Young Travelers Bonfire

Last Saturday we had a fall bonfire for our Young Travelers groups; both boys and girls. We had a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful; couldn't have been better.
All the kids got to ride, shoot archery, and play games. We did three races, two with brown feed bags. Ashley and I teamed up for the three legged race; didn't win, but we tried hard!! I was too tired and slow to do the wheel barrow race, so I bowed out of that one! The boys had no trouble getting a bite out of their apples; the girls couldn't do it! I think the boys have bigger mouths. We roasted hot dogs and had mac & cheese and Chris's famous baked beans. It was just a great day!
Take a look at the pictures by clicking the link to the right called Young Travelers Bonfire.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Two evenings this past week, we had a few groups out to the ranch for a trail ride and campfire. What a pleasure it was to serve these folks who take their time out of a busy schedule to mentor youth. Four "matches" came on Tues. and five "matches" came on Thurs. The weather was so beautiful and eveyone had a great time. We were very impressed with the dedication of the mentors, and was happy to hear that some of the matches have been together for more than a year. They spend time together weekly doing all kinds of stuff together. Big Brothers, Big Sisters arrange for the outing and I am sure they will be back. It is hard to find things to do with youth that does not cost a fortune. Lazy B's does not charge for anything so we can help the mentors in that way. Ron and Dorian have been together for 1 1/2 years. They had a blast and sent us a thank you. Ron and Dorian, it was our pleasure!

Young Travelers Last Day - Persistence

Well this Monday was our last day for this Young Travelers group. Our lesson for the night was persistence. I have to say that these 4 boys were very persistent in learning about horses. One was very frightened at the beginning, but by the eighth week he was riding out in the field with the rest of the "cowboys". It was a laid back evening; the boys all took a ride with Bill and then we just sat around the dinner table and talked about persistence, their goals, and just about anything. These boys have been a permanent part of the ranch and we will continuing mentoring them. We will miss our Monday nights together, however, they will continue to come to the ranch on Fridays. During the Winter, be are going to work on some leather projects that the youth will sell at our fund raiser in the Spring. Take a look at the pictures by clicking the link to the right called: Young Travelers Oct 11 2010

George & Johnathan's First Ride

Today we tacked up George for the first time since he came to us last week. He is settling in and he has become boss over the herd. We kind of figured that would happen. Leslie, from Equestrian Outreach, told us that he bossed her herd around too. Sometimes this is hard to watch because in our eyes they appear to be mean. However, this is how horse herds do things in their social structure. It is not like humans. It's just the way God designed it. We have to remember they are animals, not humans and they do not think like us. Johnathan has earned the right to be the first Young Traveler to work with George. Johnathan has worked very hard this year at the ranch, and he was pretty excited to be asked to help. George is very short, which makes him less intimidating to beginners, but very strong and round to be able to carry heavier riders. He is going to be a great addition to the herd.
Johnathan groomed him, tacked him up , and rode him with no trouble. What an accomplished day, again! God has really blessed us with all we need to accomplish the work He has given us to do.

Young Travelers Play Day 10/8/10

Today was an accomplished day! Austin got the thumbs up from grandma Donna to go out in the field with the "good ole boys". He was very excited and I totally understand. I remember when I was learning to ride and started to go on the trail. It was very exciting. We had 7 kids here and all got to ride. Josh was here and they did some archery. They enjoy that as much as the horses. George will be a great addition to the herd and he got a lot of attention Friday. Take a look at a few pictures by clicking the link to the right Young Travelers 10/8/10

Young Travelers - Forgiveness 10/4/10

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun with the horses. Tonight's lesson was on forgiveness and the boys had to maneuver their horses around an obstacle course again. This time they had to back up their horses while pulling a bale of hay. This was very challenging, but the boys and horses worked thru their "issues" and came up on top! Horses can teach a lot about forgiveness. They are very forgiving animals! They don't hold grudges like people do. My biggest joy in life is to see the youth succeed and learn something new and feel accomplished.
Chris made breakfast for dinner and there were NO leftovers! Discussion time was very eventful because we talked about forgiveness. This is a tough one, but I think the boys understand that we it is a good idea to forgive people and most of all to forgive ourselves!

Miss Elaine's Group

This past Saturday we had a group come to the ranch from South Street Church of God.
The weather was not the greatest, rain mostly. But that did not stop the kids from having a good time. They still were able to go to the barn and meet and greet the animals, shoot archery, and do a leather project. We had a bonfire and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. All in all is was a great day!