There is something addictive about the Lazy L&B Ranch – something about the scenery, the horses, the people, or the slow pace of life – that draws you back time and time again. I spent three consecutive summers wrangling on the Lazy L&B Ranch, and during that time, I rode with returning guests summer after summer, some of whom had been visiting the ranch for over a decade. Everyone has his or her own reasons for returning year after year; it would be a real struggle for me to condense mine down to a sole reason. However, I can share one of the most incredible, memorable days of my life, which happened at the Lazy L&B Ranch:
My second summer wrangling on the Lazy L&B Ranch, a fellow former wrangler and I had heard rumors about the wild horses living on Wild Horse Mesa, but we had yet to see them on our Friday morning mesa rides throughout the summer. As the summer waned and the mornings became cooler, one especially cold morning, we saw dark spots on the mesa which look larger than the deer or elk we’d seen up there before, and wondered if they could be the elusive wild horses. We swallowed our breakfast whole, ran for the corrals, saddled quickly and in no time, we were riding towards the mesa.
We reached the top of the mesa – an expansive, flat, seemingly endless grassland, towering above the ranch valley and surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Absoroka and Wind River mountains ranges. We scanned the area, but saw no horses. We spread out a little and headed towards the backside of the mesa, where it steeply declines to the rolling bentonite hills of the Wind River Indian Reservation. I squinted in the bright morning sun, and was beginning to feel a twinge of disappointment when I heard my fellow wrangler yell, “fresh manure!” I trotted over to her and sure enough, there was a steaming pile of horse manure surrounded by unshod tracks.
We followed the tracks as they wrapped around the backside of the mesa. We found another pile of manure, then another, they were getting fresher and fresher. We then came across a mud hole, with still-wet mud splattered around the sides. With bated breath, we continued to follow the tracks and after walking over a slight rise, we rode right up on them - twenty, or so, horses of every shape, age and color, quietly grazing between the sagebrush. Catching wind of our scent, one by one, they lifted their heads and rotated their ears in our direction. A brief moment later, they collectively took off, sprinting down the mesa slope. With a quick nod from Lauren, we urged our horses to follow them. We ran after them, dodging sagebrush and jumping gullies. Before long, our horses tired and slowed, we came to a halt and watched the group of wild horses continue to run, down the mesa slope and into the mountain meadows, until they were out of
sight.
My fellow wrangler and I turned and rode back down to the ranch in silence, exhausted from the adrenaline and in awe of the incredible beauty and stamina of the wild horses and rugged Wyoming country. We returned to the ranch, unsaddled our horses and began our workday.
Visit the Lazy L&B Ranch today and with any luck, you may ride up on wild horses yourself!
Written by Anna P.
