Introduction to Ranch Sorting Lesson

Popular with tourists from over 15 countries, even if you’ve never been on a horse before, riders will learn basic maneuvers on their horse, ride in the pasture and bring in the herd of cattle, pet our Longhorn Shrek, and then learn how to work cattle, just like the cowboys do. This is not your typical trail ride on a broken-down, stubborn horse that follows a trail.

One of our real cowboys will get riders started with one of our horses. You’ll learn how to control your horse and a lot of great information about horseback riding. Next, we mount up and head out into the pasture around the pond to collect the cows and herd them into the arena.

We’ll have some fun in the pasture working on some natural obstacles so riders can put their newly acquired skills to the test as we head towards the cattle. Lastly, we will spend time in the ranch sorting pen learning the basics of how to control cattle on your horse. You’ll learn how to sort cattle just like the cowboys do. And finally, our riders will learn how to ranch sort in a real sorting pen.

Every Thursday night, friends and strangers alike come together and practice their ranch sorting skills in our ranch sorting pen. Our practices are really laid back and a lot of fun.

Don’t know anyone? No problem, we love helping new riders

Has your horse ever seen cattle? Let our Horse Trainer Joe Sansone get your horse started correctly. It is vitally important that your horse gets introduced to cattle in the correct manner.

If your horse has never experienced cattle, then we can help introduce your horse to cattle in the correct manner. Some horses are a little hesitant to approach a herd of cattle, while some horses are so “cowy” that they act as if they are afraid of approaching the herd or an individual cow. This is where things can go dramatically wrong. If a rider spurs aggressively and makes this first experience one that is borne out of fear and aggressiveness, the horse is likely to view sorting cattle as an aggressive, unpleasant chore.

If however, the horse is led into the herd gently with subtle horsemanship cues, the horse learns that cattle are nothing to fear. It’s typically easy to teach a horse how to push cattle, and they soon learn to enjoy the process.

Our trainer ‘Joe Sansone’ is available for private lessons and on hand at our Thursday practices to ensure your horse learns how to work cattle the correct way, greatly increasing your horse’s chances for success in the cow horse world.

Our horse trainer ‘Joe Sansone’ has developed a truly unique equine coaching and training style that is like no other. Here’s how Joe explains it: Any yahoo can hop on a horse and spur it aggressively and yank on the reins in the horse’s mouth and have the horse do what you are forcing it to do.

That’s not how we do things here. Our goal is to create a bond with our horse and create a partnership and work WITH out horse to get the most out of our horse. Only with this two-way partnership can a rider get the most out of his horse. We are constantly striving to soften our cues and have our horses respond to the most subtle of cues.

What’s the result of this method of horsemanship?

A horse that

1. Out-performs horses that are beat into submission
2. “Reads the mind” of the rider,
3. Respects his rider and gives his all to his rider – because they are partners