It’s all about the horses.

​In the mid-seventies when my dad came home one day talking about an opportunity to buy a cabin in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, I heard the words “mountains” and “horses” together. That’s all I needed to know. My vote was “Yes.”

Do you ride?  If not, don’t worry.  Among the almost 50 horses are plenty of gentle ones and I can give you pointers.  We ride Western, with cowboy-style saddles, and up here, we can ride for miles and miles, usually without encountering another person or rider. Western saddles are built for comfort and riding long distances and the saddle horn, used by cowboys to tie one end of a rope is great for holding on to if needed. Just remember the rule:  if you go through a gate that’s open, leave it open.  If it was closed, close it.  There are cattle in some places and letting them out from where they should be and into where they shouldn’t is a big no-no.

Let me tell you a little about horses.  They’re a lot like children.  Some of them are bullies, chasing, biting, and kicking other horses.  New horses get run around until they fight back a/o find a friend or two.    Horses are beautiful but not as smart as some other animals, a blessing for those of us who want to ride them.  If they were smart enough, they’d rarely be ridden!

Every horse doesn’t like or is skeptical of something, even if it seems like it’s a dumb thing.  My first horse didn’t like pigs.  Others don’t like squirrels or wood lying on the ground or….  Who knows?  So you have to learn about your horse’s likes and dislikes and be ready. In fact, you should never be so relaxed that you don’t pay attention to what’s around you. If so, that’s usually the time something happens and you end up on the ground.

But enough about all that. Let’s walk down to the corral and find a horse and saddle that will be just right for you.  Then I’ll show you some of the beautiful mountain country.

In the late afternoon, the horses are taken to the pasture to graze.  This year, they were grazing in the main part of Teepee, around the cabins of those of us who aren’t in the main cabin area.  On Thursdays, their day off, they don’t have to come in at all, although it takes them a good part of the day to figure that out and they often come in on their own, gradually drifting back out as the day goes on.  This video shows part of the herd not long after being let out of the corral.  You’ll notice several of them getting a good backscratching by rolling.

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