Team Trail Riders

We live in a great area for trail riding. Cow paths winding through bush trails by the river, the river hills, and large plateaus of prairie wool grass, sweet grass and sage. When I was a kid, my siblings and I mostly rode with Dad to move or check cattle. We learned where all the neighbors lived out there on the prairie a generation or two before us. He would show us the remnants of their buildings and corrals, evidence of previous life way out here in God’s country. This is where we discovered the sound of silence. If you halted your horse on top of the highest hill and looked around at the magnificence below, just for a moment, you heard nothing, no vehicles, no creaking of the saddle, no hooves beating the path, no high-flying hawk making his piercing presence known, no cow bawling, songbirds stopped singing sensing your presence; just silence. I loved it so much that I spent many hours not just checking cows but riding the trails to see where they would lead me. I shared my love of the prairie in my growing up years with a friend, taking her on my favorite trails and she made a profound statement that stuck with me forever “I hope you know how lucky you are to live and ride in a place that looks like this”. I purposed to look around me every day from then on so that I would never take it for granted.

In the years to follow, I would be asked to host trail rides for riding clubs, sharing all the stories my Dad told me about the pioneers who had lived on the land before us, pointing out all the landmarks. I have also passed this on to my daughter and grandchildren who also love to ride so they may share with their generations.

In the next years to follow it was just “us girls”. We were a few friends who loved to ride and we would ride on a fairly regular basis not just at my place but this whole area is smattered with a “gorgeous” paintbrush. From the Battle River valley to the to the north hills, the incredible sand hills at Marsden and beautiful meadows at Czar. As years went by, a few of our gals couldn’t ride anymore and a few didn’t have horses anymore. There were 4 of us remaining. We had gone to school together and lived close in the same communities together all these years. So to continue riding together, we would book a date at Grahamtown, a western village built by my friend, Colleen, north of Lloydminster. This has become an annual event for many years. We are joined by a few other friends sometimes which is always fun. Our booking name is fondly dubbed “Team Trail Riders”. Colleen takes us on beautiful trails through bush, open range riding and arena riding, touring the village and ending with a campfire and wiener roast. This year we booked a weekend ride, took our guitars for singing around the campfire, bunking in the cabin overnight, pancake breakfast next morning and a final ride before departing. There are no sounds of silence when we ride, I’m sure you’re not surprised. We are always catching up, excited to be together enjoying each others company. The Lord willing, we will continue for many years to come.