Howdy All!

A beautiful morning it was, here in High River Alberta.  I went for a morning jog in the area, and it was so peaceful and quiet at 6 AM.  Rick fed oats at 6 and continued on with chores with the crew at 7 AM.  The weather report said there may be rain later in the day, but our area was spared.

Kubota Rides

All the kids from the other camps don’t take long to find out where we are at each stop on the tour, as Rick is labeled as the Candy Man.  We love to treat them with all kinds of sweets and treats.  They come to visit and Rick loves to take them for kubota rides.

All good laughs

Rick also got some of them learning how to two-step up in the liner.  However, the boys and girls are a bit young, and having to get close to the girls just isn’t so cool at this age in life.  One day that will definitely change.

Jumpin Jack

After lunch, Rick had a few of the young fellas that are potential outriders,  come by and he gave them a few lessons on how to run, jump and mount an outriding horse.

First Lesson

Back in the day, Rick was one of the best, and has many belt buckles to show for it.  He has a passion to help these young fellas learn, to keep our chuckwagon sport alive.

Every show, we hope to keep the same outriders, but this is not always the case depending on who we get hooked with.  As Chance Flad and Rory Gervais ride for Doug Irvine, we lost them for this show as we are hooked in the same heat as Doug.  We hired Quaid Tournier, and Chanse Vigen asked to ride behind us just one more time before Rick hangs up the lines.  Chanse has his own outfit to race so we were thrilled that he was available.  Chanse is an amazing athlete all around.  We are thankful to have him on our team this High River Show.

My Job

My job for years, has been to prepare the outriding horses for the evening race, and take them to the track for the outriders to ride.

Two of The Best

Tonight, Ed and Andy were our horses on duty.  Quiad held the leaders with Ed and Chanse threw the stove with Andy.  These are such quiet easy horses to tend to while waiting for our heat.  They are well-mannered and that is just how I like it.

Rounding the Top

Our team tonight was Spirit on the Left Lead, Ranger on the Right.  Cowboy on the Left Wheel and Jim on the Right.  The horn sounded and all 4 wagons charged forward.  Rick had a nice barrel turn on the top and bottom and took the lead onto the track.  He maintained first place all the way around, capturing a day money run in a time of 1:17.55 and sitting third in the average.

We are so proud of how our horses have been performing.  It is totally a group effort when it comes to keeping our horses sound, fit, healthy, fed and watered.  There are so many others that help us maintain their high performance, and we thank you all.

It is always a great feeling when you know you’ve crossed the finish line first, only to find out that the day money run is yours.

Home Run Stretch

Yes!  It’s always a good day.

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and “Team 23”

Sue

P.S. Because that’s what kindess is.  It’s not doing something for someone else because they can’t, but because you can.  Andrew Iskander