After partnering up with Top 50 Ranches for a 4-night giveaway here at The Hideout, a winner has been chosen! The lucky gal that will be joining us for her dream vacation this season is Farrah R., a mother of 3 sons who rode as a child and is looking to get back in touch with her passion for horses. We’re very excited about the outcome of the contest and can’t wait to meet Farrah this season!

After seeing the Top 50 Ranches contest on Twitter, Farrah knew it was the perfect opportunity to get back in the saddle after many years of not riding. As a child, she grew up with grandparents who were serious horsemen; they gave Farrah her first horse, an Arabian named Zemar, when she was seven years old. With the guidance and knowledge of her grandparents, Farrah went on to own and care for two other horses at her parents’ Michigan home.

As she entered her teens, Farrah admits that her interest in horses faded away and she spent quite a few years out of the saddle until her 2006 honeymoon. Upon recently losing both of her grandparents, the people who inspired Farrah’s love for horses at a young age, she decided to enter the Top 50/Hideout contest. She explains, “I feel like this is my time to say goodbye to [my grandparents] as well as rediscover my love of riding.”

We are thrilled to be hosting Farrah and can’t wait to help her get reacquainted with her lost love of riding and horses!

As a result of guest feedback over the last five years, we started to lay out a concept and ideas for a more professional equestrian program to manage The Hideout’s horse and riding program. We started to upgrade our horses, tack and hiring more wranglers with a solid formal and practical equestrian background and an open mind when it comes to practicing good horsemanship.

A missing link in our program and concept was a head wrangler and trainer who not   only would support this concept, but at the same was a truly talented and natural horseperson. We brought in Ramon Castro who immediately started to reshape our program and step up the quality, professionalism and horse culture at The Hideout. Ramon participated in The Extreme Mustang Makeover and started a cooperation with The Mustang Heritage Foundation. Last year Marijn, Ramon and Peter started a dedicated Authentic Horses & Training, LLC, a company specializing in the above.

We are proud to announce that we launched a website dedicated to our concept just a few days ago. For more information on Authentic Horsemanship, visit www.ahhorsemanship.com.

What is Authentic Horsemanship and how does it differ from Natural Horsemanship?

Authentic Horsemanship is our interpretation of Natural Horsemanship, which has been described as “the way of the horse.” We like the word “authenticity,” because horses are, if nothing else, pure and authentic in their behavior.

At the same time authenticity is universal and based in honesty. We believe that all horses need honest, capable and reliable hands to train them and help them perform their best, regardless of bloodlines or breeding.

AH Horsemanship Training & Clinics

In 2011, we organized two dedicated horsemanship clinic weeks at The Hideout Lodge & Guest Ranch, which were led by Ramon Castro using his unique, effective training methods. Due to the popularity and response to these clinic weeks, we will continue to organize more and attract other trainers to leverage this platform.

What is our goal?

One of our goals is to offer to riders of all levels and backgrounds a riding experience that is respectful to both horse and rider while being safe, having fun, learning a lot and riding in this beautiful, barely-touched country of Wyoming. We offer a diversity of great horses adapted to each riding level and break out of the usual “nose to tail riding” pattern guest ranches are mostly known for.

Please visit our website at www.ahhorsemanship.com for more information on our concept, training and clinics.

Our little town of Shell, Wyo., may be small in stature with a population of only 50 people, but our ideal location at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains provides endless opportunities to explore and adventure. Within town limits are several must-see locations including dinosaur footprints, raging rapids in Shell Canyon and ancient sedimentary formations. If you happen to drive in to The Hideout and find yourself wanting to take a half-day off from riding, there are some fantastic places to visit within a few minutes of our ranch!

Just west on U.S. Highway 14 is the turn off for the Red Gulch/Alkalai National Back Country Byway, home to the impressive Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite. These rare dinosaur footprints, publicly accessible at all times, were discovered in 1997. Viewers can get up-close and personal with ancient footprints and imagine what it was like to walk along the Middle Jurassic shoreline alongside other dinosaurs. These particular footprints are more than just cool – they have the potential to alter current scientific views on the Sundance formation and Middle Jurassic period, as many scientists originally believed the Shell area was entirely underwater at that time.

A few miles east of the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite is Shell Canyon, an impressive landscape and home to the Shell Falls Interpretive Site. The falls stretch an impressive 120 vertical feet and pour 3,600 gallons of water per second over a bed of granite.

After learning about the ancient fossils that give the falls, canyon and town their name at the newly renovated visitor center, visitors can view the surrounding canyon. Copman’s Tomb, a massive limestone formation, can be viewed to the north of Shell Falls. Also visible from the interpretive site are outcrops of the Cambrian sandstone formations, which are 550 million years old; and you can view 2.9 billion year old Precambrian rocks, some of the oldest visible rocks on Earth.

Back in the Shell valley, Devil’s Kitchen is a site you shouldn’t pass by. Particularly impressive at sunrise and sunset, these sedimentary deposits from the Cloverly formation show 125 -11 million-year-old color sequences. Accessible by simply parking and walking down into the rocks, these sedimentary layers (which resemble “Badland” formations) are the result of water depositing dirt, animal remains, shells, etc. in the area. Devil’s Kitchen features rock ranging in color from ash gray and plum purple to pale red. The formation also contains the fossilized remains of Deinonychus, a velociraptor.

These three locations, along with several others in the Big Horn Mountains and Basin, are easy to visit and just a short drive from The Hideout. If you have a vehicle with you the next time you visit us and decide to take some time off from exploring the area on horseback, be sure to check out these incredible locations and the greater Shell area – there’s a lot going on here that shouldn’t be missed!

When Hideout Chef, Sheena Ernst, isn’t in the lodge prepping her next delicious creation, you can often find her working in her garden down by the Trapper Creek property. Hideout salads and meals frequently feature the fruits of her labor; fresh herbs, salad leaves, radishes and eggs from the Hideout-owned hens have all graced salad plates this season. Sheena looks forward to adding her very own squash and tomatoes to the menu later on in the year.

Since coming to The Hideout in April, Sheena has made a commitment to employ as many local Wyoming ingredients as possible when planning her lunch and dinner menus. She explains, “I want to know where my food is coming from. With local meat, I know the farmer that raised the product, and am aware of what type of feed and supplements, if any, that have been given to the livestock.”

With freshly butchered, tender Wyoming beef and lamb often featured as the main course here at The Hideout, it’s hard to imagine a better way to eat meat. Guests have responded to local meat with enthusiasm, commenting on how nice it is to be aware of food’s origins and the enrichment it brings to their Western experience.

Local food has been a part of Sheena’s culinary experience since a young age. Growing up in Wyoming, Sheena would often fish in the Big Horns, hunt local elk, eat local beef and enjoy vegetables from her family’s garden. Even now, Sheena returns to her family home on the weekends, picking mint, rhubarb, asparagus, chives and Swiss chard to include in the Hideout menu for the following week.

Before coming to The Hideout, Sheena had the opportunity to work with local ingredients in other kitchens. During her time working abroad in England, she had the privilege of working with fresh seafood and used an abundance of local ingredients while working at Larkspur Restaurant in Vail, Colo.

While discussing the advantages and disadvantages of local ingredients, Sheena points out that, while it’s difficult to buy local food in bulk and still get wholesale pricing, it is priceless to know the source of your food. Wyoming meat and produce travel less distance to get to The Hideout, and the fresh taste and quality is well worth the extra cost.

Sheena adds that, while local food has the reputation of being more costly, there are ways to raise your own produce, even have egg-laying hens, for a fraction of the cost. “There’s something satisfying about going out in my back yard and picking five pounds of asparagus for free,” Sheena adds, “While local food can sometimes be perceived as more expensive, there are ways to grow quality food on your own.” Thanks to her garden and the hens at the Trapper Creek property, The Hideout has a small source of sustainable food coming from right down the road.

To those who still have yet to join us for one of our fantastic Hideout dinners, there is much to be enjoyed! From good company to good local food, the only thing that will leave you wanting to leave your seat each night is the promise of another meal the following day.