Nestled in the scenic Pine Ridge of Northwestern Nebraska, our 3600 acre working cattle ranch & guest ranch offers the ultimate working ranch vacation ,& horseback riding vacation, and railroad photography. We offer guests of various experience levels the opportunity to ride and experience ranch life, for a day or a week, on a beautiful, timbered high-country Nebraska working cattle ranch. We are a family of 6 operating this business, my parents, my husband and myself, and our 2 children.
Area
Crawford, NE
Type of help.
Helping with Tourists,
Animal care,
Help in the house,
Cooking / shopping,
Gardening
Help
APPROX. MAY 16TH 2014, 2 month minimum commitment, for a single female, we offer you:
• Lodging in our home, private bedroom with shared bathroom.
• 3 meals with our family per day. See Lodging/Meals page of our website for more detailed description of our typical menus. If you have special dietary needs, for example, diabetic or vegetarian, please let us know immediately ~ before making any travel arrangements.
• Wifi and cell phone service. You will need to bring your own computer/phone/tablet for personal use.
• The opportunity for additional horseback riding in your free time.
• Access to our horsemanship library (DVD’s, magazines, etc) We use primarily Pat Parelli’s methods, and the library consists of mainly his materials. These are self-study materials which will require an individual who is competent in independent study, a self-motivated, self-starter. .
• Access to our local public libraries through our accounts.
• Transportation to Crawford or Chadron when we are there for our shopping, errands, etc.
• Opportunity to meet and get to know folks from all over the world, our guests range in age from preschoolers to senior citizens from a wide variety of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds.
You will need to:
• Be able to stay at least 2 months, preference will be given to those who can stay longer and can demonstrate experience and/or enthusiasm for the type of help we need.
• Be an experienced rider, western or English is fine.
• Be a non-smoker.
• Provide 25 hours of work on our working guest ranch over a 6 day work week. This work will involve cooking, gardening, & cleaning for our guests/family, helping us taking care of our horses, chickens, and cattle. When you have demonstrated your ability, then some of your work time will also include saddling and grooming horses, and moving cattle on horseback (mid-May thru mid-Sept)
• Watch the beginning/Level 1 Natural Horsemanship DVD Series in your free time – approximately 1 hour per day for the first 2 weeks if you are a beginning rider. It is still strongly encouraged even if you are more experienced. The Parelli program is a hands-on program, that alternates between watching short video segments and then applying that information to (at first) working with the horses online on the ground to develop a language to communicate with the horse. This language allows you to become their leader. It teaches the difference between aggressive and assertive behavior with horses, different horsenalities and how to alter your behavior to meet your horse’s needs. It creates a 51%/49% partnership between you and your horse, and teaching you to be the 51% that your horse needs every day. Eventually you learn how to incorporate your ground work into your riding skills, and then finally working with your horse at liberty (no halter or lead rope).
• Pay for your own transportation to the ranch and provide your flight information to guarantee your spot. Preference for those you can fly to Chadron, NE and we provide transportation from the Chadron airport to our ranch. There is no public transportation (buses or trains) in western Nebraska. An alternative is flying to Denver, CO . Denver Coach Shuttle (800-658-3125) offers a shuttle service between Denver Int'l Airport and Scottsbluff, NE. Reservations must be made in advance. Please check with them before purchasing a plane ticket to ensure availability. .
• Bring spending money for any sightseeing that you wish to do.
• Must have driver’s license and willing to learn to drive a manual transmission and an ATV. Please let us know if you do not have a drivers license.
• Bring your own computer to keep in touch with family and friends, entertainment, etc. We do not have cable TV or own lots of movies on DVD.
• Purchase any alcohol you wish to have as we do not have a liquor license to serve alcohol in our home for guests or volunteers.
• Must be able to start work as early as 6am and no later than 7am in the heat of the summer months. On a normal working day the family is up and moving close to 7am year round.
• To project a professional appearance that will put our guests at ease: modest clothing - not wearing short shorts, tops that show your midriff, or low cut T-shirts or tank tops, clean language, etc. You will need jeans and boots with a smooth sole and a heel for riding. We would encourage you to bring older clothes that can get dirty.
• Food: we generally do not purchase junk food for our family, so you will need to bring or purchase on your own those items that you cannot live without.
• Before your arrival provide us a copy of your health insurance or travel insurance that covers medical expenses. If you have any health issues that would affect your ability to do physical labor or need medical attention while you are here, please let us know in advance.
• Provide emergency contact information in case you are injured while at the ranch.
• Be an ambassador for the Ponderosa ~ having enough social/people skills to be able to introduce yourself to our guests and join us in making them feel welcome in our home and on the ranch by making friendly conversation.
• Most important: bring your spirit of flexibility and adventure!
After reading over the entire website , if you are still interested, please write to us with the following:
• Any questions you may have.
• Specifics on when and how long you are available.
• Your experience with horses, cooking, cleaning, baking and gardening.
• Any letters of reference from previous jobs or volunteer positions if you have them (not required but helpful)
Please feel free to contact any of these previous volunteers:
Sara Schripsema (Washington, USA) [email protected]
Sonja Mandaiker (Germany) [email protected]
Julie Herrick (Connecticut, USA)
Indra Kuester (Germany) [email protected]
Erika Naslund (Sweden)
Melissa Caldwell (Australia)
Anne Sanchez (Germany)
Melisca Setyadjie Picard (Indonesia) [email protected]
Excerpt from Parelli website
Founded in 1981 by lifelong horseman, horse trainer, rodeo rider, cowboy and teacher Pat Parelli – who was joined by his wife Linda Parelli in 1993 – the Parelli Program focuses on teaching the human rather than training the horse.
Early on, Pat realized that horses already had all the skills they needed to thrive in their world. He discovered that understanding the psychology, personality and nature of horses could become the basis for a deep, seamless and mutually beneficial human-horse relationship. Pat named his new relationship-based approach “Natural Horsemanship” which is now recognized worldwide as an innovative and effective method of natural horse training.
Natural Horsemanship – Natural Relationships
The Parelli approach is not to train horses, but to teach each horse owner to become his or her own horse trainer, and to succeed by building a relationship of trust with each horse. Of course, horsemanship skills are taught in the Parelli program, but the foundation of the method is built on the relationship as primary, with the principles of Love, Language and Leadership as guides.
The Parelli method of natural horsemanship enables horse lovers at all levels and disciplines to achieve:
Success without force
Partnership without dominance
Teamwork without fear
Willingness without intimidation
Harmony without coercion
“People realize this is what they’ve been looking for in all their relationships,” comments Pat Parelli. “It’s balanced with love, language and leadership in equal doses. The program and the horse give them a living model so they can practice and become fluent in their abilities in all relationships, not just horse relationships.”
“It’s about more than just the horse,” echoes Linda. “It really dips into the personal development side of things. You learn about yourself, you learn about communication, about leadership, about truthfulness, about consequence and responsibility. You learn about love and imagination. The horse becomes the animal that tells you the truth about yourself in all these categories.”
Horse owners who follow the Parelli program have found that not only does the program enable them to become a gifted horse trainer, and not only do they achieve exciting horsemanship successes, but they come away with the lasting gift of an enhanced relationship and communication with their horse. Perhaps the greatest gift of all, however, is that they discover enhanced relationships and communication with everyone in their lives.