All Blog Posts (76)

Friday

You may have noticed that there were a few mistakes on the last blog as I was in such a hurry! On Friday morning it was the competition and there were three teams – the Lost Valley Cavalry, The Aspen Ladies and one more! We had to herd a bunch of cows (heifers and steer s– actually) around the obstacle course with a time limit and a “gate” to open. We had two separate courses and the look of concentration on our faces was amazing. Jeff gave some help and encouragement to us all…

Wednesday, Thursday

These days have to run together as on Wednesday the power went out from 2pm till we got back from the jail and on Thursday I was otherwise engaged (See later!) Wednesday morning’s walk/ride only produced some critter digging a hole in the bank but I only saw the soil drop down the bank!! Someone suggested that if I ride a different horse I would have something different to write about!! So I did on Wednesday. Due to recommendation from a very good rider I…

Tuesday

This morning I saw a red fox on my morning hike. In the morning we did the obstacles in the arena. The usual Gate, slicker, circle, barrels, backing through an L shape and cones. We all practiced and Iron Man had a few ideas of his own but when we got going he did really well for a very un-supple horse. We had a western trail riding competition at the end won by Mike on Annie and then we searched for a “lost” hearing aid!!! We had a prime rib lunch and afterwards all went out.…

Monday

The morning was bright so I rode my bike to the beaver pond – no beaver to see but I heard a tail slap. Did see a Merganser and mallard. After breakfast all the HMS week people congregated in the meadow and had a few pointers from Laurie about what would be happening and we all introduced ourselves. We then had a ride to Table Rock to find out everyone’s abilities and for everyone to learn a bit more about their horses. After lunch nearly fell asleep on the sofa but managed to…

Sunday – Glorious day

I found out to my great pleasure that with the orientation of the bedroom in Pecos Bill I can see the mountains from my bed. So I read and looked at them this morning before I got up.  Had a quick breakfast then rode my favourite ride to Salt Lick Seven. I don’t think I’ve mentioned I’m riding Iron Man as usual! Josh Davies who was helping for the weekend,  took us and we jumped a log on the way up so I was pleased with Iron Man. I was also delighted to…

Saturday 8^th October

Narnia and Beyond

For the first time ever I am in a new cabin Pecos Bill. Well, new to me! And there really IS a door at the back of the wardrobe but it doesn’t lead to Narnia – just the boiler (furnace) which means I have the means to turn it off in the night. You may think this seems a particularly English obsession as there is another English lady here who has the same problem with the noisy boiler.

Anyway after the long journey over…

Seeing the season open at Lost Valley makes me miss the mountains and "my" beautiful palomino, Pebbles.  Is Pebbles still at Lost Valley?  If she is, give her an apple for me!

Well, the ranch opened to 'ordinary guests' on the 11th so I had to be there.

First of all I have to answer the question that was asked the most - "Are you going to the wedding?" Unfortunately, I am not invited but will be watching it on TV. I had a busy time before I left the UK and managed to run over my bags at the airport parking lot and got one stuck under my car so had a lot of stress to unwind so I had no energy to do blogs each day. So here, not in chronological order…

Hello from freezing Colorado!  Normally, I would expect some sympathy from you but I think that most of you are experiencing worse weather than we are! The -10 degree weather has forced everyone here inside to do the jobs that we’ve been putting off for a rainy, or in this case, cold day.  At this moment the maintenance men are up on ladders cleaning the tops of the dining room fans, and the wranglers are cleaning the tack room.  Jacob, our new maintenance guy just told me that when they…

To all those sitting at home waiting for Lost Valley to open here is a poem to remember to what we owe such fun. (It's rather English based, but I'm sure the sentiment rings true.

Ode to the Horse:…

Can you believe it’s already the end of October? I sure can’t, especially since we’ve been blessed with a beautiful Indian summer here in Colorado. The highs haven’t dropped below 60 yet! Although I’m missing the rich reds and oranges of an East Coast fall, nothing can beat the golden aspens shimmering against the deep green pines. What a beautiful season! I know at Lost Valley, one thing…

The melodrama was even better this week with new additions to make us laugh. But oh how quickly this last day comes around. We have had the most fabulous time. This morning the sunrise was beautiful. We rode to Whale Rock in the morning with Cisco and Iron Man. In the afternoon we were heading for Saw Mill but saw some hunters and veered off to avoid them as we had just scared off the mule deer. Iron…

No photos today as in the morning it was raining and there was lots of thunder and lightning. We rode to Mule Deer to jump the logs and saw a hawk on the way down. We made our way to Jessup Drive and got home before the worst of the rain. Over lunch it started to clear up so we were able to go to so Salt Lick seven and see the clouds reveal the mountains as they lifted. We fitted in Wild Cat on the…

We went out to look for cows with Rainy and Milly. We rode to the Tarryall river and up to the end of the canyon till we could go no further. We saw two eagles – probably a bald eagle and a golden eagle soaring above. Peppy and Toby were very good and we had a good picnic in a beautiful spot. We did find two rucksacks, fishing rods and clothes…

At the last minute we were told we could go on an all day ride so we went to the Flying G Ranch in the North. As before the tracks were rather covered with logs but it was nice to see a different part of the ranch. We had lunch by a creek in the shade as it got up to the 70s in the afternoon. We looked round the old buildings after lunch as and…

Last night we were entertained at dinner by Chelsea’s horse impressions. The morning started off bright but frosty and the reflections in the pond were great as I cycled down the road.

In the morning…

A bit chillier today and not very sunny but a nice day. We rode up the jeep road and ended up at Stag Rock. Once the dogs had seen off a large herd of deer we could listen to the sound of silence. We went back via Low Ridge. I rode Sioux today and she was good. In the afternoon we rode to Shane’s rock and had some solo lopes and she waited till…

Last night was sad as it was our last night together and also a fun night. We had the awards and got to see the DVD of the play that Jackie James wrote for Tony and Bob’s birthday. This included a cast of staff and ex staff, two almost unrecognisable in drag and virtuoso performances from Maria and Molly. It was amazing: we laughed and laughed even though the videoing was a bit wobbly. The awards…