Riding Horses in Wyoming with Scouts

Troop 7 Venture trip to
Wyoming Horseworks
July 21-30, 2006
Journal by Gary Hochgraf


Adults:
Rich, scoutmaster
Frank
Gary Hochgraf

Scouts:
Nate, SPL
Andy, Trip Leader and organizer
Garrett
Will
Zach
Jeff
Maxime
Devin
Andrew

Friday 7/21
Departed about 6:30 am from Ann Arbor - two mini-vans headed west with eight scouts and three adults. We’ll drive 2 ½ days to get there, and pick up the last scout at the ranch.
Arrived in Grinnell, IA about 4 pm and found ‘Scoutland’, a 40 ac BSA property just off I-80, but far enough that we don’t hear traffic. The scouts choose to sleep under the shelter while we adults are in tents. We’ll see how the mosquitoes are this evening. A contingent went off to get groceries while the rest of us played soccer. Jambalaya for dinner (great!) and more soccer until sundown

Saturday 7/22
Up early, packed, quick bagel breakfast, and on the road. The land gets slowly drier and more rolling as we head west, with more irrigated fields, then a sudden change to rangeland with no crops as we near the Wyoming line. A few oil wells, and eventually we reach Cheyenne, WY. We have lodging in a HS gymnasium.
After settling our stuff there, we left to check out Frontier Days, which happened to be on this week. They have rows of vendors in their booths selling cowboy hats, belts, t-shirts, all sorts of western wear, trinkets, jewelry, and food - mostly hot dogs & soda & similar stuff you’d expect at a fair. And they had a carnival with midway games. The scouts all buddied up and were off, and in an hour and a half had done the games, while we wandered the vendors and saw what sights there were to see.
Back to the gym near sunset, where we cooked up a pot of spaghetti on the outside tables. Despite the streetlights here in town, the sky is very dark and the stars brilliant.

Sunday 7/23
Camping with Venture is great. Without a word, everyone is up and packing at the break of dawn. The sky was still rosy as the first bags were brought out to the cars. Passed through Casper, lunch at a McD in Thermopolis with the worst service ever. Arrived at Horseworks about 2:30.
The terrain is typical basin and range sagebrush dessert, with eroded tablelands of horizontal beds, either sedimentary or volcanic - can’t tell from this distance. Vegetation is grasses, sagebrush, rabbit brush, with occasional evergreens on the highlands and cottonwood and willow on the river banks. Most of the rivers are dry. The skies are now overcast and we’ve had a few drops of rain.
About 5pm we got oriented, which meant busting up bales of hay and scattering them for the horses, and a brief introduction to saddling. We’ve met Nate, an older gentleman and the owner; Maecile, his wife; Dane, one of the hands, in his upper teens; and Kate, the other hand, in her teens.
Some of the key points we learned about saddling are:
- Check for dirt before saddling,
- Pad, front edge about 4” ahead of the back of the shoulder blade,
- Saddle, at the edge of the shoulder blade,
- There should be daylight under the horn,
- Latigo, go around 4 times, make it tight.
The orientation is pretty lax and low key. Kate showed us how to saddle and bridle a horse, then Maecile tested us briefly, and fitted helmets too. As dinner was getting ready, Nate assigned each of us a horse. Mine is Sandy. Dinner is spaghetti, salad, garlic toast, cake. In the evening we scrambled up the nearest ridge top. Its all part of Horseworks’ property. We saw a few horses in the next valley, and mule deer, and prickly pear cactus. At the edge of the hay field we heard a hissing/buzzing noise, and soon uncovered a 3’ long diamond back rattlesnake! He was not happy we crossed his path, but no harm was done and we each moved on.
There are heavy clouds to the west, and as we settle for the night we have strong winds that rattle our teepee tents and just a bit of rain.

Monday 7/24
Woke before dawn, cool and pleasant, and began feeding chores. Last night we had filled the feedbags, and now we give one to each horse. They like it and tussle each other to get at the grain. The grain is followed by hay, then the horses to be ridden were separated, haltered, hitched to a corral post, and brushed. Then the breakfast bell rang. After breakfast, Nate and Kate got the 20-odd horses saddled, and one at a time they got each of us on our horse. There are lots of details to keep in mind - no straps or other tack under the saddle, proper tension on the girth, daylight under the horn, position of the saddle behind the shoulder blades, etc. Garrett had to re-saddle several times, as his horses’ withers were so high, it took many pads to get any daylight under the horn. Once we were all up, we did some simple exercises -take 5 steps and stop, back a few steps, and turn the horses’ head without moving his feet. Then we played tag - walking only. If your horse went to a canter, you’re automatically it!
This took all morning. After lunch we took a trail ride. It was supposed to be short, but ended up being 2 ½ hours long. Some of the horses would go too fast crossing a ravine (translation: the scout let them go too fast) and on one of them, Devin fell off. He was fine. He got up and ran after his horse and got right back on. But later, his horse (Queeny) shied at crossing the next ravine. The trail wound up a valley and onto a ridge. The views in every direction are stark and bold of more ridges sparsely covered in sagebrush and bits of grass. With scattered junipers, cedars and pinion pines. The bedrock layers are steeply tilted and exposed on the sides and tops of the ridges. The skies have clouded over again, and we get a gentle rain for the last half hour of the ride.
Sandy (my horse) is the mother of Butterscotch, who is ridden by Kate. They are both palomino, but Sandy is a Champaign Palomino, a rare color. Kate says there may be only four in the US. It is a pretty color, uniform pale tan, with a short darker (almost salt & pepper) mane and tail. Her temperament is quite good and gentle, and she mostly does what I ask of her. Toward the end of the ride, she knew we were heading home, and she’d get antsy whenever we stopped. She and I took the last position, so we stopped often.
There are some other groups here too. A family from Seattle, and another from Ohio, and some folk from Tennessee. After the ride, we unharnessed and the scouts were put to work spreading out the hay for an afternoon feeding.
A light rain settled in. Much needed in this parched country. Which also interfered with any evening rides or chores. So the scouts were bored, throwing stones at each other and generally goofing around. So we got a campfire going. At sundown everybody turned in.

Tuesday 7/25
Chores before dawn as before. And everyone turned to as the sun peaked over the ridge. We had most of the horses saddled before the bell rang for breakfast. We spent some time practicing horsemanship - trotting, posting, and playing tag. Devin was given a different horse, and Queeny was given to Frank. As soon as he was on, Queeny reared and threw him. So Frank got My instead. And Queeny will get some re-training. Eventually we went out for a trail ride, with Maecile drilling us. She had us paired up, walking two abreast and a horse-length between. The horses easily settle into walking nose-to-tail, so it is sometimes hard to keep them apart. Where the road narrowed we went single file, then back to pairs when it opened up. Some of Horsework’s horses are left loose on the land and they feed themselves. We encountered a herd of them around a watering station, and one of them fell in line with us and followed us all the way out and back to the ranch and into the corral. We encountered two rattlers on a sunny hillside.
After lunch we drove out to the town of Thermopolis and played in the hot springs. There are several purveyors of the mineral waters, and the one we entered had several slides and pools, and smelled of hydrogen sulfide. We had lots of fun.
In our free time before dinner we got some of the scouts to write in their journals, and after dinner we were put to work in the hayfield, putting all the bales in lines so they could be picked up onto a trailer.
Its been raining again, but you dry off very quickly. One of the drawbacks is that we don’t get a star show. Maybe the weather system will pass and we’ll have clear skies some evening.

Wednesday 7/26
I woke up in the middle of the night, looked out the door to my tent, and saw the star show. Millions and millions of bright points and a clear view of the Andromeda galaxy. Wow.
Later, I arose for morning chores with a rosy glow in the east and Venus high and bright overhead. The rest of the crew slowly drifts in, and Nate selected the horses for the day and we lead them out of the pasture into the corrals. Then we put on feedbags. Our plan for today is to ride out to a remote camp (Cow Camp.) it’s a 6hr ride, and we’ll spend the night there. So we’re packing up our sleeping bags, tents, stoves, and Horseworks is providing food. Instead of pack horses, our gear will be brought by truck.
We’re getting to know more of the personalities here. Maecile runs this place. She’s married to Nate. She keeps tabs on everything that’s going on, and works to train both horses and clients.
Nate is married to Maecile, and this ranch has been in his family for years. He’s 80 something but spry and energetic. He knows horses. Horses are his life and his life is horses.
Our cooks are Roxan and Vijay, both from Jamaica on an internship. The scouts say that they like the food here and it is better than at Scout camp.
Kate is one of two wranglers. She’s 15,very personable and loves horses. She does barrel racing. She gets along great with all our scouts. On rides she usually brings up the rear, but then races ahead to open gates or help whoever needs it. We’ve gotten to know Kate quite well.
Dane is the other wrangler, but Maecile has been keeping him busy painting and fixing stuff.
Charlene is an intern here from Colorado, and rode with us for the overnight.
Our ride today was the most fun, as we were allowed to use the skills we’ve learned, could fan out from the trail and pick our way through the sagebrush, ride with whoever we choose, change places, trot, canter, or just walk. Nate leads, and he keeps a steady pace. We encountered a half dozen cows, and Nate tells us we should herd them over the ridge to better grazing and water. So we fan out - some to the right, some to the left, and some on the road, and they dutifully walk ahead of us to the ridge, down the other side, and to a creek valley. We stop here for a break, and just as we get up to go, the two trucks with our gear arrive. So we let them lead us to another spot where we have lunch.
On the trail again, went over hills and down into creek bottoms, and reached Cow Camp.
From a distance it’s a small collection of buildings in a cottonwood grove. Closer, all the buildings but one are quite dilapidated. The one is a relatively newer structure that was skidded in and is now home to mice. Three are log structures - a cabin, a barn, and a half underground barn. The cabin’s walls are intact but the roof is no more. The other two buildings are worse. There are several metal buildings, and everything is in serious need of repair or demolition. There is a corral for the horses, and after we take them to the creek for a drink, we turn them into the corral with some hay, and remove saddles and bridles. Then we all relax for a while. Rain threatens again, so we turn to and spread a tarp over the saddles and collect wood for a fire. As the fire burns down to coals, Nate P. and I prep potatoes, onions and ground beef for hobo dinners. Then while some of the crew takes care of cleanup, everyone else heads for the creek. There was great hooting and hollering, and within an hour most of them were soaked from head to toe, and muddy too. So we built up the fire and soon everyone was trying to dry out.
The storm clouds finally broke this evening, and once it was totally dark we walked to an open area and enjoyed a magnificent star show.

Thursday 7/27
Slept under the stars last night. There were very few mosquitoes, and the ants didn’t bother me. Heard coyotes twice in the night and again in the morning. A whole pack yipping and yapping over something. Perhaps rabbit. There are lots and lots and lots and lots of little cottontail bunnies everywhere. There’s also an occasional jackrabbit, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and we usually encounter a rattler or two each day. They hiss at us from just off the trail.
There’s a large fenced area around Cow Camp, so the horses are out there grazing somewhere. So we focus on breakfast and striking camp. Charlene decided to ride back in the truck, and we also have the 4-wheeler here. So it is tight to pack everything in so it won’t rattle out. Her horse, My, will just walk along with us. They are social animals.
Nate called the horses in and they all came running, Sandy at the rear, right into the corral. So we got their nosebags on and left them to eat for a bit. Then saddles and bridles, and we each rode down to the creek for a drink. And shortly we were off. We ride back on a different path, but similarly beautiful basin and range landscape of ridges with rock outcroppings, incised alluvial fans down to the dry creek bottoms, and all of it covered with grass, sage, and rabbit brush. We watched a golden eagle riding the ridge uplift. Then Andrew fell while cantering. The fall didn’t hurt him, but he put his hands into a prickly pear. So we had an long break as we picked spines out of his hands and pant legs. These prickly pears have spines of several lengths. The long ones are easy to remove, but there are lots and lots of little ones that you just have to wear away at. But he’s Ok, so on we go, over a ridge and steeply down the other side, through the oil field, and into Horseworks. We are all quite tired, dirty, thirsty and hungry by the time we dismount and take care of our horses.
A quiet afternoon, then off to the Cody Nite Rodeo! Its just an hour away (the road crawling with police and speed traps) and Dane, Kate and Charlene come too, to help us understand the events. They had bronc riding and bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping, bulldogging, and team roping. I enjoyed watching them trying to catch the broncs and bulls after the rider fell off. There’s a lot of skill there.

Friday 7/28
Beautiful sunrise again as we bring the day’s horses into the corrals for feedbags & saddles. Garrett and others practice their hand at roping each other.
Maecile held class after breakfast in horsemanship and the merit badge.
Then it was time for fun and games. Out in the hayfield on horseback, we played tag, freeze tag and tried barrel racing. There are two boys from Seattle here, and they joined us. Patrick was awesome as one of the un-freezers during freeze tag.
Goodbyes were hard and sad. We all really bonded with the crew at Horseworks Wyoming, especially Kate. We all turned to and helped them here - feeding, grooming, saddling, straightening hay bales, learning, fixing things, food prep and cleanup, especially at Cow Camp. And the crew really appreciated it. We were so green the first day that other Horseworks guests complained and opted to do trail rides separate from us. But by today we are all quite competent in our level of riding ability. Nobody’s an expert of course, but we can do most everything asked of us.
It’s a long and uneventful drive south to Cheyenne for a night at the Storey Gym. There’s another group here too, but we don’t interact much and are up and gone before they even stir in the morning. Rich got a phone call from the ranch. They miss us.

Saturday 7/29
A long and uneventful drive east to Grinnell. Its so humid here we’re quickly drenched in sweat just standing around.
Went to a DQ for a dessert, and we all signed a troop t-shirt to mail to Kate. The guys miss her too.

Sunday 7/30
Another long uneventful drive. Arrived in Ann Arbor about 4:45.