It's after 9pm and the sky is slowly getting dark. While I do my walkabout I say goodnight to each one of the horses, with some I stay longer, having formed a deeper bond than with others. There is my beautiful dun coloured horsie, Pika, that has accompanied me on many pack trips, or my little brown friend, Apache, who used to be a wild horse until two years ago and who I have been priviledged to work with. Teaching him ground work basics, while he taught me more about horse language. There is Babe, our old and retired logging horse, who always takes her time. I admire her patience. And of course there is Mowsen, who carried me safely over the mountain tops last year and with whom I just returned from a hiking pack trip. And not to forget our beautiful, but cheeky two black draft horses – Willy and Billy, who like to break out of the corral to steal the other horses oats when someone forgets to close the gate properly. After I counted „my horsies“ I sit down and watch them. 'Who moves who' - is the game they play and it's very interesting to watch the group dynamics which constantly change depending on the horses' rankings in the herd.
With the shrinking light and after getting my daily 'horsie fix' I slowly continue my evening walk, heading back to the ranch while I enjoy the silence and peaceful atmosphere.
Our night pasture is slightly uphill, so when you are up there you can see the still snow covered mountain tops of the Bendor Range on the other side of the Bridge River Valley very clearly. Though we can see magestic Mount Truax every day where we live I never get tired of looking at it. At this time of the year the evening star rises just above Mount Truax. The night is still young and so it is the only light in the sky, rivaling with the bright white snow patches in the mountains. In me rises a feeling of contentment. Life at the ranch can be very fast paced and many things happen at once. But during these few minutes nothing can bother me. As I follow the fence back to the gate I get welcomed by a chorus of crickets and I stop for a moment to listen - I feel at peace. With a smooth climb over the fence, a skill I have mastered during my stay here, I end my evening walk - charged and ready for another action loaded day, here in the South Chilcotin Mountains.