WNCR is my Oasis

There is nothing that is as hard and yet rewarding as working at Walkin N Circles Ranch (WNCR). This place is my happy place. It’s the place where I come to get away from working in front of the computer and having to deal with the frustrations that come from my job. Fortunately I live only 10 minutes away from the ranch. I’m usually here 3 days a week from 3-5 hours at a time and yet I still feel like I only scratch the surface of what I can do here at the ranch. 

Every time I am here I sign up for the same chores. I muck the same paddocks almost every time. I enjoy mucking because it’s a mindless task that help me switch from business life to ranch life and gear up for working with horses, but it is also the opportunity to see the same horses every time. When ever I go into a paddock I call the horse by name and say hello. Sometimes all they do is look up from their hay bags, but sometimes they will come over and want attention. I’m always happy to give them a pet. 

I have spent time off and on in various parts of my life around horse. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest with a few horses. I took riding classes in college and before I moved to New Mexico a good friend of mine was a horse vet and I helped with her personal horses and some of her clients. In between I had been horse back riding and hung around horses any change I could. But nothing could prepare me for the sheer joy of working with these horses here. 

When I first began at WNCR last November, I had handled and ridden horses, but I had zero experience training them. Ann, one of the trainers at the ranch, took me under her wing and has been instrumental in helping me learn how to work with these horses. We started off with some of the easier horses, but I quickly let Ann know I wanted a horse who would challenge me. I knew that being challenged would make me even better. And that is when Gypsy entered my world. When I first started working with her I heard the stories about how difficult she could be. The first couple of times working together was a bit of a challenge for us to work out the hierarchy, and it took her a couple of times together for her to realize that I was the boss. Once we got that established, things went much smoother. 

Over these past few months, I have really come to feel like I’m a part of the ranch. I’ve helped with some of the classes, getting to know the newer volunteers. I’ve worked with the farrier and vet when they are there, whether it’s handling the horses while they do what they need them or getting the horses for them. I’ve chased down horses who have wandered into paddocks where they didn’t belong. There is rarely a dull moment at the ranch and I enjoy every minute of it. Some days I leave the ranch so tired and sore, but have such a sense of fulfillment.

I have made some wonderful friends at the ranch. There are people I look forward to seeing every time I’m there. We catch up on what’s going on in each other lives. If one of us isn’t there we check in to make sure they are ok. A number of us chat with one another when we aren’t aren’t at the ranch and we even get together outside of the ranch. In this crazy, upside-down world we are living in right now, Walkin N Circles Ranch is an oasis of peace.

– Colby Smith, WNCR volunteer