By Community Affairs

Making Time Count – Four Day Trail Rides and More

May 20, 2014 | 2:45 PM

Late Monday afternoon I found myself sitting up front in a wagon , driving a team of beautiful horses: Cowboy and Cocoa, while veteran horseman and owner of Rivers North Ranch, Jim Neubuhr took a break.

We were making our way through MacDowell with two other wagon teams behind us and a handful of riders galloping alongside, nearly back at the ranch after four days trekking through the historic area around the Nisbet Forest.

Hands like ice and a tonne of sand in my hair, exhausted yet invigorated at the same time, I was incredibly anxious for the hot coffee and chili con carne I knew was waiting at the ranch – yet feeling melancholy that somehow, time flew by much too quickly and our incredible experience was over.

A four day trail ride is an intensive experience, one that is unique and not soon forgotten. As I sat up front with Jim telling me the different colors of horses, about race horse stock, about horse personalities, about landmarks and local history, about the characters he has met along the way during a lifetime as a horseman … I considered how these past four days and three nights were not just a cool experience but were days filled with stories and information that will last all of us a lifetime.

During this ride I enjoyed greatly seeing my son playing with other boys and girls…all covered in dirt…not once asking for a “game” but instead making up new ones with his new friends, while laughing and running around until they would nearly pass out from happy exhaustion. The kids all got turns riding the horses and bumped along until they found their “seat”, i.e. until they could match their rhythm with that of their horse, and increasingly gained confidence.

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With no cell phone signal, no tv or radio; no bathrooms or showers or power of any sort, we all had to resort to something unusual for all of us these days. We had to talk to each other. We had to work together to make sure the horses were looked after and the trail was good; that people were fed and tents were pitched. We learned from each other and we made new forever friends.

Without a cell phone, without the distractions of technology, we rode along either on horseback or in one of the wagons and took in amazing scenery while learning from the Neubuhr family about the trails and the history of the area.

By the second day, most had quit looking at cell phones all together and were using them mostly to document the ride.

The pace of our lives is increasingly fast…too fast. Time goes by so quickly without making any significant memories of anything. TV and technology is wonderful…but it also kills time. It is the potato chips of the emotional diet. It fills a gap without providing us with anything real.

So, sitting in that wagon on the way back to the ranch, hearing the click clack of Cowboy and Cocoa’s hooves on the streets of MacDowell, I hoped that this trail ride with the Rivers North Ranch, will continue for my son and I for years to come. In four days, the memories, the experiences, the learning Liam and I, along with everyone who attended gained, is a treasure very, very few people in the world will ever know.

If you happen to be interested in this kind of experience, the Ranch does offer short trail ride, wagon/sleigh rides throughout the year. The Ranch also offers Equine Assisted Learning, which Liam and I also take advantage of.

They have a website at: http://riversnorthranch.vpweb.ca/ and a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RiversNorthRanch .
My photos of the experience are found on paNOW.com’s MEDIA section http://panow.com/media/photos/trails-1885-four-day-trail-ride