Not my first rodeo

It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster living with fifteen other people and doing everything together, everyday. But you also get to know someone a lot better than you normally would over the course of ‘just’ two weeks. That’s why two weeks can feel like months or years and that’s what makes it so hard to say goodbye. On Friday and Saturday, over half of the group left the ranch and in a week we’ll have to say goodbye to the remaining six. These are the people that make getting up early worth it and who challenge me everyday. It inspires me to see how much a person can grow over a couple of weeks, not just as riders but also in other aspects. I loved getting to know every single one of you, you surprised me and made me laugh (and almost cry) and you’ve taught me a lot about myself. I miss you girls already and I hope to meet you again in the future, whether in Europe or on another continent.

On a less depressing note ;) My boots are in! We went to Boot Barn last week and at first they couldn’t find them but it turned out they were on the bottom of the pile. They are really nice but I couldn’t help but look around the shop a bit and I found another pair that I really love as well. Don’t worry I didn’t buy it! I guess I’m a bit girlish after all, but with cowboy boots instead of pumps. I wasn’t the only one though as almost everyone got a pair, the counter was filled with ten pairs of new boots, quite an impressive sight. With our new boots on we went to the rodeo in Cody. It was just a regular rodeo, not like the championship last year, but it was still pretty cool to see and we had a lot of fun, especially watching the little kids run around the arena chasing calves during calve scramble and of course I loved the barrel racing.

The next day most of the group went to Yellowstone for a roadtrip while Hannah, Paige and I went to a ranch rodeo in Meeteetse. It was very different from the normal rodeo, there was bronc riding but none of the other events at the regular rodeo. This rodeo had events like team trailering, team branding and wild cow milking. While the Codeo rodeo is very touristy, this one was mostly visited by locals which gave it a completely different vibe. We have been practicing our own rodeo skills as well. We tried roping (on the ground, not on a horse) and worked the cows. We rode out one day to find our cows but we couldn’t find them anywhere. Turned out they had escaped and were on the neighbours property. We went to find them and managed to herd them into a corral. We then took turns trying to separate a cow from the rest and led it out. Pirouette (the little pony I’m riding now) was amazing, it felt like she knew exactly what to do as she galloped after that cow.

We’ve done lots of trail rides and arena work with the horses. Because Tucker was a bit stiff I switched to Pirouette, a cheeky little mare, she loves to run and can be bit nervous at times but I feel like we’re getting along better every day. She is very responsive which makes her an amazing horse to ride and she is a great barrel racer! Last week we rode to ‘Cowcamp’ where we spent the night sleeping under the stars. It is so beautiful out there and very peaceful, except for when we woke up in the middle of the night when the cows ran past where we were sleeping, we almost got trampled.. All part of the ranch experience! The ride back over the mountains was amazing! After that we went to the Hotsprings in Thermopolis to relax and recover from all the riding. Our muscles needed that ;)