I recently got to help my cousin gather some cows on her friend’s expansive ranch about an hour’s haul from my house. Here’s Kaylee all saddled up and ready to find the cows, with lunch and water in my saddlebags.
It has been many years (decades, if I’m being honest) since I last joined a gather, but it was just as fun as I remember. Only I didn’t remember feeling quite so sore and tired as I did this time around. Sigh . . .
Still, it was definitely worth it. The views of the Chalk Mountains, the variety of oak and redwood trees, the creek crossings, the extensive greenery, and working in partnership with my horse for an entire day to achieve a specific goal was such a magical experience.
We had about ten horse-and-rider duos on this ride. Some of them I knew from previous encounters, and others quickly became new friends. Being a lead mare (read: bossy and in charge), Kaylee kept wanting to get to the front of the herd and lead the way, but I left that role to the trail boss, who also rode a palomino. At one point, as our horses rode side by side, the trail boss acknowledged that we could make a nice matched pair in a parade.
While my mini paint, Blue, had to stay behind—it would have been way to hard for her little legs to keep up and even treacherous in some places to be ponying her—my Morgan mare, Kaylee, was a trooper. More out of shape than most of the others on the gather due to our busy time over the last year with moving, settling in to our new town, and renovating, Kaylee needed a couple short breaks during the lengthy ride. But after a minute or two each time, she powered on through, keeping toward the front of the riders. She even seemed to enjoy having a job . . . or maybe it was more that she liked pushing the cows around.
This Horse Riding Tracker app tracks my ride for me, including distance, various speeds, a map of my route, and more!
On this screenshot, it tells us that I rode about 12 miles and maxed out at just 10 mph (we did a slow canter at one point to catch up to the trail boss, but we mostly walked). In the other details the app recorded, I noted we were in the saddle for over 5 hours, and every single minute was a blast!
Here’s the satellite map taken by the app. It’s pretty cool to look at these after my rides and see exactly where I went and how far I rode from the trailer. You can see here that we had to do a little searching to find the cows, and we also had to go back out after getting the majority herded to the corral when we noticed we were short a few. But it was more fun than work!
I think both Kaylee and I look forward to the next time we get to ride on that beautiful ranch.
