Hay is for Horses

The day finally arrived!
So heres how it went down: We, (Jim and myself) get to the ranch, which is in Millarville, about 50 km SW of Calgary and see the horse trailer in use. The girl who is the new, i don't know her title - caretaker? is using it to move stuff from her house in Okotoks to the ranch. So we, and by we, I mean, Jim told them we'd be happy to lighten their load and help them move. Which was totally fine - they were super nice people. Marci is great, Darren, her boyfriend is with the Calgary Police and her daughter(grade 11) was there too. So we trekked to her old place and packed up her garage and office and filled the trailer and Darren's truck, and helped unload it at the new house. I totally didn't mind. I was just really warm and icky by the time we started to saddle up the horses. And by we, I mean, them. I didn't ssaddle a thing. I stood around and watched. Sooooo ..... continuing on. THEY loaded the now saddled horses onto the trailer and away we went.
BELOW is Red. He's the king of the castle. Apparently, he's quite a prestigous breed and is equivilant to the hot, buff guy at the gym. You know, doesn't really care because he's just too cool. But a real nice horse ( I wouldn't know a nice horse if I ..... you know the rest of the expression)

Marci getting the saddles unloaded from the trailer.

The sweet ride.

Red getting loaded.

Now at our destination, the horses are tied up, tack put on and last minute instructions and precautions to Leanne made .....

Ahhh,,,, heres my horse. Banana. Whom I kept calling Buttercup. Ugh. My brain sometimes takes unscheduled vacations. She is so beautiful! And patient and calm. A Cadillac, I was told.

She was a little apprehensive of me at first, but we made fast friends.

This was taken at the top of the Mesa Butte. I 'd show pictures of the view, but theres no point. Theres no way you can get the full value of it. But this was my view when I looked down.

Here I am!

See this ice? Well, we come up to this and (I'm totally going to give you the Reader's Digest version) Jim got off Red, who got real skittish and walked him across and tied him up on the other side. Meanwhile (about a 3 minute span) Banana is starting to spook too, I'm spooked, and trying to remember all the rules about keeping the horse still. But Banana is going backwards, trying to go forward, turning around on me, everything I was telling her (speaking through reins of course) not to do. I was patting her neck saying soothing things while I'm absolutely freaking out inside. So Jim is walking back to get my horse, I say very firmly and maybe not so calmly "you have to hurry". I jumped off when he got there was was absolutely shaking. Because this whole time, to my left was a steep bank, then the river. Maybe I'm a fraidy cat, but I was literally scared. But it all ended well.

All done now, There goes Banana back into the trailer for the ride home.

Heres Red, looking in the window after her.

View from my side of the truck.

I had such an amazing day. And it all started off with breakfast at Cora's with Bree. I'll definitely have breakfast with Bree again, but not at Cora's. $20 later I had a tasteless, cold egg breakfast and coffee that got cold and seldom refilled and a runny fruit cocktail. But the company made up for it, as did the rest of the day. I truly am a country girl at heart.