Good Farming Apprenticeship Network

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.
Ron-D-View Ranch
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.

Seven Meadows Farm, Laurie and Rusty Hall, PO Box 1531, Cortez, CO 81321, 970-882-3834, . We have used a team of Belgians for two years and are now training a Percheron for draft. We practice gentle horsemanship and have a wide variety of antique horse-drawn equipment to use. We are an organic farm and can teach methods for successful farming without harmful chemicals. Our work is diverse and ranges from driving horses to mucking stalls, pulling weeds, putting up food, etc. We work hard but also have fun.

  • Source of power: 3 horses, tractor.
  • Horses are used for: fieldwork such as harrowing, raking hay, and cutting hay fields.
  • Acreage: 69; 1 in garden, 3 crops, 10 pasture, 40 hay, 15 woodlot.
  • Other livestock: sheep, donkeys, riding horses, chickens.
  • Skills offered in: animal farming, sustainable practices, irrigation systems, building farm infrastructure, and local marketing.
  • Work hours: 8 hrs/day, 40 hrs/wk (Sundays and Mondays off).
  • Terms: room and board; 2 apprentices at a time for 2.5 to 3 summer months.
  • Stipend: no.
  • Accommodations: comfortable mobile home with private bedroom; non-vegetarian meals, as we raise meat animals for ourselves and our community.
  • Apprentice must: be physically fit and have a good attitude; be willing to work hard in a family environment; have a peaceful nature and good common sense; enjoy variety in daily work.
  • Visit first: if desired.
  • Trial period: one week.
  • To apply: please send resume, three references, and a page about yourself including what you like to do and any relevant farm, animal or construction experience you may have.

Horse


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04 January 2008