Day three

I'm finally starting to get the hang of things.... I even know all the horses names.

Today was great. Once I fed and cleaned, Ali and I got out 2 of the horses to ride. I rode a big Grulla gelding named Ringo. He definitely was a bit of an ass. I know the horses are so used to guests who have no idea how to ride, but I obviously still expect a whole lot out of any horse I ride. Ringo has a really hard time bending at all and he does not like to canter (or lope I suppose is the correct "western" term...). He even thought it would be funny to buck with me today, but once I got a better feel for him and him for me, I was able to support him with my leg and keep him in a lope.

After riding Ringo, I hopped on a little palomino mare. Goldie has a whole lot of issues. She has separation issues from the herd, she doesn't like to bend, and she's really spooky on the ground... Needless to say, I'm going to make a point of riding her any day the guests don't because I truly think she needs me the most. Today I only walked and trotted her, working on bending and just getting her mind off of the other horses. Apparently when she's being ridden by guests she is a real brat about running back to the other horses. It gives me something to work on though.

After lunch, Ali and I went on a trail ride across the river. I rode Sunny (my favorite paint gelding) just so I could relax a little and enjoy myself. I think I've enjoyed him so much because he's not a Quarter Horse like the rest of them. He is a little more slender which is my type of horse, and I would even dare to say athletic! It seems like whenever we go on a trail ride, it starts to rain. This weather in Cody is insane. It's like one minute it will be hot as balls and the next... The wind is blasting and it's raining. It's a nice break from California's 100 degree weather, but I do miss river and lake days already!

JW, the ranch manger, sat me down and explained all of my duties today. Basically, along with him, I'm in charge of managing the horses. I need to clean, feed, groom, and ride every day as well as maintain a clean tack area and arena. When there is guests, we will be taking them on rides and doing a little arena work. Oh! On a side note, apparently their previous Wranglers have been terrible. Like lie about being able to saddle a horse, let alone ride, type of liars. Why would you come to the middle of no where with no knowledge of how to keep complete strangers safe on a potentially dangerous animal?!

Getting back to my duties... I feel really good about having some responsibilities in my life now. Being relied upon is something new for me, but I'm looking forward to having to maintain a herd of horses.

Thursday we have guests arriving and I'm a little nervous. I feel like I may be a little overwhelmed at first since I'm not a huge people person, but I'm having faith that I'll make it through with some more knowledge. After all, there's always so much to learn when it comes to horses. The knowledge never ends.

I have a visitor every night now... A little grey cat. She now has a name... Dory! 

Ringo... Check out that dorsal stripe! 

Out on a ride with Sunny. 

Crossing the river. 

Day Two: My first day riding

First off.... It's 11 am currently so I'm a little tired, bare with me if this post is jumbled and short.

This is how my day went... Woke up at 6:30 to get ready for a short staff meeting and breakfast. Myself and Ali then proceeded to feed the four horses who are in paddocks as well as clean up all the manure in the paddocks. Also, we have to clean the pen where the ranch horses go during the day which honestly... Sucks! It's a tiny pen where about 12 horses and 3 mules go. It's a small area. I wouldn't even put 2 horses in there. It's so odd to me that the herd gets along so well when they're in there though. Horse relationships continued to surprise me. I feel as though I'll never completely understand their intricate relationships.

So after we clean and feed, we take the quads out to a huge pasture where the herd stays when they're not being worked. I couldn't even tell you how big the pasture is. I would probably lose my horses in it! Using the quads, we herd the horses into their pen by the arena (they know their routine so it's pretty easy). After the horses are all herded in, we start riding
.
JW (the ranch manager and trainer) had us pull out the few that need some training and we rode them. I was on a little Sorrel named Corona who wa pretty pluggy but did everything I asked of him. He's definitely not the high strung jumping horse I'm used to!

After lunch, Ali and I went on a short ride into the mountains. I rode a red roan gelding named Hawk. He's pretty huge! However, he likes to stop and back up... A nasty habit he's learned from being ridden by so many guests at the ranch. Once he finally understood I wasn't the rider to give in, we got along just fine. These Quarter Horses are all so simple. Makes me wonder where my little Princess Abeline got her brains from....

After we got back from the trail, Ali and I had more time to kill so we hopped on a couple more horses. This is where I fell in love! Everyone who knows me, knows I'm a huge snob about horse colors, paints in particular.... But today I found Sonny. He is a bay paint with a mostly white face, but Lord is he adorable. When I first saw him, he was so grumpy, ears pinned, dirty look on his face, but once I got him out and paid him some special attention, he was super happy. He's really fun to ride as well. He needed a little work on his leads, but I really enjoy having a horse who I can work on something with. I can't give you am exact reason... But I definitely bonded with him already.

Sonny

Running the horses in

Running 

Hawk.... A little camera shy

The view on our ride

This awesome lamp my dad would love....

Day one continued

I'm in love. So in love. Who knew a place could be so beautiful?! Everyone is so nice. The ranch is gorgeous.
I went on a quad ride right when I got here to see some of the place and it is breathtaking. A river runs right through the ranch and the whole place is in a type of valley surrounded by mountains. We went around to the pastures and met the horses. There's some super cute yearlings who are real shy. I'm so used to the extremely desensitized babies so its different but I think I could learn something new as far as training goes. It looks like they're all Quarter Horses but that's what I was expecting anyways. No fancy Warmbloods here!
Tonight we (a few of us who work here) went to the pond and had a bonfire with some beer. It was Busch... Not sure how I feel about that beverage choice, but the company was great. They are all so welcoming but super chill at the same time. I'm relieved that everyone is so willing to accept a new person even though they're all so close already. I definitely miss my California friends but this is really comforting so far.
Tomorrow I'll be up at 6:30 to start my day. I can't wait to see what the day holds!
For now.... Here's some pictures to show how beautiful this place is.

Mountains beside the ranch

The pasture where all the babies and cows are. 

The little yearlings! 

This is leaving Salt Lake City, Utah

Just coming into Cody

Day one....

Currently I'm sitting here in Salt Lake City at the airport, starting this blog. The flight to here from Sacramento was really short and easy! Leaving this morning was one of the more difficult things I've had to do. The water works were in full effect! It started with me telling Nemo to be a good boy so my parents wouldn't think he was being a pain in the ass... Laugh all you want, but saying goodbye to Winnie and Frankie was so hard. I think Frankie knew something was going on because he just

looked sad this morning (maybe I'm crazy!) My mom and I both cried when she' dropped me off. Here I am 22 years old and I've never really left home for very long like this. What did I get myself into?

I couldn't be more excited to get to Cody, Wyoming in a couple hours. My flight takes off in about an hour and a half. My mind is filled with questions about what it's going to look like, what I'll be doing what the people will be like... I honestly can't wait to get on a horse right now. I think that will be the only familiar thing to me once I'm there and I'm looking forward to SOMETHING that I actually know. Of all the things in life that make me uncertain, horses are not at all apart of that.

I'm expecting a lot of hard work once I arrive, but I think I'll rise to that challenge easily and enjoy it. 

By the way.... How weird is it that I'm not a server/bartender anymore?!?!

Once I arrive at Hawkeye Ranch and get settled I'll blog a little more about my first look at Wyoming!