Getting into a routine...

I don't think I've ever been so exhausted in my life. I seriously work all day long, just taking care of the horses and riding. It's teaching me so much responsibility. I feel like once I'm home, I'll want to take a more active role in taking care of my own horses and not just riding constantly. I think I take advantage of the fact that I have a mom who takes such good care of my kids at home!

So the past couple of days have just consisted of getting the horses ready for the guests who are coming in. It's been really nice having 2 days to myself to just ride and get to know the horses better. I've taken a real liking to Hawk, the big red roan gelding. He actually does amazing flying lead changes! Nothing compares to how my Nemo does them, but Hawk is a nice little reminder of a well trained horse for me. I still think I prefer Sunny, but it's hard when all of them try so hard for me. I even managed to sneak out to the river Thursday for a ride on Ringo. It was a good ending to a long day. However... Wednesday I got bucked off. Bruno, a huge half draft gelding, got excited while we were on the trail alone and LAUNCHED me. I mean, I don't think I've ever been on a horse who bucked so huge. I'm lucky he didn't run all the way home, but it still was slightly embarrassing to tell everyone that I ate shit my first week. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be trusting Bruno anytime soon.

Today I had my first experience with guests. It was... Tough. I'm extremely used to my students who have a desire to learn horsemanship, but these young girls just wanted to get on and ride. Not just ride, but ride well. I vaguely remember my first lesson on horseback, but I'm almost positive I was thrilled just to be walking, these girls just want to lope around, but possess no skills to control their horse, let alone stay on, while they're doing much more than a trot. I had to constantly remind myself that they're not here to become skilled riders who will eventually own their own horses. They're only here so they can fufill some sort of odd fantasy about riding in the mountains. My heart goes out to the poor horses here. Maybe I'm being over emotional about it, but it's truly sad to me that they'll never have a reliable partner. They have to deal with beginning riders who yank on their mouths constantly and kick them with the wrong legs. I'm so incredibly thankful that I have 5 beautiful horses who will never have to know what it's like to have a rider who treats them like dirt. If I learn anything this summer, it's that a horse desperately needs a partner in life who they can rely on to lead them through anything.

Besides riding, I've been getting to know everyone else who works here. It's been really nice meeting new people who, like me, have a desire to be somewhere completely new.  They have all been so welcoming to me. I miss my own friends so much, but meeting new people has been so exciting. My boss is amazing, he constantly is asking me questions about my world of English riding. It's definitely nice to have people welcome my different view of the equine world. After all, we're all just trying to learn as much as we can about our four legged companions.

Bruno after the incident. 

Before I got bucked off

Ringo.