An hour later, a short note pinged in from Kitty.
Dear Molly,
Thank you for your thoughtful note.
Ginger is a beautiful horse, and I know you’ll have many good years together. It makes me happy having played a small part in getting the two of you together.
And yes, there is more to the story, but that will have to wait for Summer’s End.
When you get a chance, shoot me a note about how you see the Stampede Weekend playing out.
Give my regards to Ginger.
Kitty
Molly’s thoughts were now exclusively on Stampede weekend. There was so much to plan for that she needed to get started.
She firmed up leaving Shadow and the pups with the professional trainer for the entire week, and made arrangements to bring the pups to the Saturday night barbeque at the cabin. Getting the pups out of her hair for that week was critical. She was going to be slammed every day.
She told her managers that she’d be around but that she was going to be distracted that week with Bart’s family. Sheasked them to take full control of their businesses and manage whatever problems arose without a need to consult her. She had strong managers who considered that good news. She checked with Silas to see when Bart had reserved time at the stables for Beryl. She was pleased to learn he’d booked a stall from Wednesday to Monday. Perfect. She was going to need all the help she could get with his family there.
She was nervous about horses. The good news was that Silas would have most of the resort horses and mules out on backcountry excursions. That meant there’d be plenty of empty stalls. But with horse people coming to the stampede, the resort would get booking requests. She told Silas to reserve eight stalls. The McKinnons were bringing four horses, possibly six if Brett brought two for himself and Darcy. If Brett and Darcy came but didn’t bring horses, she needed to line up four horses. If Brett and Darcy brought horses, she’d only need two, plus a horse for Bart. Figuring out the logistics had her head spinning.
All resort horses were booked that week for outback excursions or the trail ride business. The resort made serious money Stampede week off trail rides. At $75 an hour or $150 for a two hour ride, ten horses for a two hour ride generated a quick $1500. The resort could clear $25,000 that week alone from trail rides. So Silas reserved every available horse for that and assigned Becky to oversee those operations.
She asked Mack if he could find five good horses for the week. He reported back that it wasn’t easy, but he had five horses firm. With stalls and horses reserved, Molly ticked that off her punch list and moved to the next item.
She studied the Stampede calendar and stressed for a week over what the agenda for the McKinnon visit might look like. She tinkered with draft calendars for two days before finally firming one up and writing Kitty.
Dear Kitty,
Here’s a draft agenda for Stampede weekend. Let me know your thoughts.
Wednesday: Bart arrives.
Thursday: McKinnons arrive, check in, board horses at stables, dinner at the cabin (BBQ ribs).
Friday:Team Mack practice in the morning; relay race in afternoon; dinner at cabin (Rib-eyes).
Saturday: Morning Parade; afternoon rodeo and barrel race; evening BBQ at cabin (roasted whole pig).
Sunday: Breakfast at the cabin; trail ride; afternoon departures.
Let me know if that works. I have more detail, but those are the main events.
I’m thinking a short trail ride Sunday morning so you’ll have time to get away early afternoon.
I have horses for those not bringing their own and stalls reserved in the stables for everyone. The stables are a short walk from my place and the lakefront cabins. My cabin is on Summer Lake with a large yard suitable for the evening gatherings. We’ll have all evening meals there and Sunday breakfast.
The meals are heavy to meat. If we have vegetarians, better to speak up now. We can work with that.
Please let me know about Cheyenne’s kids. Are they riders? How old are they? Should I be getting ponies or horses for them for the trail ride?
We’re set for Brett and Darcy either way. We have a cabin reserved, horses, and stalls. If they don’t come, no worries. If they do, all the better.
For drinks, we’ll have plenty of Jack Daniels, Glenfiddich, beer, wine, and soft drinks. If people have special requests, let me know.
I know I’m missing something. Please give me your thoughts.
