~Letters to Dude's Ranch~

Reviews, Comments & Editorials

Here's the place where you can write about your experiences at Dude's Ranch Equine Rescue Center. We welcome your thoughts, opininons and requests. Send us an email with your letter and we'll post it here. Please continue to let us know how you feel. Thank you.

Editorial

Rebuttal to Yahoo complaints--

I think some of the posts there have been mean spirited and hurtful. There's not a thing I can do about that except to tell my side of the story.

I will say Dude's Ranch Equine Rescue Center has been around for 15 yrs and we've had hundreds of people walk through our gates. Many successful adoptions, kids coming to summer camp and lessons, natural training clinics, etc. I try to give everyone a good time but as the saying goes, "You can't please everyone all of the time"... We sure give it a good try. I can only tell you that for every nasty comment here there are 100 happy and nice guests to the ranch who don't take the time to write a nice review or even know that they can.

In 2010, Disney offered "Give a day, Get a day (at Disneyland)" The program offered a free day at Disneyland to promote volunteerism. It was a value of $100 for each person who volunteered. The program was amazing and overwhelming.

At Dude's Ranch, we had approx 600+ volunteers walk through our door. 90% of the work here is hard outdoor manual labor.  Many people don't know what it means to work that hard.  I thanked each and everyone of those folks who got their hands and clothes dirty, messed up their shoes in muck and mud, perhaps with blisters on their hands or feet.  I know 99% of you were here out of the goodness of your hearts.  I can't tell you enough how much you were appreciated.  Also, like in most stories, there was the 1%  of the self important people that just thought showing up and kicking back was worthy of a gifted day at Disneyland.

Don't get me wrong, it's true, there were some mess ups. No one expected this volume of people, not even Disney!! There were terrific admin problems. Please understand,  we here at the ranch did as much as we could here to make everyone happy and hopefully you all got to enjoy Disneyland.

Ok, who said my cloths are dirty??? Well, hell ya! Guilty as charged, this is a working horse ranch. How silly is that to say?? Like I said, the work here is hard outdoor labor. Everyday, I have horse sneeze, mud, dust, water splash marks on my jeans and long sleeved, well worn ranch cloths. It's rare to see me in clean clothes as I work 80 hrs a week. I've not taken a vacation in 4 yrs. Bitchy? Well there is no excuse for that. I do apologize if I've gotten snippy but sometimes you have to admit it's hard to be smiling 24/7 with a schedule like mine. I apologize for that.

The vet comes whenever one of my guys has as much as the sniffles.

Hording?...As far as having too many horses goes...I completely agree. There are far too many horses who are in jeopardy and in need of help.... My help and yours. "If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem". It's usually best not to critisize but it is better to lend a helping hand if you think there is a problem. Why not offer to foster a horse, make a donation or volunteer your time if you think we are not doing enough? This economy has effected us tremendously. Charities are the first to go. We have struggled hard and we are still here working to make a difference.

A few facts. Did you know...

*80% of first time buyers "get rid" of their horses within 5 yrs.
*The horse population in the USA has expanded from 6.9 million to 9.2 million, an increase of 33%
*Every 5 minutes, an American horse is slaughter for export and human consumption.
*92% of horses headed for slaughter are in good condition.
*Horsemeat is not eaten by humans or used as "dog food" here in the USA.

*Our government spends billions to support wild horses after they've been roundup? Do you know that it would cost close to nothing if they were left wild?
*Did you know that once a wild horse is rounded up they are considered wards of the state and are no longer considered wild. Therefore, if there was even a possiblity of returning them back to the wild, they then will fall out of the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act.

*There are currently 40,000 or so wild horses in the USA. Approximately 15,000 are actually roaming free.

*By 2013, the BLM had plans to zero out the wild horse population. Unless you help to do something about it.

Bitchy?? When I hear these numbers it makes me crazy.

As far as having too many horses goes...I completely agree. There are far too many horses who are in jeopardy and in need of help.... Mine and yours. Last year, Dude's Ranch alone turned away 1500 horses.

I keep the number of my herd at a level I can support. I have to turn people away every day. Usually, there are tears involved...on both sides of the conversation. Oh! Did I tell you I had 1500 conversations like that?

My goal is to place each and every one of these majestic animals in good homes. Many times, I don't know the history of the horses. When I succeed in placement of one horse, I can then take another horse that needs help...what can I say, I'm a softy.

I shouldn't have to endure mean people anonymously slamming me here when I think that it's they who don't understand... I run a horse rescue, I rescue horses. I've see the worst that can and does happen to some of these animals. Currently, all of our horses are healthy with the exeption of a few of the horses who have various illnesses. However, we take care of all of them. We have several vets that work with us often. Dude's Ranch does everything physically and financially possible to keep them healthy.

This is a teaching horse rescue where people have the opportunity to learn what a horse is all about. Every dime, nickle, penny and dollar that comes to this ranch via our lessons, trails, foster care, adoptions, clinics and the like is 100% to help these horses in need. The staff are all volunteers.

You can read about what happens to these poor guys if you go to thru the website;
http://dudesranchequinerescue.org/wildhorseact.html
http://dudesranchequinerescue.org/adopt.html

I don't have any horses that have run in the Kentucky Derby or who can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

I have happy, friendly horses who love a little extra company from some good hearted visitors and are in desperate need of a home.

I'm not going to get rich doing this. In fact, I do this at great personal expense most of the time. I have a BS in business and I could have and have had a cushy life in a cubicle at some large corporation... I'd rather help these animals.

I do this because it makes me feel good to provide love, warmth, nurturing, and a home and food for some big and often goofy, needy orphans.

All of our time is dedicated to each and every client that comes here. For every reservation made, someone gets turned away for that time period. While I do ask that people make reservations, that's only so that I can give my time to the folks who do come by. All of our lesson and tours are private to you and yours. You can come early or hang out afterwards, as long as you scratch a few ears and give some hugs to these guys as while you're here.

Refunds are not offered because by the time you've come to the ranch your donation ride fee has most likely been used to pay one of our horses for the work they've done. Yes, our horses get paid for the work they do. (not the staff , they're 100 % volunteers.) Our teaching horses also support some of the horses who do instruct people how to love and care for them. Our time is dedicated to you and you alone while you are spending time with us. If it rains we offer a raincheck. If something happens during your ride we usually invite you back on another day. We usually spend twice as much time with you than what was arranged so if you decide to come back again, please make sure you give yourself more time than what you reserve.

Most folks come here and love that the horses interact together and have been allowed to mingle and form a herd...their little community. You don't find that at most other ranches. This is a natural horse habitat where the horses live as close to their natural lifestyle as we can possibly do here in suburbia.

Letting the horses run free in large groups is the main reason they're in good health, with good dispositions and a good quality of life. A horse is meant to graze, roam 20 miles a day and be in a herd. That is the structure to living a good horse life. Did you know that the wild horse's life expectancy is approximately 10 yrs longer than a domestic horse?

One person's "bad horse" could be lack of experience on the part of the rider but blamed on the horse. Take someone 5 ft off the ground and they forget how to speak, think or know the difference from left to right.
"Use your hand not leg. Squeeze your leg not your whole body! Look up not down. " Riding is an extreme sport that needs coordination and physical strength. You don't need riding experience to know to do these simple common sense things.

One of the complaints here was that I ask my guests to spend some time grooming, walking around and with these guys before we train or ride....Guilty as charged.

Yep, I request this for the benefit of the horse and the rider. The horse gets even more human contact and love while the human gets to know the horse.

How crazy is it to say, "Why do I have to touch the horse?" "Why do I have to walk him? " How are you going to get on it's back? How are you going to communicate if you don't know how?

When the horse is comfortable with the rider and the rider is more comfortable with a horse that's been scratched, talked to and maybe groomed a bit by the rider, both animals have a far better experience :)

I can pretty much guarantee that I'll have an old pair of jeans on, maybe with a hole in the knee. Funky work boots are a given here and you can definitely expect me to have some muddy horse snot on my sleeve as well.

Crazy? Odd?? .... That's just hurtful and terribly cruel for someone to say.

Just because I walk around the ranch talking to all the horses and feeling a connection to them all and often understanding what's going on with them without the benefit of the spoken word doesn't make me nuts. If that makes me odd I'll take those comments all day long.

I think that makes me pretty darned normal. Most of my very normal visitors do it too in short order. You can't help but love and connect with these magestic beauties and big pals.

Anyway, I know my horses would miss it if I stopped acting a little “nuts”.

I'm a good person, this is a good ranch. My orphaned horses are all good horses. I'd love it if you came and saw for yourself.

There's always an opening for one more good hearted, loving, ear scratcher around...

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HelpingHorsesInActon2@yahoo.com

chellie

2011