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Try to book 10 youth so you qualify for the group youth discount,
one adult may come free and a second and third adult may come at the
discounted rate.
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Begin promoting your trip at least a year in advance
so riders have a chance to raise money and improved their horsemanship
skills.
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Make a deposit with HorseWorks when you start your promotion so that we may hold places for your group.
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Since you generally drive, speak with us when you make your trip deposit about staying an extra night to get an early start on the road back home at the end of your trip. If you need transportation
from Cody, we will arrange transportation for you (Phidipides Shuttle
Service).
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Plan to stay in teepees. This keeps trips
affordable for the youth and youth trips are all
about camping, aren't they? We will be in the vicinity of the ranch headquarters all
week,
accessible to showers and other amenities.
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Hold tryouts at
your Scout, YMWCA or 4-H horse camp to screen your
participants. Confirm that each member is
be able to control his/her horse at a walk, trot and canter outside an
enclosure as we start out in an enclosure early in the week and progress
to riding in larger areas. Timid riders or less experienced riders often improve greatly in the
ranch context. More important than experience are expectation,
intentions and attitude. Your group benefits most from
what the ranch has to offer if all Youth members
have
similar expectations, abilities and willingness to ride. Please see the
Ranch Wrangler Newsletter, Fall 2004
Issue, for quotes from previous leaders.
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Keep the trip fun for all the riders in your
group by
assessing rider ability and willingness in advance. It is hard to take advantage of the ranch
if you can only ride for an hour. All riders should expect to
be in the saddle at least four hours at a stretch.
No experience is required to ride at HorseWorks as we
emphasize proper horsemanship techniques in our
orientation and throughout the week and take great pains to match riders with appropriate horses for their experience level. Having said
this, beginners
can do this, whether they have done it before coming to the ranch or
not, if they need to realize what will be expected.
Of course,
we stop for rest breaks, photo ops, and lunch breaks during rides.
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Talk about your goals among yourselves and with us –
trip objectives
vary for every individual. Riding here
is about getting more time in the saddle, gaining confidence, fulfilling a lifelong dream, looking for a long-term horse
companion to take home, learning how horses think, participating in
selected ranch chores. Let us know your goals.
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After you arrive, we orient everyone to ranch life,
safety and horsemanship. As soon as you arrive, we review the basics of saddling, bridling, mounting,
dismounting, direct and neck reining. We start our rides in the corrals, have a trail
class and ride in the arena before heading out on a short trail ride. As the
week progresses, the length of rides increases as appropriate for your group.
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We have found that
groups
of Youth, unlike family groups, come to HorseWorks with their own sets of rules based
on the prior experience of their organization with horsemanship and long-distance trips. Groups horseback together, have two adult members of the group along on all the rides, wear
helmets and so on. The rules vary with
each group. Let us know your
rules. PLEASE BE SURE that you have enough adults along with your group to implement your rules. Wear helmets -- we recommend bringing your own for safety and sanitary reasons,
but we can also make them available.
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Communication is the key. Keep in touch with us and with
each other in planning your trip.
We are looking
forward to riding with you soon!
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