to the entertaining introduction to riding at the R Lazy S Ranch.
–I love that the Orientation is geared toward the happiness of the horses as well as the safety of the rider – nice touch.
It was just about then, as Orientation was wrapping up, that the sky opened and drenched us.
Yup.
Rain Rain Go Away, come again some other day…
Except, it didn’t. It stayed with us.
We got drenched!
This horse should have given us a clue of the impending rain… He was standing under an awning.
And these guys… one was already totally wet and the other was doing equine yoga or something… he was sitting there, stretching in the rain.
MEETING OUR HORSES!
As long as the weather wasn’t a thunderstorm, they ride.
You don’t have to ride if you don’t want to ride, but the riding happens – no matter the weather.
Most of us hadn’t brought heavy rain gear. We tried… we wore our best stuff, but un-uh. We weren’t quite THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER here. We were more like City Slickers caught in a rainstorm.
Anyway, back to the horses…
Hubby was paired with a lovely TB named “Kentucky”.
I was given another white horse, a quarterhorse, named Dove. Most of the wranglers called her “Lovey Dovey”.
We set out in the rain… Hubby with “Tucky” and me on “Dovey”.
All the horses were ready to go and we wondered which horse would go with which rider… Today, the Wranglers readied 43 horses in no time at all! Such an artform!
THE REST OF THE STORY IN PHOTOS…
This is me… I was DRENCHED when I came back in so I went into the little store and bought a yellow slicker. Not too fashionable but very needed!
After a warming lunch, we set out for our afternoon ride… since we had bought rain gear, of course, it stopped raining. Here I am, atop Dovey.
We started out through the woods and stopped here to take off our layers. The sun was shining a bit!
Uh oh… the clouds are coming back in… Look at those mountains!
We passed some of the cabins
Gorgeous – but just about to rain…
Some of the younger horses in the corrals for training.
We were so busy during our ride, that I forgot to take many photos… but as soon as I dismounted, I took this pic of Dovey being led away… “See you tomorrow!”
Here is Hubby and our friends after the 2nd ride of the day. We were sore and happy, tired and hungry!
Hi Dawn, I remember your posts from the ranch and how it was available at just the right time to keep you from having a vacation disaster. Glad that you and your hubby could go together this time.
I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but, dang… your hubby looks all hot and stuff in his riding gear!! :-)
I look forward to reading your blog daily – thanks !
Best from KD in Florida
Hii Marge: I cannot speak for other Guest Ranches, but at this one, you are able to request the horse
you had from previous years. Some have been here over 20 years. At this ranch, R Lazy S, they winter the horses down the mountain a ways – that service is contracted. The horses eat all winter and come here very fat – as you can see in the photos. The Ranch generally retires about 2 horses a year so they have two babies a year who grow up and are trained here. One of the women in our group is back on her favorite mare after the mare had 2 years off to have her colts. Some of the horses here are also rented yearly from neighbors… Also, a major consideration is that these horses have to be bomb-proof to carry so many inexperienced riders through these glorious woods – full of nature and animals. It would not be prudent to kill off well seasoned horses every year. Good ‘bomb-proof’ horses are not easy to find. But again I can only speak for this ranch.
Most dude ranches and camps do not winter over their horses. Most if not all are shipped to auction!!