Last time for everything

My last two weeks at Horseworks basically came down to this: we lost the horses about five more times. I’m not even kidding, they kept escaping and we still don’t know how. Somehow they managed to go down the North Ridge (which is basically just a rocky cliff) and run around in the oil field. It does make for interesting rides. The second time they escaped, we looked all morning and couldn’t find them but stumbled upon them by chance on the way to the rodeo. When trying to catch them we could only get one so Alice had to chase the rest around the pasture to get them into a corral. Another time, only three of them had escaped and we all split into teams to go looking for them, saddle-bags packed with wire cutters and vet wrap, just in case. Thankfully they were just waiting for us on the other side of a gate. The last time they escaped (for now) the interns were gone so I tried to wrangle them on my own, which resulted in a mad gallop through the oil field on Spice while Rachel and MaeCile chased them in the truck. As you can probably guess, I loved that ride ;)

Even without the horses there was loads to do, we fixed fences, delivered a calf, got the cows back from the neighbours (they took a page out of the horses book and decided to escape again as well), we went to the Hotsprings during a thunderstorm and we explored old Grass Creek town. I still think the old school has a nuclear fallout shelter in the basement (maybe I’ve been watching too much tv?). We went to two beautiful lakes in the mountains of the Shoshone National Forest where Doo and I danced on a log in the middle of a lake and we had to spoon in the truck bed to keep warm on the way back, but the views were worth it. When the horses were there, we went on loads of fun rides around the area and at Wood River. Unfortunately Pirouette was still lame, despite Helen’s physio sessions with her, but that gave me a chance to ride some of the other great horses (and I still beat everyone at barrel racing ;)

The Cody riding club organised a trail competition (an obstacle course for horses) and I decided to compete with Poncho, our most chilled out horse, which seemed like a safe bet. As you can probably guess he was completely not chilled at the competition.. he was scared of everything, from flags to holes in the ground. It was fun anyway and I was really proud of him for doing the ‘seesaw’ obstacle, which I was scared of myself. Rachel came with me as my groom and we met some really nice people so it was a great day, except for that awkward moment when I hit a Pronghorn on the way there and managed to drag it a couple metres between the car and the trailer.. hunting season has started.

The past four weeks, I’ve been working with one of our young horses named Missy. With the help of MaeCile I’ve been training her to accept a saddle and to get used to weight on her back. The first time we worked with her, it took us three hours to catch her and she was scared of everything. By the time I left I was able to put my foot in the stirrup and lean over her back, I’m so happy with all the progress she’s made. She’s going to be a great horse. I’m sad I didn’t get to work with her more, but as always, the summer was over way too soon. It’s been an unforgettable experience, I’ve learned so much, met truly amazing people and laughed more than I had in ages. Thanks for the memories! It’ll be hard to get used to life back home but at least I’ve got another trip to look forward to ;)

To be continued

We lost the horses.. again

Rachel just told me that a couple of days here feel like a year in the real world. Especially this past week, so much has happened, it feels like it’s been ages since I went to the airport to pick up the new group. Remember how I thought 14 people was a big group? This week we had 17. They havebeen amazing though, helping out wherever they could and with every problem that came up. I honestly wouldn’t have survived this week without all the help and understanding. As it was, we had a really fun, busy week and it feels like I’ve known these people for ages.

Of course we did lots of riding. We went to Cowcamp where we went out to find racoons and hidden caves, I rode around bareback to check on everyone, Petra and I went looking for the missing cows and Doo taught us how to line-dance in the moonlight. The next morning we couldn’t find 12 of our 18 horses so we loaded all the tack and most of the interns in the truck and Paul, me and four interns rode out to find the herd. Eventually we found them just chilling on a hill, pretty far away from camp. We managed to wrangle them down a pretty steep slope and all the way back home.

We went to Wood River again and I drove the huge truck and trailer! And everyone survived! I even backed it up twice! It was actually pretty easy. The ride itself was great as well, we followed a narrow cow trail through a pretty dense forest with lots of low-hanging branches and little jumps down the slope. On Lisa’s last day we went out to look for our bull, who had escaped to the neighbours. We found them with the neighbours cows and had to wrangle all of them back home because he just wouldn’t move, not even when we rode into him with our horses. Trying to get him to move was so much fun though, I love working with the cows and riding with a purpose. We also went to float the river in Thermopolis with the new group, which I hadn’t done before but it was loads of fun! We almost didn’t make it out of the river because the current was so strong, it most have been a funny sight to see us struggling to reacht the shore.

On Friday, Dani and I went out in the morning to wrangle the horses. Most of them were already at the corral so we opened they gate and they were walking in when I realized that there was something in the other corral. The mare that we had kept in had had her baby! It looked like he was maybe one or two hours old and he was struggling to get up. Alice and Helen worked really hard to get him some milk and help him stand up but eventually we decided to take him to the vet, who gave him milk and an IV-drip. It looked like he was doing better, standing up and nursing, but unfortunately he passed away Saturday night. The vet thinks he suffered from oxygen deprivation during birth but she has no idea why he suddenly deteriorated and died..

In more positive news, we went to a wedding! MaeCile got married to Jim last Saturday and it was great. They both looked radiant, the ceremony was nice, the cake looked great, as did the flowers (bouquets made by the interns) and the best thing was that we could attend in our jeans and boots, definitely a first for me. Oh and I almost forgot about my encounter with the snake! I opened the tack room and was reaching for a brush when I realized there was a rattle snake right next to it. I slowly backed up and walked away while the snake slithered out of the tack room rattling it’s tale. I’m surprised at how calm I sounded calling for MaeCile and Paul, who chopped it’s head of with a lunge whip, at least it won’t be bothering us anymore ;)