2 Days down, 7 more to go

This past weekend was Mother/Daughter.  From the ranch point of view, it went well.  It was brisk and windy, but it didn't rain.  All the trail rides were uneventful.  Sometimes we get kids who say they want to ride, but as soon as they get on the horse, fear overtakes them and they want OFF!  We didn't have any of those that I know of.

I felt more comfortable with our "line" of horses than I did last year.  Our herd is always improving.  It also helped that we got to do our rides out of the ranch instead of the ballfield.  I had an army of staff (always required during parent/child retreats) that were supremely helpful and everything ran very smoothly - not always the case with 28 horses coming and going 6 times during the day.

Jess and Jenae took pity on me for this week and next.  The ranch is giving trail rides to the entire 5th grade class of Forestview.  9 days of 5th graders.  So the girls are sticking around to help me run the rides.  Thankfully, our max so far has been 10 kids per ride.  I'm hoping the number doesn't increase too much.  (In previous years, they had us mount as many as 16 kids at once.  This is fine if a few of them have ridden before - but guess what?  The majority of them have only been on "pony" rides.)  The rides get progressively more difficult as the day and month progresses.  The day because by the time the last ride goes out, the horses are hungry, and the month because by the time the last day comes - it's green and leafy on the trails.  Right now, the trees have started budding, but there aren't any leaves.  It'll be interesting once everything greens up...