Majors Trail Ride

 At the Flying W Ranch just south of Clements, Kansas, we are lucky enough to host guests from around the world and from all over the USA.   One of the activities we  offer our guests is the opportunity to ride horses across tall grass prairie.  Not just along well established trails with one horse following another but rather each rider choosing their horses own path across the working cattle ranch.  We help people who have never ridden before (even those afraid of horses) as well as providing horses with spirit for the experienced riders.  

Recently, the Flying W had the opportunity to host 16 British Army Majors for a weekend of riding and fine food.  The Majors had flown from London to Fort Leavenworth for a couple of weeks of training.  This group decided to experience the beauty of the Flint Hills by viewing the prairie on horseback while  in Kansas.  Some of them were new riders, some had ridden a little bit and some were very experienced riders.  We were able to help them all have a great weekend.  Here's how it started.

The Majors relaxing after their arrival

The evening the majors arrived I got them signed in and directed to their lodging.  After settling in, the group began to enjoy each other and the lovely evening with a drink on the lodge porch.  I walked up to the north end of the porch with a camera in hand and hollered, “Hey Major, look at me.”  They all turned towards me smiling and laughing and I shot this picture.  That’s my kind of humor.  I’m really bad about remembering people names but that weekend was easy.  I just called everyone Major and they always responded.  What fun!  I'm really glad they came.

saddled horses

 All the trail rides start with us saddling enough horses.  It almost looks like a scene from another century.  A long line of horses tied up to hitching rails waiting to be mounted and ridden.

Tica and Pudge

The horses like the rides, too.  Here is Tica looking at me as if asking, "Where’s my bridle?  Pudge has one. Isn’t it my turn?"

 Waiting to Mount

Looking across Button’s saddle you can see that the Majors were waiting for their turns, too.

They were ready and eager to get on a horse and ride.

 Adjusting stirrups for Major Roland Spiller

For the trail rides at the ranch we help each person mount their horse, tell them the name of the horse they are riding. We make sure the stirrups are adjusted properly for each rider and that the saddle is secure to the horse and ready for the ride.  Here is one of our cowboys, Thomas, and our ranch hand, Ann, adjusting the saddle on Smoky while in the background you can see Josh preparing Buster to be mounted.

 Behinds, the scene

When all our guests and our crew are mounted everyone is gathered in a group to receive instructions from Josh and Gwen  on how to ride and advice on how to treat their horse while riding.  Here you can see all the Majors facing our crew who are from left to right Jim Hoy (Josh's Dad) on Pudge, Ann Stollsteimer (our summer cowgirl) on Cricket, Thomas Coirier (a farrier, cowhand and grill cook) on Old Greg, Gwen Hoy on Button and Josh Hoy on Quannah.   Josh and Gwen are excellent at making everyone feel comfortable on their horses.  Our crew is there and ready to help everyone have a good time and answer any questions they may have before and during the trail ride.

 Majors Behinds, the scene

As you can see, the Majors all paid attention to Josh’s directions as they prepared to ride.  One of the directions Josh gives is that our crew won’t necessarily remember each rider’s name so the each rider needs to remember their horse’s name. That way everyone knows that if we holler the horse’s name while out riding, we’re talking to the rider not the horse.  In this picture the horses in the back row from far left to right are Tica, Hunk Papa, Smoky, Billy, Ox, Sis and Peanuts.  They are being ridden by Major, Major, Major, Major, Major, Major, and Major  (Sorry, my kind of humor)  all ready for a good ride.

Major Fred Wells on Brutus

As they headed out I took a picture of the Major on Brutus.  Brutus was pictured in one of my previous blog post.  He’s a draft horse as well as a saddle horse.  He’s a good horse.  I like him, but, of course, I like all the horses. 

One final note:  As the weekend of trail rides ended and the Majors prepared to head back for Fort Leavenworth I heard many of them say that they were sore in their butt and thighs from riding and they were sunburned. But they all had had a wonderful time and would love to do it again.  Maybe they’ll be lucky enough and we’ll be lucky enough to see some of them return to the Flying W.  Take Care Majors! We enjoyed having youall as much as youall enjoyed being here.

You can learn more about our events and lodging at the Flying W Guest Ranch website

 http://www.flinthillsflyingw.com/

Riding horses is fun! Come on out and see for yourself!