This young lady was not wasting a beautiful sunny Cariboo Sunday watching television or sitting with her eyes glued to some electronic device (texting, tweeting or face-booking); instead, she was outdoors, having some good old-fashioned fun (with her older brother, Clayton) by making use of the bucking barrel that Willee and Jesse Twan erected in their yard at Alkali Lake Ranch at least 20 years ago. Emily Mervyn (from Whitehorse, Yukon) was at Alkali Lake this past weekend visiting her grandparents (former ranch-owners, Doug and Marie Mervyn) and after spotting the bucking barrel was eager to try it out. The barrel, attached by three long ropes to a trio of telephone poles is made to buck by people-power.
Quite simply, once the rider is seated on the barrel, the ropes are jerked and pulled by one, two or three other people in an effort to unseat (buck off) the rider. Emily's dad, Tim Mervyn (who grew up on the ranch), and her brother Clayton gave her a challenging ride and as a bonus, they get a bit of a workout pulling on the ropes.