Happy St. Valentine's Day

And speaking of Saint's, meet our new horse "Saint", that we just purchased today from the Bozeman Winter Fest. He's a Registered Paint, named Yellowstone Saint, and is a 9 year old Chestnut Overo Gelding. Here's what they said about him: Saint is good looking a nice ride! He's logged many miles on the trail and has been used as a pony horse for young colts. Super nice soft lope and trot that you can ride all day. Stands 15.3 hands with correct conformation and nice, big feet. Really carries himself well in the arena also. Loves people and is loaded with personality."

JT and I watched him ride in the arena and he did really well. His transition from a lope to a walk was very gentle. He was the kind of horse that people came up to and just pet him in the stall. We're very excited to welcome him to the Covered Wagon Ranch!

A Special Request From Alan C.

Now that's a cowboy, right there!! Alan visited the ranch this fall and has become a very special friend to me. It's funny how those relationships develop at the ranch, isn't it? He fell in love when he was at the Covered Wagon, and this is a picture of the love of his life!

I ran into some very hard times over Christmas when I thought my dad was going to pass away. For some unknown Divine Intervention, Alan and I started emailing each other. It turns out that he was in a very similar situation as myself at one point in his life, and he offered some incredible words of advice. It was through his guidance that helped me move through this crisis, and by the way, Dad is doing fine now.

Alan shared how much he enjoyed the ranch, but also how much he loved our horses and the rides. You guessed it - Oprah was his trusty steed!

Now for the Special Request. In my next blog, Alan wants me to explain all the different locations I talk about: the CWR, Raspberry Butte Ranch and Love Lane. Til next time, Alan, and thank you for being such a great friend! I just wanted to make sure I gave you credit for the next idea for the blog!

debi

A Horse In The House????

Jeremy and Darlene had taken our 3 fillies (Lilly, Sis and Roxie) up to Raspberry Butte to start their training. Lilly and Sis are both "coming 3 year olds" and Roxie is 2, so it's time to go to school. They had them in a corral made with electric fence, but the "3 Muskateers" figured they needed to get out and explore their surroundings. When the Young family woke up, here is what they found!

I guess Lilly was thinking it was better to get inside the house instead of outside! Or was she just "taking time to smell the roses??" We'll have more on their schooling in a few days. It was very exciting and they were all such great students (of course, they had an incredible teacher!!!)

debi

Cooper the Llama

Now I bet you are wondering why I have a picture of a llama on our site! Well, let me introduce Cooper, a packing llama for Yellowstone Safari Company. This group takes people into Yellowstone and pack in supplies with their llamas. This past summer we got an emergency call from the group, stating that Cooper was badly injured in the back country and they needed help in getting him out. He had broken a leg, which is not a very good situation. So, we grabbed a couple of wranglers and a few good horses and headed into the Park to find Cooper. This was how we got their vet to the scene of the crime. They wound up splinting the Cooper and helped him limp out of the Park and into the trailer to the vets.

Well, it took two surgeries, lots of care, and I'm sure a lot of vet bills, but we just got word from Yellowstone Safari that Cooper is Back!! Now that's a happy ending and another exciting adventure at the Covered Wagon Ranch!!

Dude Ranchers Association Convention

Well, my apologies for being so late on the blog. JT and I have been traveling since January 18th. We hooked up "Homer the Hauler" to our fifth wheel and hit the road, ultimately reaching Tucson and attending the Dude Rancher's Association Convention. Before we got to Tucson, we stopped off to see the Grand Canyon (quite spectacular), the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, and down through Pinetop up and down a quite spectacular canyon that turned out to be a nail biter for me (but we all know what a scaredy cat I am!).

We got to Tucson this past Tuesday, and pulled into this RV Park that JT picked out because it was close to the Tanque Verde Ranch where the convention was held. Well, thank you Jerry, as the RV Park was for Seniors Only, which they define as 55 and older. I told him I was the baby here!! Is this what I have to look forward to??? :-) We are traveling with the infamous "Francois Pierre", my 13 year old Jack Russell and JT's least favorite friend!

The Convention was awesome, as well as the ranch. Although, I must admit, I'm not too interested in riding in the desert and worrying if I fall off my horse that I would get stuck on a cactus! These big tall cactii called Saguaro's are amazing. They don't start flowering until they are 50 years old, and don't branch out until they are 75!! Now they would qualify to stay in that RV Park, wouldn't they?

We learned so much at this meeting. We both took the Wrangler Certification and Horse Safety Course, and have so much to tell Jeremy and Darlene when we return! They will love this information. Lots of fun vendors, and some fun new ideas we'll bring back to the ranch this summer. Also, JT was elected as a Board Member for the Montana District for the DRA, and that was very exciting.

We're currently in Wickenburg, Arizona, as the meeting ended today, and on our way to Vegas. Look out slot machines! We plan to be back in Bozeman on Thursday night, so more later. Any bets???
debi

A Winter Day At the Ranch

Well, it was quite the day at the ranch! Jeremy, Darlene, Brayden and Chase decided to make a visit and check things out and were surprised by two trespassers at the ranch. When they

first pulled up, this big old bull was hanging out by the playhouse just to the left of the lodge! They watched him from the steps of the lodge and thought they were done, when all of a sudden a second moose appeared at the ranch! Both of these characters didn't seem too frightened to see the Young family, so they just stayed there and decided to bed down right around Cabin 10. (the moose, that is!) Considering the snow was up to their knees, the Young family decided to stay close and do what they needed to do then leave the ranch! The moose (or do you say meese???!!) just stayed and watched them. Pretty funny! That's all for now,

debi

New Year's Day for the Horses

I'm not thinking they're having as much fun as we are on New Year's Day. Yikes! Look at the snow on their back and how well they insulate themselves. As long as these horses have access to water, forage, minerals and cover (which they have all of the above), then they are better off being outside grazing as opposed to inside a barn. They are choosing to hang out and graze, instead of running down in the coulee away from the weather. Amazing, isn't it?

debi