The leaves are turning and the mornings are decidedly crisp. Autumn has officially fallen upon the land and Halloween is setting the little ones into a buzz of sugar induced glee!! If you are like us at Arriba Vista Ranch, each season brings its own charm and joy. Fall brings us the fun of Halloween…

  In case you missed it on Facebook, Arribavista Ranch began offering free compost several months ago!! This compost makes for a very rich soil additive for your garden. Our compost is made up of pine shavings, rice hulls, and, of course, horse manure. You will also find leftover hay, alfalfa and orchard grass in…

With the recent drought approaching extreme severity all over California, one might stop to wonder what more we can do and where can water use best be reduced. To answer that, it is important to know where most of it goes in the first place! We recently received an article from the California Department of…

United In Light Horse Rescue Livingston, Montana, where we visit every summer, is home to a wonderful horse rescue charity. Joyce and I visited United in Light, a rescue for “gentle giants”. These are draft horses who are too old or too lame work, or just needing a home. They are rescued from feed lots…

Building Confidence in Horse and Rider:  Part 3 of 3 We have been discussing creating confidence in the rider. In this post, we will look at the 2nd part of Clinton Anderson’s article “Cultivating Confidence,” written for “America’s Horse”, the members’ only AQHA magazine. Lack of confidence on the part of your horse can make…

In our wanderings to photograph wildlife, my friend Marilyn and I often come across interesting subjects. Such is the case when I went to Texas to see Marilyn this June. She had heard about some wild horses in south east Oklahoma and we went wandering to find them and photograph them. About 2 hours north…

Building Confidence in Horse and Rider:  Part 2 of 3 This post is a continuation of a discussion about Confidence in the Horse and Rider based on an article by Clinton Anderson in “America’s Horse” an AQHA members’ only magazine. Anderson discusses exercises for the horse and rider as a way to build confidence in…

Building Confidence in Horse and Rider:  Part 1 of 3 Clinton Anderson wrote an excellent 2-part article on “Cultivating Confidence” for America’s Horse, an AQHA members’ only magazine. The first part dealt with creating confidence in the rider and the second with creating confidence in the horse. I thought this would be a good place…

There is much to see when riding the ranch trails. Many resident animals like deer, fox, coyote, bob cat and the ground squirrel are often seen.  An occasional feral pig can also be seen on the ranch. For birds, there are many interesting ones to see. All year one can see Yellow Rumped Warblers, Downy…