So: Part I.....
Well I wanted to give you an update on Roman and his nose - it is healing nicely and no longer looks like a slab of fresh rump steak stuck on the side of his face. And because I am a thoughtful kind of person, I have taken a photo of said nose to illustrate:
As you can see, it seems to be doing pretty well. Which is more that can be said for Cowboy. Another horse had to be put down this week. I'm told that it is not normally like this here - we seem to be having a run of bad luck. Cowboy had problems in the past with the nerves in his back and basically we found him early in the morning unable to get up at all as his back legs were paralysed. Fortunately he was not in any pain or discomfort but there was nothing that could be done for him. Another horse called Grey Cloud was also diagnosed with cancer in the same place as Buzz this week so I guess I will get to practice my "encouragement" skills again at some stage in the very near future.
It's been a busy week here with lots of guests - averaging around 80 guests each day. This has meant a couple of 6am starts. The first thing we do is go out and herd the horses into the Corral. 85 horses in a small corral makes it very cosy. We then need to catch each horse and put certain horses in the grainer to be fed and the rest into their designated space ready to be brushed and saddled. Bearing in mind I am still learning the names of all of the 100+ horses that are used for guests, this part of the day is quite challenging for me. I'm ok when they are all in their "spots" but when they first come in in the morning, it is total carnage. This task is made then more difficult when we have an early start and it is dark in the morning! All the bay and red horses all just look dark brown.
The next challenge is to brush each horse, making sure that they are cleaned of dry sweat, mud etc and to clean and doctor any sores. Again, in the dark this can be quite challenging and so I have mastered the art of "Brushing By Touch". This can prove quite dirty as you are feeling your way around the horse if they have been recently rolling in horse doo doo. It can also be quite embarassing when you think you have brushed them adequately and then when the light is better and you realise that you have missed out whole patches of dirt. Hey Ho.
We've had some lovely guests in this past week. I particularly enjoyed having a drink with two English guests visiting just for the night as part of a week's tour of Arizona. They very kindly updated me on the mess Gordon Brown is making of running the country in my absence. Not that I mean that it would be run any better if I was actually in the UK - I am sure you understand what I am trying to say! The couple were here as they are writing an article for a national broadsheet, travel edition which I'm told is due out in January. I'm told that I will be mentioned in the article - I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not and I guess I will have to wait and see!
Some of our other guests this week have been rather high maintenance. I am convinced that one such guest has a few mental health issues. I came to this conclusion after riding with her on a couple of occasions. The weather has been good here for the best part of the week (more on that later) and was about 80 degrees. Whilst I was walking around in a sleeveless shirt, this particular guest was riding with shirt, big coat, hat, gloves and a scarf wrapped round her face, making her look like some kind of bandit. This, coupled with her erratic and often speedy style of riding, made for a very scary experience. I became convinced of her "issues" when she advised me (as she took a photo on her phone camera of my horses face close-up) that she was designing a calendar of horses lips. I kid you not.
Team Penning was funny too this week - this is when the guests get the chance to work in teams of four to pen three cattle out of a small group of them. The key to success is in the title - TEAM penning. It is quite amazing to see the previously meek and mild ridders turn into the most aggressive competitors as they try and catch their cows and beat the others teams time. One of the guests this week (whom I shall call "Guest B") was definitely a bit of a screamer. You are advised as you get close to the cattle to shout at them but you have to lope down to where the cattle are and Guest B took the opportunity to just let out a continuous, high pitch whooping scream for the duration of her team's penning. I think the cows were scared out of their skins. I was having trouble controlling my laughter. It was a bit of a Meg Ryan moment if you understand me.......
No comments:
Post a Comment