Winter gathering
“Get a true cowboy experience gathering and driving cattle in the Old West.”
Get a first-hand experience cowboying in Arizona during our five-night Winter Gathering. You’ll hit the range to gather our herd of Criollo cattle and drive them to the ranch, then back out to pasture. You’ll ride through dry riverbeds, rocky desert hills, slot canyons and mesquite groves to find and gather our Criollo cattle herd across our 15-square-mile ranch; and then drive them back out to their desert rangelands—just like the cowboys of years past.
winter gathering
January 7-12, 2024
Single: $1,880.00++
Double: $1,720.00 ++ per person
++Rates subject to 7.015% tax and 15% service charge
5-Night GATHERING Experience includes:
-Gathering cattle
-Driving cattle to ranch headquarters
-Driving cattle back to ranch pasture/water area
-Cattle work instruction
-Accommodations and all meals
-Trail riding if there is spare time
WINTER GATHERING Schedule:
Sunday: Arrive
Monday: Arena/Scouting/ Gathering
Tuesday: Gather
Wednesday: Gather
Thursday: Drive Out
Friday: Depart
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE JOINING US:
-You will be riding independently. Wranglers will be out with the group, but there will be times you are on your own, out of sight of the wranglers. The minimum age to participate is 12 years old.
-This working ranch experience does not include seasonal cattle work activities like branding and tagging, instead the focus is on gathering and driving cattle to and from the ranch
-We like to think we are the cattle’s boss, but they do set the schedule. How quickly we gather the herd will depend on kind of country they are in, how widely they are dispersed, how far from headquarters they are, and how many renegades escape and have to be brought back to the herd. Though not big by some standards, the ranch takes up about 15 square miles.
-The ranch country is diverse with wide, dry riverbeds, boulder strewn valleys, slot canyons, steep rock covered hills, dense thickets of thorn covered trees and brush, sudden drop-offs and open flats toward the San Pedro River.
-You should be comfortably able to mount and dismount without assistance, as you likely will have to along the way.
-You should be comfortable riding independently in a diverse riding country and make forward thinking plans when choosing routes through the rough countryside.
-This is not a “fast ride”. Moving and working cattle is always done as slowly as possible. Speed will only be employed when necessary and hopefully not at all.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR ROUND-UPS AND OUR GATHERINGS?
Our seasonal Cattle Round-Ups include more work in the arena with seasonal activities like branding and tagging. Our Round-Ups are offered in the spring and fall and are seven nights long.
Our Gatherings are shorter in length and do not include branding and tagging of cattle. Over a five-night stay, the focus will be on gathering and driving cattle back to the ranch with less arena work.
