A full service equestrian facility offering boarding, lessons, and training.
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Our last camp of the summer, Overnight Camp!
Although it was only two days, we packed them to the brim with fun! Campers set up their tents and gear for the night, played games and worked on their craft, then off to horse chores! After chores, they headed to Harmels Ranch Resort for a trail ride, then back to the ranch for dinner, s’mores, and a movie in the barn. After the camp out overnight, the campers had breakfast and got ready for another full day of camp!
We had a full camp for Trail Camp but that just means more fun! The campers worked hard on their trail riding skills during the week to be able to go out on a trail ride around the ranch and have a picnic lunch on the last day!
We tried a different style of camp this week, called Creature Camp. No horseback riding, but lots of hands-on time and education with all the creatures around here - and there’s a lot!
Results are in!!
Lost Miner had two teams in two divisions. Both were ‘scrambled’ with other Pony Clubbers from other Clubs to make teams of four. Each division had around seven teams of four kids each. They were placed as a team, and the highest individual scores were also recognized and placed.
Team 1 Results (Victoria & Lily, plus two)
- Team placed 2nd
- Lily had the 7th highest individual score of her division
- Victoria had the 1st highest individual score of her division
Team 2 Results (Jaycee, Hazel, EllahMae, plus one)
- Team placed 3rd
- Jaycee had the 6th highest individual score of her division
- EllahMae had the 1st highest individual score of her division
To say we are proud of these Pony Clubbers - and their coach - is such an understatement! They came from a small town to compete with kids all over the country in a huge venue with tons of other kids and they totally rocked it! They’ve had a long three days of competition but have kept their spirits high, shown excellent sportsmanship, met lots of new Pony Clubbers from all over, and had an absolute blast!
Also, I have to say, our group of parents is incredible - they have gotten up in the dark, bought gallons of lemonade and countless bagels, toured the trade fair 5x a day to see things they don’t even understand, and walked miles and miles - uphill both ways! - this week, without hardly knowing a thing about this crazy sport of ours. I am so thankful our kids have such awesome parents like this to support them.
We have a day off tomorrow, then back to the Horse Park for the Education part of the week on Saturday!
2024 Festival: Second day of Competition
I actually totally failed at getting pictures today even though we were there all day haha 😅
Today’s phases were Barn and Classroom. We were thankful for a cooler, rainy morning to help bring the temperatures down. Also fun to see some of the mounted competition begin!
Last picture is Wyatt doing a virtual reality horse race 🤣
2024 Festival: First day of competition 🤗
Come join us for Creature Camp - no experience required!
Visit https://lostminerridingschool.as.me/ to book online.
We are loving Kentucky so far! I also think all the kids have a much better understanding of the word ‘hot’ now 🤣
After lots of travel we are settled into our Kentucky home and had a great adventure to check out the Kentucky Horse Park today and visit Shawn’s daughter, Jesse.
Then swimming - of course - and studying together this evening. Our first day of Quiz starts tomorrow and we are all so excited!
Kentucky bound to the 2024 Pony Club Festival! Follow along with our journey here - we are so excited for this week to begin!
Things were a little western around here this week with Western Camp!
We had chicken penning, lots of Western horseback riding through obstacles, cardboard cowboy hats for their helmets, paintings by their horses, horseshoe dream catchers, and the best horse chore crew around!
The chickens were loved by campers any chance they got too!
Next camp up is Western Camp - no experience required!
Visit https://lostminerridingschool.as.me/ to book online.
Too true had to copy & paste !!
Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.
2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…
3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..
4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.
5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...
6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.
7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.
8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.
9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.
Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.
📝 Kimberley Reynolds
Rider Hannah Pattersons
They are never just RIDING SCHOOL PONIES❤️🐴
One day you may move onto bigger, fancier horses, but never forget the school horse who made you, as without them, you wouldn’t be able to ride anything at all.
The patient soul that tolerated your bouncing while you figured out how to sit the trot.
The kind mare that didn’t walk off when you stumbled up the mounting block, trying to get your foot in the stirrup.
The sweet gelding that picked up the trot even though your body was telling him to do the exact opposite.
The saintly angel that never spooked, which was a dam good thing because your balance was precarious at best.
Too often we forget where we came from. We move on to the next chapter in our lives and say, “Oh my gosh, I’m learning so much! I’m going so far! I could never do this kind of thing on that old school horse!”
But infact you could, you were just not ready to do all these things back then.
But that school horse gave you the confidence to move forward. That school horse took care of you in all respects and allowed you to take the time you needed to find your way. You couldn’t have become the rider you are today without that riding school horse, always remember to love them unconditionally for our riding school horses are what help start your dream, make dreams come true and get you ready for those bigger dreams 🐴
That’s a wrap on Vaulting Camp.
Great group of kids and a special thanks to our perfectly behaved vaulting horses, Prince and Josie (only minimal eye rolling from Josie)!
No experience is required!
Visit https://lostminerridingschool.as.me/ to book online.
First camp of the summer, English Camp, was a blast!
Be sure to follow Lost Miner Riding School to stay up to date on all things riding lessons, camps, events, Pony Club, and more!
First Camp of the Summer = English Camp!
Great fun if you're already an English rider and want to take lessons AND have all the fun of camp! Also a great way to try out English riding,
No experience is required! Campers will be grouped by skill for their lessons.
Visit https://lostminerridingschool.as.me/ to book online.
Obesity continues to increase in the horse population. About 40 percent of the horse population is considered obese with a body condition score (BSC) greater than or equal to 7. Obese and overweight horses are at risk for the following:
Book a summer trip with West Elk Wilderness Outfitters!! The most amazing, unforgettable summer experience 💕
If there is anything we constantly learn in this business is things don’t always work out like you planned.
This team planned on heading to a dressage show today. They’ve worked and planned and practiced for months to get to this weekend. The trailer was packed. The horses were ready. The riders were ready. We even had some horses and riders ready for their very first off-ranch adventures. We were excited!
Then, wham! Completely out of the blue a major bridge in and out of our town was completely shut down for an indefinite amount of time. The detour turns what should be a 2.5 hour trip into a 6 hour trip. There is no route to the west from our town.
We wait and we hoped for other options to make this trip possible, but it didn’t work out. This bridge is going to be out for a while.
We could have sat around and complained and wished for things to be what they weren’t.
Or, we could make the best of it.
We chose to make the best of it 😁
I’m so proud of these kids and their coach. They had a great day at the fairgrounds practicing with their horses anyway. They had a picnic. They braided the horses and groomed them and loved on them. And when they were finished with that group of horses they headed home and got out a second group and kept the fun going.
It might not have been the weekend we hoped and wished and planned for. But it was fun all the same. We all learned some valuable life lessons today, especially that no matter how much you plan and practice and think things are going to go one way, they can go the other. And horses help teach us that we can handle that.
Good job today girls. We are proud of you!
We are so proud of these Lost Miner Pony Club kids. We had a great weekend at our Regional Quiz, learning a lot, being together as a team, meeting new friends, and having lots of fun both in and out of the competition (also, learning how to iron our uniforms 🤣).
Novice D Division:
Lost Miner Pony Club Team: 1st place
Novice Division High Score: Victoria
Lost Miner Pony Club scramble team with Eagle River Pony Club: 2nd place
(Also, so fun to meet and compete with members from other clubs!)
Next stop, Kentucky!
Good luck to these great kids today as they compete this weekend in the Rocky Mountain Region Pony Club Quiz! 🐴
UPDATE: Honey has been found! Thank you to all who shared and called and looked for her!
Gunnison friends be on the lookout for Honey. She has an orange collar on and from far away her brindle coloring may look brown or black. She is medium sized. Her home is 5 miles east of Gunnison so she may be headed that way from where she went missing at McCabes at Hartmans on Sunday, 3/10.
Looking for a Spring Break Adventure? Consider our Spring Break Mini Camp! Three full days of riding lessons, games, crafts, outdoor adventures, horse education, and more!
45090 US Highway 50
Gunnison, CO
81230
| Monday | 7am - 8pm |
| Tuesday | 7am - 8pm |
| Wednesday | 7am - 8pm |
| Thursday | 7am - 8pm |
| Friday | 7am - 8pm |
| Saturday | 7am - 8pm |
| Sunday | 7am - 8pm |
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Wyatt showing us how to weave in and out of the cones at Ranch Camp today - in double time!
Have you met one of the three new baby goats!? 🐐🤎🖤 This is Chip! If you listen closely on the video, he’ll give you a little “Baaa”. 🥹 #LostMinerRanch #LMR #BabyGoats #GoatsOfInstagram #Tiny
We have chosen our raffle winners for the Easter at The Ranch! Be sure to check your emails to see if you were a lucky winner! Thanks to everybody who came out on Sunday to spend the day with us and the animals. We had an awesome time and couldn’t believe how many cars fit in our parking lot! Thanks to you all for making it happen. :) #LostMinerRanch #LMR #EasterAtTheRanch #EasterFun #RaffleWinners
The baby lamb is only getting bigger! His name is Cinnamon, thanks to EllahMae! 🤎#Lamb #Sheep #LostMinerRanch #LMR #RanchThings
Happy Wednesday! We hope you fly through the rest of your week. 😉 #LostMinerRanch #LMR #GoodHorses #BetterKids #FunAtTheRanch #RanchFun #Bareback
We had so much fun here at the ranch with our very first Jr. Rodeo Skills Practice!! 🐑🐐 If you missed out last Sunday, be sure to register for the next one on Saturday the 24th: https://www.lostminerranch.com/junior-rodeo-club Go check out our Instagram @lostminerranch to see some mutton bustin’ video🤣 #rodeo #cowboy #cowgirl #barrelracing #western #horse #rodeolife #horses #rodeio #quarterhorse #prca #country #horsesofinstagram #teamroping #barrelracer #rodeofashion #pbr #nfr #bullriding #westernfashion #texas #barrelhorse #cowboys #cowgirlstyle #aqha #travisscott #westernlifestyle #rodeostyle #roping #bhfyp
Little clip from a bareback lesson last week! It was so nice to be out in the sun ☀️ love these lesson horses that make our jobs so fun 🥰
Hair of the Dawg Pet Grooming and dog wash G
South 11th Street
Critter Sitters & Gunnison Vet Clinic
County Road
Gunnison Valley Veterinary Clinic
N Spruce
Mountain Legacy Veterinary Center
Highway 135
