A day in the life...

So I'm still slowly settling in. It's taking a while to get all sorted and adjust to a totally different lifestyle. I miss not being able to do things like cook and make a phone call. The air is much drier. The mornings are much earlier! And aside from days off, I rarely leave the property. But the staff are all really nice (3 are from Ontario!), the views are stunning and on my days off I can explore BC.

I've been here for about 3 weeks now though and have become used to my daily routine.
An average day looks something like this:
6:27am - Rise and shine! It's very early but I've had about 7 - 8 hrs of sleep.
6:45am - Roll out of bed.
7:am - Meet Steve (the other wrangler) downstairs. He's all bright and cheery because he's been up since 6 and has already had 2 cups of coffee.
7:01am - Yawn at Steve.
7:05am - 7:40am - Go out, hop on the ATV and drive around the property - the horses have been grazing on pasture all night and need to come in to the main field. Once they're in, we check them all and make sure there are no injuries or missing shoes. This is the best part of my morning. I walk around for 20 mins patting ponies and talking to them in my baby voice.
8am - Breakfast!! Bacon and eggs every day! I pass however, and opt for cereal and fresh fruit. Maybe some yogurt if I'm feeling crazy. (Except Sundays - those are a free day! Bacon, eggs, toast, cereal, juice, fruit...cookies...whatever)
8:30am - Head down to the barn with Steve and start the real work - filling water troughs, grooming and tacking horses, feeding the kitties, driving the tractor, picking rocks, chatting to guests, scooping up poop...
10am - 12pm - Ride! We do a 2 hr morning ride (if all goes well and we get out on time) on the neighbouring crown land and check out the views. Since it's still early, we usually see deer and grouse, maybe some woodpeckers. Listen to the owls and gophers. And soon the bears will be out - we saw the first sign of them on Monday. Fresh bear droppings right in the middle of our trail! Today I was warned by a local that he saw a cub run into the woods 1/2 km up the road. Not what my client wanted to hear...
12:30pm - Lunch! Salad, soup, sandwiches, flatbreads or anything else Tammy (the Chef) whips up. She's a pretty amazing cook so its usually pretty great.
1:30pm - Get the horses watered and ready to go
2 pm - 4pm - Ride again! We head out on a different trail and see what we can find. Yesterday I picked up a little birds nest! And last week we saw a deer skeleton - we went back yesterday to pick up its head and antlers (I know! Super cool)
4:30 pm - Untack, groom and set the horses free. They all get sent back to graze and rest for the evening.
5pm - 7pm - Free time! If its been a hot or busy day, the staff all sit down and have a drink together and chat. If it's a little later, we usually head up to our apartments and shower before supper. It's at 7 sharp!
7pm - All the guests and staff sit down to a 3 course dinner! The table is massive (seats 18) and it takes about 5-10 mins for all the bowls, buns and butter to get passed around. It's usually a fun affair and we all tell stories and jokes about the day. Tracey (the owner) is usually asked a million questions about the Ranch and her horses.
8:30pm - Dinner is over. I'm stuffed after desert and way too tired to go for that walk I said I would go for. Sometimes I'll hop in the car to go for a drive and make a phone call (we have no cell service) or just head to my room for some well needed R&R. After a full day of chatting to people and working outdoors, I'm pooped. I'll usually read or go online until bedtime. Once and a while, if there are no guests staying over, the staff will sit down and watch a movie together. We have to do it early though, otherwise we'll never make it through!
10:30pm. Lights out.