Tzarina

So the week came to a close. Here I have added some favorite photos. The week was absolutely incredible. Going to a ranch has actually been a dream of mine for well over 20 years, just having that constant yearning to do it. When I first went to the States in 2004, I applied to work on a ranch but they only had show jumping yards available so that's why I ended up doing that... I do know that in the course of life everything happens perfectly and it happens at the right time. My mum found this challenge and so I want to say thank you to her for researching it and finding it, you are a star. I was at that time in a bit of a hole as it were, and not my ... read more

This was a huge highlight for me. The Ranch have the 'normal' cows in herds that are used for babies and beef and they also have 'play' cows. These cows are kept as pets pretty much, there are probably around 16 of them in total. They live in one of the front fields and are for the guests to learn how to 'Cut' and 'Pen'. So, first we had to go and get them. With our horses we made a horseshoe and bought them in from the field to the arena. We put them in one corner and then got into teams of three. We had to 'cut' the cow (we did it with just one cow in the beginning) and then guide it towards the pen at the bottom of the arena. The term 'cutting' ... read more

I have been going through my photos and I am struggling to pick the best ones, I have 455 photos! I'm trying very hard to pick the best for you :) On one of the days we went on an epic 20 mile ride, through the landscape, the pastures, through canyons, totally amazing. At numerous times we would come across a massive water container. These water containers are dotted around the 22,000 acre ranch and are supplied by one of the six fresh water springs. If you look closely enough you will actually see goldfish in there! They eat the algae and keep the water clean, amazing! No more having to clean water troughs :) The scenery was just amazing, if you look at the photos you can see how blue the sky is and how ... read more

I have added some photos of me doing pole racing (with barrels), this is where you canter to the far end, weave in and out, turn around the end barrel, weave in and out away again and then canter back as fast as possible. Barrel racing is where you have three barrels placed about 50 ft from each other, you have to turn around the barrels as fast as possible, onto the next one and so on. Such brilliant fun, we all had a go. The photos of me are a bit far away so you'll have to squint. We had an opportunity to shoot, oh yes! I ended up shooting 6 guns. An old cowboy gun, an air pistol, a pistol that the American Police use (and I actually thought it was the most difficult!) ... read more

This trip was raising money for the World Horse Welfare charity. http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/ This charity improves the lives of horses throughout the UK and the world. The charity has been going for over 85 years and is the UK's largest home rescue and re homing charity. They have field officers who investigate reports of horses in distress, advising owners or bringing horses in for urgent care and rehabilitation to the centres in the UK. Currently the charity are campaigning to end the long-distance transportation of horses across Europe for slaughter. I want to thank all those who supported this event and therefore the charity, you know who you are!!!! Overall, the whole trip raised £30,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!! Thank you!!!! I left on Friday the 19th of September from Exeter and we arrived at the Ranch 8pm Saturday night, ... read more