WINTER GATHERING SPECIAL - January 7-12, 2024.
You’ll hit the range to gather our herd of Criollo cattle and drive them to the ranch, then back out to pasture. You’ll ride through dry riverbeds, rocky desert hills, slot canyons and mesquite groves to find and gather our Criollo cattle herd across our 15-square-mile ranch —just like the cowboys of years past.
This experience includes:
- Gathering cattle
- Driving cattle
- Cattle work instruction
- Trail riding if there is spare time
Sample itinerary:
Sunday: Arrival
Monday: Arena/Scouting/ Gathering
Tuesday: Gather
Wednesday: Gather
Thursday: Drive Out
Friday: Departure
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE JOINING US:
- You will be riding independently. Wranglers will be out with the group, but there will be times you are on your own, out of sight of the wranglers. Therefore, the minimum age to participate is 12 years old.
- This experience does not include seasonal cattle work activities like branding and tagging, instead the focus is on gathering and driving cattle to and from the ranch.
- We like to think we are the cattle’s boss, but they do set the schedule. How quickly we gather the herd will depend on kind of country they are in, how widely they are dispersed, how far from headquarters they are, and how many renegades escape have to be brought back to the herd.
- The ranch country is diverse with wide, dry riverbeds, boulder strewn valleys, slot canyons, steep rock covered hills, dense thickets of thorn covered trees and brush, sudden drop-offs and open flats toward the San Pedro River.
- You should be comfortably able to mount and dismount without assistance, as you likely will have to along the way.
- You should be comfortable riding independently in a diverse riding country and make forward thinking plans when choosing routes through the rough countryside.
- This is not a “fast ride”. Moving and working cattle is always done as slowly as possible. Speed will only be employed when necessary and hopefully not at all.
SPRING ROUND-UP - May 7-14, 2024.
Experience a working cattle ranch firsthand during our seasonal seven-night Cattle Round-Ups, which include gathering and driving cattle, branding, tagging and more!
This experience includes:
- Gathering cattle
- Driving cattle
- Branding, Ear Tagging, and Banding calves
- Cattle work instruction
- Trail riding if there is spare time
Sample itinerary:
Tuesday: Arrival
Wednesday: Arena/scouting/ gathering
Thursday: Gather
Friday: Gather
Saturday: Gather
Sunday: Brand/ tag
Monday: Drive out
Tuesday: Departure
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE JOINING US:
- You will be riding independently on this approximately 9-mile cattle drive. Wranglers will be out with the group, but there will be times you are on your own, out of sight of the wranglers. Therefore, the minimum age to participate is 12 years old.
- We like to think we are the cattle’s boss, but they do set the schedule. How quickly we gather the herd will depend on kind of country they are in, how widely they are dispersed, how far from headquarters they are, and how many renegades escape have to be brought back to the herd.
- The ranch country is diverse with wide, dry riverbeds, boulder strewn valleys, slot canyons, steep rock covered hills, dense thickets of thorn-covered trees and brush, sudden drop-offs and open flats toward the San Pedro River.
- You should be comfortable mounting and dismounting without assistance, as you likely will have to along the way.
- You should be comfortable riding independently in diverse riding country and make forward thinking plans when choosing routes through rough country.
- This is not a “fast ride.” Moving and working cattle is always done as slowly as possible. Speed will only be employed when necessary and hopefully not at all.
- Once the cattle are gathered and at working corrals, you won’t be asked to do anything you aren’t comfortable doing (branding etc.). If you want to try something, please ask. We won’t let you do anything we don’t think you are prepared for yet.
- The seven nights of your stay include a cushion of 1-2 days, as there is no way to predict exactly how quickly all the aspects of the roundup will be completed. If there is extra day or two of free time, you will have the regular dude ranch schedule to enjoy.