First horse rides

I did a bad job of getting pictures of Q6 on a horse. I thought I'd have more chances. But I didn't.

After breakfast we fed the horses carrots.

All the girls sat on the fence so we could take a photo ... seconds after this  next one the fence broke and the girls tumbled to the ground! Whoops! Luckily the fence rails are free; the ranch collects the mill ends from the local lumber mill.

First thing we had to do was a lesson for Q6. Because of her age she had to take a lesson, and it did her good. Actually, it did ME good to watch the lesson, because I was able to get some information about riding  western and reminders from the orientation the night before. Riding Western seems all to be about staying on  verses staying on with style that you do in English. No posting! Brilliant.

When the time came for our first trail ride we all had a brief lesson in the corral, but the girls all were unable to control their horses. The result was they all stayed in the corral for a lesson, and everybody else went on a trail ride on the blue trail. While we were out the owner of the ranch said that she'd have been fine taking just Q6 with us, because Lightning, Q6's horse, would have followed the owner's horse slavishly. But the sheer number of girls without riding experience made it dangerous.

The girls were disappointed they were stuck in the corral, and I don't blame them; it was hot.

That afternoon, however, we took another trail ride and the girls were able to take a modified trail ride on the blue trail while the rest of use went on the green trail, which was steeper. The cousins loved that!

Next up: Cow penning!