The Highline Volume 13 -Issue 23

June 9, 2018 – Volume 13 – Issue 23

Last night as Shayne and Nathan and I were leaving the lodge after dinner, Nathan commented that this was some of the most fun he’d had with a group of guests this season. Shayne and I couldn’t agree more!

It seems like some weeks, everyone in the groups seems to fit so well together. Not only did everyone have great camaraderie, all guests participated in all aspects of the program this week. Everyone did some horsemanship in the arena, in the mountains with Shayne and everyone worked their booties off the ride around Shayne’s mountain to try and gather as many steers as possible and get them moved to our Ferguson pasture.

Our Canadian girls, Susan, Brenda and Kate spent some extra time with me learning about riding colts/young horses/troubled horses so that they would have more tools to take home with them to their own horses. They really gained a lot of confidence this week

Diana would have won the award for “most improved” rider this week. She came here on Monday, never having ridden before in her life! By Friday she knew how to ride with her legs only and no reins at the walk, she could post the trot, canter, and she was climbing up and down mountains with us helping to gather and drive cattle. I was very impressed!

Manfred, Jessica and Sandra came here from Europe and have had quite a bit of formal riding experience. But they did not come here hoping to show us what they knew—they came humble and eager to learn as much as possible. Their riding this week really came along! Manfred and Jessica will continue with us next week. Sandra is hoping to come back as an intern next summer

Bob, Bernie and Scott really put every bit of their energy into helping us get as many cattle gathered and moved as possible. They rode out with the cattle more than anyone and had some hard-earned miles under their belts! Despite the many miles, on Friday, they were still sitting tall in the saddle—and ready for some cold beers of course!

Shayne made a point this week to get his arena horsemanship folks outside one afternoon to show them proper ways to ride up and down steep inclines (we have a handy hill of sand on his mountain that is PERFECT for this!) He also worked with guests and interns on how to work on herdbound and uncertainty in a horse outside—without looking as if you are working at it. I won’t divulge all the secrets—you’ll have to come out and experience it yourself. It was certainly a different way of doing things than we’ve done before and involved drawing the horse to comfort. In fact, you might not have even known there was a lesson involved it all seemed so nonchalant! But several horses who were a little bit bothered outside got as good as we’ve seen them. Shayne was on his first ride outside on his horse Julio and you would never have guessed it!

Shayne also made a point to head out with interns and wranglers and train them on how he would hunt for/gather/move cattle. There are so many nuances involved in stockmanship—it truly is an art form in itself! And these steers can be REALLY touchy and flighty if pushed too hard or allowed to challenge the rider—just slight movements from the rider can make all the changes for the better. It’s like driving a car—small corrections will keep you between the lines—big ones and you probably won’t be on the road anymore!

On the non-riding end of things, the ranch is really coming along. This year we have really tried to get lots of “wish list” projects done. And there’s been TONS of improvements so far! Although most of the ranch has really clean 3-strand electric fence around it, there are still spots where we have barbed wire and it has been our long-term goal to replace it. So far this year, we are about 60% done and it’s been replaced in all areas where horses and cattle will be heading to in the coming weeks.

Pasture clean-up was a big project. We created a new “dry lot” for our horses during the daytime with tons of trees and shade. The entire pasture was limbed, drug and cleaned up to where it looks like a park! We’ve added new water lines and tanks and the horses are quite content.

Each pasture is being cleaned extensively of branches and downfall. It’s a constant process, especially after the winter and some of the wind storms we’ve had of late. But things are about as clean cut as ever right now.

We have really spruced up the game room, gift shop, and cabins. Our covered tent area is getting a facelift from our housekeeping and kitchen crews because we plan to use it much more for outdoor dining this summer. By the way, have I mentioned that the kitchen is in the best shape ever? It sparkles and Miriam and Jenna are putting out the best food the guests have ever had! Those are their words and I couldn’t agree more. We all joke that we will not be making it out of our “winter pants” at all this summer—the food is just too dang good. But…I’ve gotten off-subject!

Corrals are scraped and cleaned. Every lawn on the ranch property gets manicured weekly. We have a brand-new Ranch Van and a brand-new Ranch Truck! We also have 6 brand new pipe corrals for incoming horses! So many new and exciting things…I’m sure I’m missing several

A big, big thanks goes to all of our crew that works so often behind the scenes—Randy, Willy, Anna, Dave, and Adrienne

There was just one melancholy part to this great week. After 19 years of hard work, Dori has decided it’s time to retire. She has put her heart and soul into this place and has helped to change the lives of so many who have come to the ranch. As you all might imagine, working at the ranch is not any normal job—it’s more of a life commitment! At this point, Dori has earned some well-deserved time to spend time with her daughter, grandkids and new puppy! She can catch up on her own bucket list now and most of all, I hope she will take some time to just relax. Don’t worry, she is still just around the corner for all of us 🙂 We wish her the very best in retirement!

Have a great weekend everyone! –Des