PingPongPony
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!
So as some of you may know, that's if you remember, I went to the USA this summer for 3 months, to stay in 4 different places and at 3 of them, work with horses in exchange for food and accommodation.
It was a truly fantastic experience and I have learnt so much! Admittedly, I learnt more about people than I did about horses, but it is a life lesson I will always remember and could not have learnt had I stayed home all summer.
1st Place: Otto, NY
So, my journey began at London Heathrow Airport. Everything went smoothly and I did not cry because I had to leave my dog, my ferrets, my family and friends...
Anyway, I had a 3 hour flight to Reykjavik in Iceland, where I had to wait for 3 hours to get on my 7hour flight to JFK New York, then a wait of further 5hours to get on my 1h plane to Buffalo, NY. Of course everything was going way too smoothly so the plane to Buffalo was late by 3 hours.
I got to Buffalo extremely tired, to be greeted by a lady I was to be living with for the following 3.5weeks. We finally got to the ranch at 3am and I went straight to bed after grunting hello to my 3 room mates.
Next day, I got up at 8am with everyone else to feed the horses and meet the people. At the time there was 3 girls and 1 buy from France also helping at the ranch.
The horses were all well behaved and even though I personally dont agree with some of the things they did at the ranch, all of the horses were all well looked after and happy so thats all that mattered.
As the days went by, I learnt how to ride western, and more helpers came to the ranch from all over the world. In the end we had 3 girls and 1 boy from France, 1 girl from Czech Republic, 1 girl from Switzerland and 2 boys from Spain.
The lady took us to see the Niagara Falls, she also took us to the tack shop where I bought yet another set of matchy matchy and we went to see a proper rodeo where I bought a pair of cowboy boots!
We had our ups and our down, I learnt a lot from this place and I hope to go back there again. I loved every minute of it!
It was all great fun and we became a little family over the 3 weeks that I was there. I cried my eyes out when leaving but have made friends for life and keep in touch with all of them still. I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
2nd Place: Duncan, South Carolina
Now, this was a bit of a down on my whole trip. I spent 5 weeks her. The lady who I stayed with was challenging. It was just me and 1 other girl from Italy. The most I learnt from this place is self control and I perfected my technique of smile and nod. I wont go into detail but it was definitely not the highlight of my trip. But in every negative experience there are positive things, and of course there are some in this one too. Like; I drove a golf cart for the very first time, I made 2 fantastic friends who I keep in touch with, I went to a huge theme park, I learnt how to control my temper with people and how to bite my tongue and I learnt that some people are just never pleased no matter how much you try.
Photos of the good times attached:
3rd Place: Colorado Springs, CO
This place was just purely for me to enjoy being a tourist, that is all. I stayed 4 days here but it was an absolutely fantastic 4 days!
I quickly learnt that unless you have a car in the USA, theres not much you can see/do. So my first day I decided to go up Pikes Peak in the cog rail train. And the views were stunning! The change in pressure made me absolutely exhausted so I went straight back to the hotel, ordered pizza and watched TV 
Second day I went on a lantern tour in the Cave of the Winds. Unfortunately I dont have photos of that one as it was simply too dark, but it was a fantastic experience, definitely worth doing if youre ever in the area! So once I finished the tour, I waited almost 1 hour for my taxi to come get me, still no sing of it. 2 lovely people on their way into the cave saw me sat on the wall, and the same people saw me again in the same spot an hour later when their tour was over. They came over and asked if I needed any help or anything at all, and yes I know you shouldnt go along with strangers but for some reason I had a good feeling about these two and in the end it turned out brilliantly.
They took me to see lovely water falls, and sculptures. Then the next day the lady took me to a museum and the Garden of the Gods. And on my final day, they both took me red rock climbing. On all 3 days they bought us lunch and dinner and after rock climbing and lunch they took me to the airport.
I will be eternally grateful for the kindness they showed me and making those 3 days in Colorado Springs absolutely unforgettable, I will never be able to repay them!
4th Place: Friday Harbor Island, WA
This was the place I was most excited to go to, it is a lovely little island where a certain lovely lady breeds Akhal-Tekes. OMG! Those horses are truly fantastic!
I got to ride them, help out with day to day chores, help with covering a mare and go to a 3 days event with the owner of the breeding farm and her fabulous gelding. We also made a brand new xc jumps which was names the black root of England for me, I also got to jump the jump which was a very satisfying feeling 
I wish I could have stayed longer as the 2 weeks that I was there went by way too fast! I will definitely be going back there to stay for longer! The horses were all so stunning, and such lovely characters. I cannot describe the experience in words to do it justice so I will just let the photos do the talking.
Overall, I had a fabulous summer that was incredibly exciting and I learnt a lot about horses, other people and most of all myself. Hope you enjoyed reading this and I apologise for the photo overload!
So as some of you may know, that's if you remember, I went to the USA this summer for 3 months, to stay in 4 different places and at 3 of them, work with horses in exchange for food and accommodation.
It was a truly fantastic experience and I have learnt so much! Admittedly, I learnt more about people than I did about horses, but it is a life lesson I will always remember and could not have learnt had I stayed home all summer.
1st Place: Otto, NY
So, my journey began at London Heathrow Airport. Everything went smoothly and I did not cry because I had to leave my dog, my ferrets, my family and friends...
Anyway, I had a 3 hour flight to Reykjavik in Iceland, where I had to wait for 3 hours to get on my 7hour flight to JFK New York, then a wait of further 5hours to get on my 1h plane to Buffalo, NY. Of course everything was going way too smoothly so the plane to Buffalo was late by 3 hours.
I got to Buffalo extremely tired, to be greeted by a lady I was to be living with for the following 3.5weeks. We finally got to the ranch at 3am and I went straight to bed after grunting hello to my 3 room mates.
Next day, I got up at 8am with everyone else to feed the horses and meet the people. At the time there was 3 girls and 1 buy from France also helping at the ranch.
The horses were all well behaved and even though I personally dont agree with some of the things they did at the ranch, all of the horses were all well looked after and happy so thats all that mattered.
As the days went by, I learnt how to ride western, and more helpers came to the ranch from all over the world. In the end we had 3 girls and 1 boy from France, 1 girl from Czech Republic, 1 girl from Switzerland and 2 boys from Spain.
The lady took us to see the Niagara Falls, she also took us to the tack shop where I bought yet another set of matchy matchy and we went to see a proper rodeo where I bought a pair of cowboy boots!
We had our ups and our down, I learnt a lot from this place and I hope to go back there again. I loved every minute of it!
It was all great fun and we became a little family over the 3 weeks that I was there. I cried my eyes out when leaving but have made friends for life and keep in touch with all of them still. I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
2nd Place: Duncan, South Carolina
Now, this was a bit of a down on my whole trip. I spent 5 weeks her. The lady who I stayed with was challenging. It was just me and 1 other girl from Italy. The most I learnt from this place is self control and I perfected my technique of smile and nod. I wont go into detail but it was definitely not the highlight of my trip. But in every negative experience there are positive things, and of course there are some in this one too. Like; I drove a golf cart for the very first time, I made 2 fantastic friends who I keep in touch with, I went to a huge theme park, I learnt how to control my temper with people and how to bite my tongue and I learnt that some people are just never pleased no matter how much you try.
Photos of the good times attached:
3rd Place: Colorado Springs, CO
This place was just purely for me to enjoy being a tourist, that is all. I stayed 4 days here but it was an absolutely fantastic 4 days!
I quickly learnt that unless you have a car in the USA, theres not much you can see/do. So my first day I decided to go up Pikes Peak in the cog rail train. And the views were stunning! The change in pressure made me absolutely exhausted so I went straight back to the hotel, ordered pizza and watched TV 
Second day I went on a lantern tour in the Cave of the Winds. Unfortunately I dont have photos of that one as it was simply too dark, but it was a fantastic experience, definitely worth doing if youre ever in the area! So once I finished the tour, I waited almost 1 hour for my taxi to come get me, still no sing of it. 2 lovely people on their way into the cave saw me sat on the wall, and the same people saw me again in the same spot an hour later when their tour was over. They came over and asked if I needed any help or anything at all, and yes I know you shouldnt go along with strangers but for some reason I had a good feeling about these two and in the end it turned out brilliantly.
They took me to see lovely water falls, and sculptures. Then the next day the lady took me to a museum and the Garden of the Gods. And on my final day, they both took me red rock climbing. On all 3 days they bought us lunch and dinner and after rock climbing and lunch they took me to the airport.
I will be eternally grateful for the kindness they showed me and making those 3 days in Colorado Springs absolutely unforgettable, I will never be able to repay them!
4th Place: Friday Harbor Island, WA
This was the place I was most excited to go to, it is a lovely little island where a certain lovely lady breeds Akhal-Tekes. OMG! Those horses are truly fantastic!
I got to ride them, help out with day to day chores, help with covering a mare and go to a 3 days event with the owner of the breeding farm and her fabulous gelding. We also made a brand new xc jumps which was names the black root of England for me, I also got to jump the jump which was a very satisfying feeling 
I wish I could have stayed longer as the 2 weeks that I was there went by way too fast! I will definitely be going back there to stay for longer! The horses were all so stunning, and such lovely characters. I cannot describe the experience in words to do it justice so I will just let the photos do the talking.
Overall, I had a fabulous summer that was incredibly exciting and I learnt a lot about horses, other people and most of all myself. Hope you enjoyed reading this and I apologise for the photo overload!
