Every year, Gene and I book the last week of September off to go riding on his old ranch up in the Cariboo. The OK Ranch, originally founded in 1859, is one of BC’s first ranches, and Gene was lucky to own it for about a decade back in the 60s and 70s. It’s a spectacularly beautiful place. We took Freckles and Traveller with us this year, both good dude horses that we thought might enjoy some open range riding.

This photo of Gene and Freckles was taken at the very end of our ride. The ranchers were doing a controlled grass burn not far from us and the smoke came up very quickly. It was safe and made for some cool photos but we were glad to have had clear skies for most of our ride.

Here’s a shot of me and my big Appaloosa, Traveller. Trav and I been together now for over 10 years. I don’t get to ride him much any more as he’s such a reliable horse for guests to go around the park on so it was great to spend a few days in his saddle again.

Here’s our dog, Pepper, trotting along beside Gene and Freckles. We don’t get to take her riding with us in Campbell Valley Park but up here in the Cariboo, she’s welcome to go where she wants.

Pepper pops up for a quick pat from Gene.

And finally, this is where we began the last day of riding. We hauled the horses in to the corrals at the OK and rode out from there. Thanks, OK Ranch. See you next year!