Colorado
Ron-D-View Ranch & Outfitting, Ron Pfeffer,
1151 Anna Rd, Ignacio, CO 81137, 970-563-9270,
, www.rondviewoutfitting.com.
We do wagon trips into Canyon de Chelly out of Chinle, Arizona, and Monument
Valley, Utah; we do horse and mule pack trips into the wilderness of Colorado;
in the fall we run elk hunts into the San Juan National Forest for archery,
black powder, and the rifle seasons. When not on trips we try to raise
enough feed to feed our 65 head of horses and mules. We do as much ranch
work as we can with our horse and mule teams.
We are always training a few of the horse and mule colts we raise for
the pack or riding string, to use in teams to pull wagons and do the field
work, and to skid logs and rails for our next building project. Every
year in April we host a mule training clinic. I have a Masters in education
and have coached and taught for 15 years before buying this outfitting
business in 1985. I was raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota, where my
father farmed with horses and always used a team to do the daily chores
around the dairy farm. I have been president of the Four Corners Draft
Horse, Mule and Carriage Association since 1998. We are located in southwest
Colorado near Durango, 30 miles north of the New Mexico border.
- Source of power: 32 horses, 23 mules, tractor.
- Horses & mules are used for: harrowing pastures, discing,
seeding and harrowing, plowing, pulling wagons and buggies on wagon
trips and in parades.
- Acreage: 220; 1 in garden, remainder in western-style pasture
and grazing, irrigated with gated pipe and gas powered sprinkler pumps.
- Other livestock: saddle and pack stock used in our outfitting
business.
- Skills offered in: driving teams doing fieldwork, logging,
and pulling the chuck wagon on trips; training horses and mules to
drive, pack, and ride; horse and mule packing skills and repair of
related items of harness, pack saddles, and riding saddles; working
in our breeding program with our chunk stallion and breeding jack;
imprinting new foals.
- Work hours: we get up when it gets light and go to bed when
it gets dark; 12-14 hrs/day, 6 days/wk.
- Terms: room, board & learning in exchange for work; 2
to 3 apprentices at a time, March 1st to November 15—one full
season, to see what a season is like in an outfitting business.
- Stipend: no.
- Accommodations: 12'x14' bunkhouse with heating stove; farm-style
meat-and-potatoes meals provided.
- Apprentice must: be honest, dependable, and gentle with the
stock; be reliable; mix in and help with whatever we are doing at
the time; an apprentice who wants to learn what we do must do what
we do; by the end of the first week an apprentice should be able to
see what needs to be done and work without constant supervision.
- Visit first: if apprentice desires.
-
Trial period: one week.
29 April 2013 Renewed
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