Vanderburgh Ranch LLC

05/25/2023

Eddie the barn cat is the king of our Barn 😂

05/12/2023

Last Saturday we had the best time with 8 little Girl Scouts! We taught them about goat/mini pig/horse care and finished with some pony rides! 🤠🐴💕 Thank you to their troop leaders for organizing and reaching out, your girls were awesome!
I personally want to thank Caitlin Cochrane & Sammy Norsworthy for helping out you girls are the BEST!!

05/02/2023

🥰

04/27/2023

Indy just wants to say Hi and wish Everyone a Good Day!! ☀️

04/07/2023

This 💛
I’ve come across this a few times over the years and it’s always so awesome to see a horse that’s never been in a herd setting finally settle in and become more quiet and relaxed just being outside with its herd. Let horses be horses!!

What about the horse who doesn’t know how to “horse?”

A horse who doesn’t know how to integrate into a herd, deal with the outdoors and terrain, a horse who is afraid of life in general outside of a padded stall and groomed arena - is a horse who is not thriving in life. This is a considerable problem, but sadly, a common one.

I’ve had many a horse come through my barn experience a herd for the first time in their life at ages of 12 and above- horses who were scared of grass, trembled at sounds, afraid of their own shadow.

I am unable to say it any other way, this is a TRAVESTY. To have a horse at any age who is this unprepared for life requires strong language- someone, or many someone’s, failed this horse miserably. This is an issue that needs to be driven home strongly. This should not happen.

But it does- so what now?

Consideration needs to come into play when socializing at an older age. Injuries and illnesses are now a risk- so integration should be done with consideration. Maybe a paddock nearby other horses with a stall at night, and wean it off. Quiet friends next, this is a highly individual decision depending on how the horse is coping. Supportive measures like body work, ulcer treatment and good nutrition, making sure the horse is drinking water -

Take it slow, keep expectations low. It may be a bumpy transition, but don’t panic-
And don’t quit. It’s in the best interest of the horse in the long run- they are herd animals by nature and cannot thrive alone and out of touch with their nature.

I can say with confidence that I’ve never had a horse not integrate, but I will say that I’ve had to be highly flexible, take it backward, make it slower than molasses, and wake up a bunch at night to check on horses. It’s always worth it, it’s not always easy.

Do the hard thing for the horse.

04/03/2023

We want to Welcome Etta and her awesome humans to the Vanderburgh Ranch LLC 💛

The whole herd already adores her!

03/14/2023

Welcome Home Jaime & Kenji ❤️🐴 you’re now part of this Ranch Family!!!
We are so excited to get to know you both!!

Big Thank You to Horses Haven for all you do for these rescue horses!!

Happy Adoption Day Kenji 💕

03/05/2023

Watch out, as soon as you say my Horse would never, there she goes , nevering like she’s never nevered before. 😂🐴

02/21/2023

Our horses are obsessed with these mineral Tubs!
Even the small kitty that thinks he’s a horse 😂

02/14/2023

💔

01/23/2023

😂 We do love our mares though! Some might even say they’re my favorite!!

straight up.
www.thecinchycowgirl.com

01/13/2023

We are pretty proud of ourselves but if we did buy a new horse this year it would be from Mangold Ranch Versatility!!

Check out all their amazing sale horses on their page!!

Facts!! 🤪🤪🤪

01/13/2023

We show you all the nitty-gritty sides of us just so we can w**d out the powder puffs 😂 🎀💪
we are sweet and sassy all in one!🇨🇦🇺🇸

01/07/2023

I would like to introduce myself and how I started,

My names Rikki-Marie Vanderburgh and I’m the owner and operator of Vanderburgh Ranch LLC.

I’ve been in the horse world for several years now and had the pleasure of Managing Mangold Ranch Versatility located in Lockport NY with Owner & Trainer Megan Mangold. Check her out on the Ranch’s Facebook or on their website www.MangoldRanchVersatility.com

My family and I moved from Western New York to Metamora Michigan in 2019, 3 months before the “lockdown”. Since then we’ve enjoyed our small quiet ranch with our personal horses and close friends. Our friend and amazing horsewoman, Debbi Skinner asked if we could provide a soft landing for her friends horse that had been through a tough ordeal. So through friendship and luck, we gained our first boarder and her sweet mare Bailey. A year later I realized how much I missed being at a barn full of horses and their ppl, so I officially and excitedly accepted the fact we are running a business again so we formed our LLC in July 2022 ❤️we’ve add a few new faces since then through friends.

We want to keep it smaller but would like to grow our little ranch family by adding 2 more horses and their humans.

People will tell you we’re far from fancy and we don’t sweat the small stuff because we like it that way, we keep it simple and down to earth. This in turn, keeps our horses happy and content❤️ We have a knack for rehabbing and getting skinny horses chunky. We apply a natural horsemanship approach to everything we do and we always work our horses from the ground up.

Myself and the ranch crew near & far all love what we do and what we stand for. We look forward to the adventures ahead and the horses and people we will meet along the way❤️

01/06/2023

Flirt is available for an on site lease

Beginner and kid safe
11 year old quarter horse cross
Palomino Mare
15.1 hands
Ride ba****ck or western saddle
Rides with a bit or in a rope halter
Bomb proof trail horse
will include one 45min lesson a week

$350 a month (Venmo/PayPal/cash or check)
Metamora MI

Bonus to leasing
⭐️no vet bills
⭐️no farrier bills
⭐️no up front purchase price which saves you 1000s of dollars!!
⭐️no long term commitment, great to test out owning a horse
⭐️$200 worth of lessons included(ground work and beginner lesson package)

01/05/2023

We have 2 stalls available this spring 2023 but are flexible to the right person/horse

⭐️full day turn out with endless round bale
⭐️full service care
⭐️hay nets & hay bags used
⭐️outdoor arena
⭐️owner lives on the property

Small LAID back ranch located in Metamora, MI specializing in groundwork and natural horsemanship.

We don’t care what saddle, bit or breed horse you have as long as you’re kind, easy going and realize life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

We love free lunging, trail riding and relaxing at the end of the day with a beer in hand 🍺🌱 if that’s you too you’ll fit right in! 😁

$400 a month Venmo/cash/check/PayPal

12/05/2022

Mangold Ranch is where it all started for us, it’s home away from home!

If you’re looking for a really nice horse or your horse needs training next spring reach out to them!!

Mangold Ranch Versatility

11/05/2022

10/31/2022

🤣 it’s not wrong

Good one 😂

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween Everyone!!🎃 👻🤠

That year I dressed poor Nugget up as a my little pony unicorn 🦄 at Mangold Ranch Versatility 🖤 🧡🖤🧡🖤

10/24/2022

Great read for anyone struggling with their horse displaying “bad behaviors”.

REFRAMING 'BAD' BEHAVIORS

Mangold Ranch is a training facility, and as such we often get horses in who are displaying bad behaviors. This can include things like being pushy on the ground, crowding, biting, bucking under saddle, or a whole host of other behaviors horses engage in that owners don't like.

There are two reasons a horse might engage in naughty behavior:

1. They don't know any better. They haven't been taught boundaries, haven't had expectations set, and don't know what to expect from humans either under saddle or on the ground.

2. They've learned that the behavior works. They tried it a few times, the person handling them took pressure off, and they were able to go back to whatever they'd been doing before.

This can potentially be really frustrating for the horse and for the human. And sometimes, reframing 'bad' behavior can really help cut down on this frustration and help you to connect with your equine partner. And it starts with a simple step where we break down behaviors into two categories:

-Behaviors we like and want to see more of

-Behaviors we don't like and don't want to see anymore

That's not to say that there AREN'T bad behaviors. Obviously trying to run the handler over, pushing into your space, being disrespectful, biting, and kicking are bad behaviors. They are unacceptable. But when we have a new horse that is pushing buttons, it can be easy to see those behaviors and get frustrated. It can be easy to take the bad behaviors and start thinking 'bad horse'. And once you start thinking 'bad horse', it can be really easy to get stuck.

Now you might ask after you're done reframing, how do we get this accomplished? How do we make the wanted behaviors occur more, and the unwanted behaviors occur less?

Pressure and release is the answer. We put pressure on to move our horse's feet, and then take it off again once the horse has complied with what was asked. Controlling the horse's feet controls their brain. Once we've gotten through to the feet, we can help the horse to understand what behaviors we like and what behaviors we don't like. To illustrate this a little better, let's go over a couple examples.

Imagine we're free lunging a horse and would like them to go left. We need to help the horse to understand the wanted behavior: going left.

To do this, we put pressure on the horse from the right side of their body to drive them left, and then continue that pressure until they take a step in that direction. As soon as they start to go left, we reward them by softening our bodies, opening our hand in the direction we'd like them to go, and easing up on the pressure from behind. If it's done correctly, the next time we ask the horse to go left, they will comply more quickly, because the last time they got rewarded with a release of pressure. We've made the behavior we'd like to see occur more often.

Now let's imagine we have a horse that is exhibiting a behavior we do not like: crowding. We don't like crowding, and need to help the horse to understand that this behavior is unwanted so it occurs less frequently (or ideally, not at all).

To correct this behavior, we might put pressure on the horse and ask them to go backward, away from the handler. When they back up, we release the pressure. If they start to crowd again, we put the pressure back on. Ideally, after a few times of this the horse won't crowd the handler anymore because they know if they do, the handler will make them uncomfortable by putting pressure on them to make them back up. We've made the behavior we do not like and don't want to see anymore happen less often.

Notice in both examples, no harm came to the horse. We're not looking to hurt the horse, we're just looking to help them understand what we want. And that should be the goal in all training! Clear communication between horse and rider.

Of course, training is much more complicated than this. There are hundreds of examples of wanted and unwanted behaviors, and the subtleties of helping horses to understand the difference are far more than we can put in a simple blog post for Facebook. But by reframing your thinking from 'bad' and 'good' into 'wanted' and 'unwanted', you can simplify the puzzle a little bit. You can look at the training steps you're taking from a more clarified angle. And sometimes, you can cut down on frustration for you and your horse.

At Mangold Ranch, we specialize in teaching horsepeople to use language that makes sense to them AND the horse. If you'd like to learn more, or would like to learn about how to become a ranch member, feel free to reach out to us either by phone or via the page. We love helping people and horses!

10/24/2022

This Gorgeous old lady is one of everyone’s favorite horses, Bailey we all love yah so much!!

Can you believe she’s in her 20s?!?

10/20/2022

😂

😂🤣😂 Sounds about right!

10/09/2022

Words to ride by!!!

10/04/2022

Okay we have to brag…we have some of the nicest ppl at our barn!

Without even being asked they took it upon themselves to pick our stalls 💙

It takes a TEAM to keep a barn running smoothly!🥰

Thank you Mo & Joe!!!

10/02/2022

🥰

If you work with animals, don’t take it for granted.

While they can be the biggest pains in our butts, at least they are the furthest thing from humans 😂

They won’t complain to you about the price of something or ask for the manager.

They won’t write you a bad review on Google.

They will love you unconditionally and put a smile on your face everyday.

If you’ve ever worked a day in customer service, you’ll know how lucky you are to work with animals!