August 16 Blog Wrangler Paige Paige started riding 20 years ago in Ashland, OR. She mucked stalls in exchange for lessons when she was only 8 and stills scoops poop today….and loving it. She has been wrangling at Black Mountain Ranch for three seasons. Her favorite activities at Black Mountain are fly fishing in the lakes above the ranch and going on long rides requiring trailer pick up. If she was a BMR horse she’d be Sweetpea, always friendly, curious, and hungry. Paige is accompanied everywhere by her ...
August 15 Blog The Early Settlers In 1881, most of the Ute Indian land in our area was open to homesteading. Settlers discovered the area was full of natural resources; including minerals and water (a very important necessity to the settlers). The first settlers came with not only their loaded wagons but their herds of cattle as well. Many cattle ranchers would turn their herds to open range for the winter and a cabin on Rock Creek served as a resting point for the men on their journey. Once the river would freeze over, ...
August 12 Blog Bookings Filling up for the 2011 Summer Hope your summer is going well! We have been having a blast up here at Black Mountain Colorado Dude Ranch. The long Winter and Spring lead to an almost perfect summer. Our long summer days are now ideal horse riding weather. The temperature is in the mid 70's and nights cooling down to the 40's. Our guests are commenting on the refreshing and a wonderful change it is from the hot weather they are coming from. Max and Dice here are enjoying it as well. If you are itching for ...
August 10 Blog Watching the Horses Stampede By One of the most memorable things about the ranch is the horses. You are matched with a horse that meets your skill level (and adventure level) and spend the week developing the relationship. Every night we send them from the corral to the fields for dinner and room to move. You will be hard pressed to find a staff member that misses it. It is an amazingly beautiful thing seeing 70 stampeding horses run by you. Although there is plenty of food for them in the field, the group dynamics of the ...
August 8 Blog The Ute Indians of the Colorado River Valley Many BMR guests are curious about the history of the local Indians, so today's "Fun Facts & History" gives a brief look at the Ute Indians that inhabited our area. Most of this information comes from "Early McCoy" and a few other out-of-print books. The word Ute means "high land" or "land of the sun" and the Ute nation at one time encompassed around two-thirds of Colorado. In 1876, when Colorado became the 38th state, most of the Western Slope was still unexplored territory occupied ...