January 19, 2019 – Volume 14 – Issue 3

Greetings everyone!

More fresh fluffy snow has descended upon us this week.  It was incredible to be there while the horses were jingled in the morning after the snow fall and there wasn’t a sound to be heard, as if I was watching an old time silent movie.  It was a sight to experience.

Jenna working with GG

This week we had five guest join us. Roby had them going through the paces from walking, trotting, and little cantering in there too.  Wrangler/winter cook Jenna stopped out to the arena to lend a hand a couple of afternoons this week.

Calvin is new to the ranch from California.  Seeing the snow was cool experience for him, something he doesn’t see everyday from where he comes from.  He enjoyed the individual attention that was given as the group worked through learning the different aspects of horsemanship.  Calvin especially like the experience of “hooking on” with a horse.  He said it was pretty amazing week all around.

Calvin & Roanie

GG joined us last summer and decided to hop the ocean from France to continue what she started for a couple of weeks.  She like that she could experience riding different horses.  GG hopes to ride some of those horses next week to see her gain in confidence will have an improving effect on her riding.

Kim also comes to us from quite a bit away, New Zealand.  She has really enjoyed riding with Roby this week. Kim has felt a gain in confidence and is starting to recognize how the body plays a constant role

Kim & Chief

in riding. She is starting to get an understanding in identifying when she doesn’t do something correct and how that shows in the horse.  Kim is very excited to go home to continue to work and build what she has learned this week.

Kelly is from right here in Montana.  She has done a lot of riding in her life.  The one thing that has really touched her this week is the ability to ride with the horse.  To be able to ride in a way that is more natural to a horse versus making the horse do what you want or just sitting on it.  And of course the food was absolutely fantastic.

Kelly & Benny

Michelle traveled from Georgia.  Her and Kelly are good friends that drove in together to see what our ranch was about.  What she found was a very awesome relationship building experience.  Not only has she gained a better understanding of how to have a relationship with a horse but has gained some new friends out of this week’s group.  Michelle said she has made new friends of the two and four legged variety.  And the food was top notch too!!

Michelle & Brumby

There were sure a lot of laughter and swapping stories going on this week.  I think I can speak for all the staff that we have made some friends and hope to see all of them back at some point.

In addition to everything else going on at the ranch, we got a special offer for you!

We all know that horses touch our hearts in a very special way.

At McGinnis Meadows they are truly our family and sometimes even our best friend :-).  To honor them we are offering a Valentine’s Day Special!

What could be more fun than a visit to MMR with your ‘Bestie’? Treat yourself, your best friend, or the love of your life to a week at MMR and receive a whopping discount off of your stay! Our gift to you– take an unheard of $425 off of your bill if you book a cabin together, and $200 off your bill if you book as a single for a 2019 MMR ranch Vacation during our peak or shoulder seasons. For reservations during our winter horsemanship season you’ll get 10% off of the normal rate!

You’ll have to act fast though, this offer only lasts through the end of the day on February 14th! Be sure to mention “Bestie’s” to receive your discount. * This cannot be combined with any other discounts. Contact Janice or Adrienne at 406-293-5000 to reserve your spot.

Happy Trails,

Adrienne

Hello from Pecos

Boone

Afternoon gather

Roby & Ike

Nemo, Wyatt, & Chip

GG & Chalkeye

Pecos, Romeo, & Boone

Calvin making a snow angel

January 12, 2019 – Volume 14 – Issue 2

Greetings everyone!

We are in our own little misty section of the world this week.  It started with the most snow we have received all season, to rain mid week,

Ralph & Waldo

then the fog rolled in so thick at times we couldn’t see the mountains around us.  But here at the ranch we always make the best of things.  A couple of us decided we were going to get creative…  I am pleased to introduced Ralph the snow cowboy with his horse Waldo.

This week we had Scott and Lorna join us for a week of horsemanship.  The two of them hit it off from the start and enjoyed a lot fun with Roby in the indoor arena.  Roby had them starting on the ground, moving through the fundamentals, and then working together following each others circles and patterns. Roby set the challenges and Scott and Lorna enjoyed working to meet them.

Scott comes to us from Indiana and has been here several times now.  He loves to work on and be challenged in horsemanship.  Scott was happy that he met all his goals he set for himself this week.  The small size class was also a highlight for him to learn and work on movements with that one on one feel. Scott liked that he was challenged each day with a livelier horse and to feel different types of horses was awesome. And of course the scenery and food was top notch as

Scott & Chief

always!!

Lorna says this was the best week ever!!!  She has learned so much in the past two weeks.  Her and Scott worked well together and of course she likes the smaller group atmosphere.  Lorna is amazed how much the body can play a role in moving the horse without the hands.  She was tickled pink that she was able to improve in that area this week.  She rode her favorite horse Emma all week and just can’t say enough about the experience.

Lorna & Emma

Well, as we enjoy the heat wave of temperatures above freezing over the next few days (according to the weatherman), we look forward to seeing our old friends and new that are coming out to join us this week.  Hopefully Ralph and his horse Waldo will be around to wave them a greeting when they come up the drive of the ranch.

Happy Trails,

Adrienne

Scooby & Trump

Britches

Roby rounding up the crew

Howdy from TJ

Misty Morning

Roby giving instruction for the next challenge

Cold day in January

Lorna riding Emma

Twizzle & Ike

January 5, 2019 – Volume 14 – Issue 1

Greetings everyone!

Happy New Year from all of us here at McGinnis Meadows Ranch.

The ranch family gathered at the Belgarde house and had ourselves a little feast of snack food right before the ball dropped in Time

          McGinnis Meadows New Year’s Eve 2018

Square to celebrate the coming of 2019.  We ate & laughed till our cheeks hurt.  It’s nice to start new traditions with close friends, especially since this is a few of us’s first holiday season here at the ranch.

We have three guests this week that have been to the ranch several times.  Roby switched things up by having them ride several horses throughout the week. He even said there was a healthy competition going on amongst the guests and everyone was in the lead at one time or another.

Richard and Helen hail from the great state of Montana and have enjoyed coming to

                             Helen riding Chief

the ranch for several years.  Richard enjoyed that there was a smaller group this time.  It allowed for more of a one on one feel instruction and challenges to work on particular moves of horsemanship.  Helen always loves riding with Roby, watching and learning from him.  Both agree it was a good week.

Lorna likes us so much that she is back for the sixth time in a year from Michigan.  In fact, she is hanging out with us for another week.  A couple of her memorable moments of the week were when they were doing turns at “Roby Speed” and working on having life at a walk.  Lorna

Lorna & Chalkeye

says this horsemanship is challenging but she learns something new each time she visits.

Scott is back from his family visit and is eager to start applying what he learned at farrier school along with Anna.  I asked him to share with us his experience.  What were his highlights and challenges along the way?  Here is what he had to say….

Scott enjoyed the challenge of working with different horses that had issues that he has not seen here at the ranch.  For example a horse that hadn’t been trimmed on a regular schedule… to bring the hoof back to where it should be or putting shoes on that helped correct an issue.  The best experience is seeing the horse’s disposition change once he was done. Scott says his time at school was quite rewarding and is looking forward to applying all he learned with the ranch’s herd.

    Scott & Corona the Donkey

Once again we want to congratulate Scott on his accomplishment.  We are excited to see him grow in his trade.

2019 is going to be a good year.  You will have to keep checking in with us to see what the year holds. We always enjoy seeing our old friends and meeting new ones.  If you’d like to be a part of this with a “hands on” experience, give us a call and we can get you booked for a reservation!

Happy New Year and Happy Trails,

Adrienne

A Sunday Morning on the Ranch

Clayton

Brenda & Lucy

Brumby & Booker Hanging Out

Richard Riding Mighty

Little Red Posing for the Camara

King & Concho

Friday Morning

Roby & Ike

Janice & Emma

December 22, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 49

Greetings everyone!

     Roby & Rocket bringing home           Belgarde Christmas tree

Christmas is right around the corner and here at the ranch we are getting excited for the day.  Even though most of our families couldn’t make it out for a visit this year, we as a ranch family are getting together to have a big Christmas dinner at the Merz house.  And to make life a little more cheery we are doing a “White Elephant” gift exchange.  I have heard buzz around the water trough saying there are some interesting gift ideas.  We’ll take some pics to let you in on the fun!

Roby and the wrangler crew (Brenda, Janice, and Jenna) are still continuing on honing their skills on the fundamentals.  The ropes were swinging the other night in full force.  And Roby is still continuing putting some good rides on the guest horse strings getting ready for the upcoming season.

The attack of the dust bunny is still in full force.  The cabins & rooms have been conquered and the public areas of the lodge are in the cross hairs now!

           Dave working in office cubby space

Dave has been chipping away at projects sprucing up different areas of the Ranch while the guests are celebrating the holidays with their families.  He is working on putting in a new ceiling in the pantry and in the office cubby space, in amongst his routine checks of all the buildings for cold weather issues.  And speaking of cold weather issues, we have been having warmer temperatures during the day with a decent amount of rain and freezing at night. Dave and Brenda have been out this week spreading straw for the horses to walk and bed down in.  And for us humans to get around without ice-skates too!!  The fickle weather can make it a challenge for all two & four legged animals to get around some days.

                      Dave & Erin Feeding

In the mid-afternoon you can put an ear out to hear the big John Deere tractor. That would be just Erin and Dave driving around with the flat bed trailer feeding the critters.  I say critters because our friendly herd of Elk has figured out when dinner is served and they hop over the fence to share a meal with the horses.  I have been unable to obtain a photograph for your viewing pleasure.  I might have to bust out the camouflage but I going to get one this year.  So just stay tuned!

According to the weatherman old man winter is finally going to get around to our part of the mountains with colder temperatures and maybe a little snow to freshen up the earth for a white Christmas.  For a few of us, this is our first Christmas on the ranch and we are looking forward to creating new traditions and sharing some old ones too.

From all of us here at McGinnis Meadows we wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Trails,

Adrienne

                          Nemo is so cute!

               Making a horse snow angel

       Jenna as always happy in the kitchen

                                 Gunner

                     Hanging in the trees

                                Chief

                         Jenna & Shadow

December 15, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 48

Greetings everyone!

Christmas at McGinnis Meadows

Well, this week we have a start on that snow for a white Christmas but the temperatures are still reasonable.  Old man winter hasn’t come through our neck of the woods in full force yet.

This week has been a little bit more low key since our guests are busy getting ready for the holidays.  But here on the ranch life still moves along with different projects and activities.

       Roby & Hoot

Roby is putting some good rides on all the guest horses in the next few weeks.  He calls it a tune up for the up coming season.  You will find him out in the indoor arena going through the moves to make sure each horse is ready for guests to get the best horsemanship experience here at the ranch.

        Brenda riding Lucy

But what is neat this week is that Brenda, Janice, and Jenna have the opportunity to join Roby in the indoor arena. And of course, we all know how much Roby loves to teach and challenge those who ride with him.  He has them working on all the foundation work that Buck, Shayne and Des teach, with some roping getting ready for the upcoming branding season this spring.

Erin, Jenna, & Adrienne Cleaning Crew 2018

Some might call it spring-cleaning but here we call it deep cleaning.  Jenna, Erin, and myself are elbow deep in spiffing up the cabins and lodge rooms.  Getting ready for the next round of guests.  We haven’t found a dust bunny that we couldn’t handle.

Whether it is riding or doing other chores, every morning we are reminded of what a beautiful place the ranch is.  The scene never gets old of the horses making their way through the fresh snow as they are jingled in each morning. Or the fog crystallizing the meadows just after the sun has come up. It’s a special site to see here in our slice of heaven in the Rockies.

                                           Happy Trails,

                                               Adrienne

           Frosty morning sunrise

Trump munching on his afternoon snack

 What’s up

Jenna & Shadow

Lucy

Good morning Yellow Hair

December 8, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 47

Greetings everyone,

We got a dusting of snow here the past couple of days and the mountains are looking a little bit whiter now. We have been pretty lucky to date with temps being very reasonable for this time of year, but it sure feels colder the past couple of mornings. It is about time for winter.

We had a small but avid group of students here this week.

        Lela on Chalkeye, working on a soft feel

Lela competed her third week in a row here at the ranch! She really improved her seat and it showed in the results she was getting with the horses she rode. Tom from Connecticut visited last year and came back for some more horsemanship. He also made progress in several facets of his riding, including being able to get more life in his horse then dial it down. Kelly and Jacqueline are friends who made the trip together from Pennsylvania. They studied hard and had a great time in the process. This week our guests were able to switch horses with each other – this really allowed them to feel what each person put into the horse and compare if they were able to make them better, or if there were spots in their riding to work through.

                 Jacqueline riding Scotch

Roby is teaching while Shayne and Des are away on vacation and he always does a fabulous job of keeping riders engaged, challenging them and encouraging as needed.

On a sad note, as you may have read on Facebook, our good friend and co-worker, Nathan, will be leaving on Sunday to embark on a new life. He has been here for seven seasons!  First and foremost, he was our farrier and took great care of each and every one of our 110+ ranch and client horses.  He has been the best farrier we’ve ever had and the herd was never more sound than while under his care.

Of course, Nathan was also a wrangler, was often the first person a new guest would meet at the ranch, always picked wildflowers for the ladies on his horseback rides and gave quite a few roping lessons!  He spent several seasons grilling steaks for the guests, branding their boots and hats and building bonfires.  He did a TON of stuff behind the scenes over the years to keep the ranch running smoothly.

 Nathan has many talents. We will       miss him.

Such an amazing individual couldn’t be tied down for long!  He met a guest at the ranch named Marianne and they fell in love.  After doing the long-distance thing for long enough, he made the decision to join Marianne in the Netherlands.  After a few weeks of adventures and well needed rest, Nathan plans on becoming a saddle maker and all around leather-worker.  He’ll still shoe a few horses from time to time, but it’s about time to give his back a rest from such hard work.

Nathan will be back to visit though!  We already have him committed to come back in April to supervise Anna and Scott putting on the first shoes of the season.  (They were his students last summer and fall and are both finishing up shoeing school in California at the moment!)  He’ll be riding with us every day too!  Maybe you guys will be lucky enough to ride with him again too? We wish him the very best.  And we are looking forward to seeing him in a few months!

Everyone here is getting ready for the Holiday season- We now have a fresh cut tree in the dining room

      Christmas tree with handmade decorations!

along with decorations and colored lights outside. If you look closely you just might find that some elves have been busy decorating the smaller tress that reside close to the lodge. When you work on a ranch, the horses don’t know or care that it is a holiday, so life goes on pretty much as usual with chores and business that needs tending too. But I can’t think of a better way to celebrate and spend the holiday season than with a close knit group of people who have really become a second family to us. Now all we need is some snow for a white Christmas (just a little though!)

Happy Trails,

Janice and Adrienne

            Kelly riding Booker

                 More Holiday Spirit!

                           Tom on Jasper

                        A little snow on the mountains

November 25, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 46

Greeting everyone,

Lela, Clive, Nathan and Karmen

It was another busy week here at the ranch! We had eight guests, with Lela, Clive and Norbert staying on to continue their education. What a fun group- sometimes when I am up working in the office I can hear the peals of laughter coming up from the dining room- it is great to be a part of knowing that everyone, even despite a challenging learning day, all become friends in such a short time.

Morgan on Anchor, learning to turn her body with her horse

Karmen, who was an intern with us last winter, returned to gain more knowledge. We also had Peter, a local Kalispell resident, Kristina, Lisa and her daughter Morgan who were here for their first time.

The week was filled with creative ways to help riders overcome some old habits that can stand in the way of achieving the next level of riding. That is just one huge benefit of the horsemanship programs here- the teaching is never stagnant- if someone is having trouble understanding or doing, as long as they are willing to work hard at it, our teachers will never stop helping.

Peter had very limited experience with riding horses so he was able

       Peter and Lisa pairing up to work on some exercises

to learn a ton about a variety of things. Shayne showed guests how to bridle and unbridle their horses under the close eye of the wranglers and everyone took great care to follow the steps. It can take only one bad experience of hitting a horse’s teeth or pinching their ear to get them hard to bridle, so he is very particular about how it gets done.

This group of guests as well as last week’s, were just awesome with wanting to pitch in to help with everything from brushing horses in the mornings, to cleaning pens at night. Many of them have horses and work in the horse industry at home and they preferred to be kept busy. Wow- it was really appreciated and the staff was feeling pretty spoiled :-). Thanks everyone for all of the help!

 Kathleen and Chief

Kathleen, our intern, headed home today back to her husband Brian, who we are sure missed her the past 4 weeks. Kathleen was a great student which is not surprising given that she was an airforce colonel in her former life. She made huge progress in learning how to use her seat and legs. She and Brian will be back again as guests next year and we can’t wait to see them both again.

On a sad note, we are sending our thoughts along to Des, who lost her beloved dog Gus after 13 years of companionship. These animals of ours are such a huge part of our lives, and it is always so difficult to see them move on. Gus had a great life with her and she’ll always have great memories of the fun they had together.

Dave and Adrienne returned from their Thanksgiving vacation, as did Roby, so we are back to most of our crew for at least a couple of weeks! The staff here is amazing… starting today you can read about each member of the McGinnis Meadows crew in our Facebook “Year in Review” series. Learn what we all took away from this past season and get to know a little bit more about us!

Of course, you can always visit in person too- If you make a reservation before December 15^th for a 2019 week, with friends or family, you’ll receive a discount! Contact me at (406) 293-5000 or info@mmgranch.net for more info.

We got a dusting to an inch of snow overnight and the temps are predicted to be quite a bit colder than they have, so it appears that winter is finally arriving.

Have a great week!

Janice

         Trouble surveying his domain

      Haven’t seen too many Bucks this season but Norbert                       caught one on his camera yesterday

Des, and the little bit you can see of Big Omar!

     Jenna!  She makes sure everyone is well fed.

  Karmen worked really hard this week!

 Kristina and Brumby

Lela having a chance to get Amigo hooking on to her

  Lisa and daughter Morgan

Norbert and Chaos working on a soft feel

Shayne teaching Morgan a feel on the reins. Nobody works harder at teaching and studying than he does…

November 24, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 45

Hey Everyone,

Thanksgiving Week! My favorite week of the year!!!

And this was my favorite Thanksgiving week to date! I’ll tell you why…

A wonderful Thanksgiving dinner was had by all, thanks to our magnificent Kitchen crew!

First of all, 8 out of our 9 guests were repeats. The only one who was new, Kelly, came with two of our repeat guests and she immediately blended in. It felt like we had our family over for a visit—except maybe better 😉

An interesting fact this week was that out of our 9 guests, FIVE of them had previously had, or currently have horses in training with us. That definitely shows the dedication of this group of people! Casey and Ann brought their personal horses this week (who were both past client horses) and Lyne and Kathy rode their personal client horses who are currently in the program. Roby has been riding Andy, Lyne’s horse and I’ve been riding Romeo, Kathy’s horse and it was so neat to see these ladies ride the horses, help them here and there, but mostly to see how well they both got along!

Shayne demonstrating on BIlly

My birthday was the day before Thanksgiving and I was so grateful that all of the kitchen staff took time out of their day (they were BUSY with Thankgiving prep!) to come out to the arena with a custom made “Keto” birthday dessert. I’ve never had the honor of being sung Happy Birthday, while eating dessert, while horseback! And on Omar nonetheless! It was quite majestic, hahaha. Our crew is simply THE BEST!

On Thanksgiving, we just took a short break for mid-day snacks, but otherwise, rode straight through until just before an early Thanksgiving dinner. The place was decorated so beautifully! In lieu of our normal pre-dinner prayer, instead we went around the table and each person said what they were thankful for.

Just one of the amazing Thanksgiving  appetizers!

Miriam and Jenna cooked up two turkeys—one traditional and one smoked! There was also the juiciest beef tenderloin I’ve ever had! Lots of sides, of course. Hot buttered rum, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and Jenna made a couple of “keto” cheesecake pies for some of our staff and guests who are trying to eat “healthier.” It was the yummiest Thanksgiving dinner we had ever had!

So much great stuff this week. I’ve hardly even mentioned the riding—which was the best part of all! All of Shayne, Roby and my “re-ride” string of horses continued to make great progress. It’s so fun to feel how much a horse can change in a short amount of time, simply by going through the progressions each ride, focusing on their balance and rewarding them often.

Ann and her horse Brandy

Each guest made great strides on their horses. Everyone was a high achiever and worked to be the best for their horses each day. With these types of students, there is not much re-riding that needs to be done to maintain the horses. They are able to maintain softness and life.

In the event that we jump on a horse to demonstrate something a little tougher for the guests—we are pleasantly surprised by how good they feel!

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving week as well! Maybe you can join us in the arena and at the dinner-table next year 🙂

Des

Clive made great progress and he still has another week to go at the ranch!

Casey and her neat horse Firestone

Norbert got along well with each horse he rode.

Mr. Magoo is so handsome!

Kathy was able to ride her horse Romeo, who has been here in training 

Kelly did great-it was her first time here at MMR!

Lyne rode her horse Andy, who is also here in training  

Even more food- the dessert table!  

Kathleen and Brumby 

Donald Trump having a bad hair day 🙂   

Eric and his horse Buck

November 17, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 44

Hey Everyone,

We just wrapped up our first ever 8-day clinic at the ranch! The consensus between Shayne, Roby and I, and that of our guests was that this was the BEST Winter Horsemanship instruction, EVER! It was so good that we are planning on doing another extended program later this winter and then maybe even beyond that!

Brandon from Seattle is new to this but did amazing this week!

The clinic officially started last Friday, but guests were encouraged to show up early on Thursday to watch Shayne, Roby and I riding through all of the horses we were going to use for the guests during the clinic. Guests were able to see how we went through our progressions, how the horses responded, and how we might have addressed any areas that the horses were weak in. All horses that passed the test of progressions were then rolled over into our guest and intern riding program. Some horses did not pass all tests and that was another learning opportunity in itself because the guests were able to watch us continue riding these horses throughout the clinic and watch how much better they became with each ride!

Guests and interns rotated through the string of horses daily…everyone’s horse was switched every day. Basically, they rode between 6-8 horses apiece during the clinic and were able to feel how much different each horse was while still working on the all of the same progressions that each horse needed to be able to have. Some are smoother, some are bigger movers, some have a good trot but need work at a good walk, etc., but the goal was to get each horse to operate the same—with life, with feet free, with softness.

         Des working with Client horse Romeo

All of the guests in this clinic have been here multiple times and knew what to expect in regards to the intensity of the teaching style. What I absolutely loved about this group though, was that we were able to start at square one each day and work on getting it as refined as possible. What I mean is, very few people have the patience and tenacity to really work on getting beautiful united circles with life, with the ability to roll the hind in time with the feet, in perfect flexion, and then to have the timing to reach the front foot and go back into a united circle. And then to get this so good that they can accomplish the circles with legs only because their legs and hands had so much meaning together. This is what we do in every Buck clinic but the refinement takes quite a bit of effort and focus—especially when you are riding multiple horses. But this is what needs to happen first in the progressions, or nothing else will be worth much.

These guests are all dedicated horsemen and women so they were driven to succeed in this task. Because of this drive, they were able to accomplish every other task—a powerful walk in a soft feel, leg yield, stopping hard, backing arcs and turning fast! And that’s just at the walk! All guests were ultimately able to trot with arms folded on circles or straight lines, and canter circles of all sizes, never missing a lead. It was basically every teacher’s dream to have a class of students like this! Shayne was thrilled!

Casey on her horse Firestone and intern Kathleen getting Jasper soft.

It was also really fun for Shayne, Roby and I to give our personal horses a break for awhile, to ride through several ranch horses. This is a very hard season and it can be SOOOO demanding on the ranch horses to be able to maintain their foundation through multiple riders and experiences. We re-ride them throughout the year, but not nearly as often as we’d like to. Some of the greener A and B string horses need their foundation revisited more often, as do those who can be very sensitive.

Shayne has taken over riding Billie, Pecos, Badger and Malone. He’s going to ride them all winter and come springtime, they will be quite fancy! Roby is re-riding Bandit and Quick. I started riding Nigel, Max, Catman and Omar. Nigel and Catman will be longer term projects (and I’m not complaining about having them to hang on to!). Max and Omar should be ready in the next couple weeks if all continues to go well.

 Clive on Brumby

I’m just so happy with all of it—our guests, our interns, our horses. I love how Shayne continues to refine his teaching style and adjusts the format to be able to suit every horse and rider. It’s nice to have a mentor that continually challenges you to be more refined, softer, kinder to the horses and who can demonstrate everything he is teaching. I can’t get enough of the comradery between, he, I and Roby in this teaching environment—we just have so much fun. Between the horses and the people, I just feel wrapped up in one big family and every day I count myself so very blessed to be a part of it.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I’m already pre-thankful for all of the Ah-MAZZING food that Miriam and Jenna will be concocting! I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving as well!!!!

Till next time,

Des

Carolyn showing Magoo some love

Seattle Mounted Police officer, Stephan, working with Scotch    

Our intern Rachel left us to return home this week. She hopes to come back to the ranch to continue her education.   

Morning jingle on a frosty morning!

Kathy riding Anchor, one of the younger guest horses