Less than a month remains before our Summer season begins! Work continues here at the ranch with Spring maintenance, building projects, and colt starting. Old fences are getting fixed, new fences are being built, and lumber is being milled for those fences. The lawn is greening up and the flower beds are waking up from their Winter slumber. All the saddles and bridles are getting cleaned and oiled. The saddle horses are getting tuned up and legged up in preparation for their work this Summer.
My favorite part of the Spring work is when the crew begins starting colts. This Spring we had four 3-year-olds to start under saddle and three 2-year-olds to just start on groundwork. I love watching how these youngsters change and learn as their training progresses. Some much is learned about a horse’s personality, work ethic, and raw talent in these first 30 days. Knowing our horses from their very beginnings under saddle is an important part of our riding program. Many of these horses we have been there to watch them take their very first breath. This long term knowledge of each horse helps us to place each of our guests with a horse that best suits their needs for their week-long vacation.
Annie was on watch dog duty in the middle of the arena.
Preparations for Summer continue, the landscape is greening, the snow is slowly disappearing, horses are shedding their winter coat and everyone is busy at work. We look forward to meeting and sharing our little piece of the West with the folks that are visiting Western Pleasure Guest Ranch this Summer.