The ranch has a big open corral for saddling horses and introducing riders to their mounts of the day.

Pretty much everybody else on the ranch was out with other parties so Jessica, our wrangler, had to do most everything herself.

She didn't seem to mind too much. I bet she was just happy we came along because we got her off kitchen duty to take us out.

I'd smile too under the circumstances. What would you rather ride: A horse or a broom...

It was a small party that day, but distinguished none the less. A Dutch family on vacation had stopped by. They were all very experienced riders and liked to stop off wherever they could to go out on rides. They had seen a lot of BC from horseback already.

Here is the young daughter with her new friend. I think of this picture as "Reins across the ocean".

Finally, everything was ready, and the wrangler lead the way up the trail. The trees were tall, the grass swaying and so were the riders. It felt good to be out in the fresh air.

The trail stayed in the trees most of the way. Here and there we came across openings with grass and flowers.
Here we were spread out as we made our way around a bend.

Horses and riders got a little break once in awhile. Gave us a chance to engage in some small talk, learn a little about each other, the horses and the area we were riding through.
The horses took the opportunity to catch up on some chow time. It was pleasant just sitting there with the saddle creaking occasionally as the horse stretched for another morsel and hearing the birds chirping in the trees around us.

As a matter of fact, the horses were a little hard to get moving again. I don't know what it was they found so delightful, but they knew they had a good thing and wasn't about to give it up lightly.
It caused a few chuckles as too gentle riders tried to giddyap old pro trail horses who simply and supremely ignore anything less than a firm and purposeful command.

The party spread out some towards the end of the trail when we came to a fork in the road. Our wrangler was trailing us as she had to close a gate behind us.
She smoothly rounded us up and headed us off in the right direction.

Back in the corral, I took a last farewell with the horses. We had all had a good time together and I had decided I wanted to come back for a longer ride.
I had seen deer tracks, Whiskey Jacks, crows, ravens and hawks. I was sure there was a lot more to see out there.

Tell 'em the Norseman sent you.