Day 17: Busy

Today was our busiest day yet! It got sunny and warm and we had a lot of walk-ins on top of the already busy bookings we had. We even had a group of 28!

It was pretty stressful and busy, especially because the group of 28 got lost and were late which threw off EVERYTHING ELSE. We did our best and ended up pulling in over $7000 which is definitely our record for the year so far.

Since we were so busy and aren't operating at full capacity yet (both horse and wrangler-wise), I got to go on three 1-hour rides. I rode Tux today, an awesome white draft mare. I really like her so far but I'll need to take her out on a ride with the other wranglers so I can really try her out.

My first ride was with a family who had ridden with us a couple of times before. It was a pretty normal ride. No tips.

The second ride had a little 4-year-old girl on it who totally talked my ear off the ENTIRE time. I could barely get a word in edgewise! She was also really sassy--I definitely feel bad for her parents. They felt bad (and thankful) for me since I was taking all of her abuse. They tipped well. It was a pretty long hour but talking to kids does help it go faster. This one was a bit much, though!

The third ride was toward the end of the day and was a Latino family from the area. They were really loud and talked amongst themselves mostly which I was fine with since I was tired and sort of just wanted to get the ride over with--their noise really got to me. They also didn't tip me.

The whole tipping thing is ridiculous. We have signs up that say the wranglers work for tips. And wouldn't you tip the person not only responsible for the information (both riding and local/nature facts) you're receiving on your trip but also your SAFETY and WELL-BEING on the horse? I could totally leave you out there and let you have a bad ride but it's our job to make sure you have fun and shouldn't we be tipped as thanks? People always say "tip the people who handle your food" but, in this case, we're handling your life! I'm always amazed when people don't tip at all. And we VERY RARELY ever get anything close to 20%. Usually it's 10% or less. I've gotten $3 on a $140 ride. People...

Anyway, I'm glad I got to ride so much today since it was BEAUTIFUL out and I really got to enjoy being here. I also got a taste of what is to come traffic-wise and I'm a little worried about getting stressed out but I'm hoping it works out. Once we have all our wranglers and horses, we should be able to handle all the people I can possibly check in.

Hope things are great back in Maryland (or wherever you might be tuning in from) and I'll see you before you know it!