courses and hot tubs, and you’ll find them any
where from Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming to
New York, Alaska, and Canada.
So what do ranch employees actually do? Well,
they’re not all ranch hands and cattle drivers, for
one. “When I applied for a job, I imagined I’d be a
cowgirl or something,” says Danielle Lund, 23, who is
head chef at the Tarryall River Ranch in Colorado.
“WHEN YOU COME TO A DUDE RANCH,
IT’S MORE RELAXED. YOU LIVE HERE
WITH YOUR COWORKERS AND
THEY BECOME YOUR FAMILY.”
Other jobs range from horse wrangler and children’s
counselor to office and wait staff. In an effort to give
guests as much personal attention as possible, ranch
es typically hire one staff member for every two
guests. Experience is usually a prerequisite for those
who will be working with animals or food, but most
other positions are open to anyone. And locating a
job is surprisingly easy; you can find web site links
for most ranches (including their job openings) on
DudeRanches.com or GuestRanches.com.
Life on the ranch is seasonal, and most positions
are available only for the summer. (Some ranchers
spend the off-season working on ranches in
Arizona, which, with the warmer climate, are open
year-round.) The staff usually wakes up with the
sun around 6:30 a.m. and has breakfast together,
before the guests. Then they head out to their
assignments. Allen Traylor, 21, leads three fly-fish
ing trips a day, except on Wednesdays when he
leads an all-day horse ride for guests. “I go out an
hour and a half before the guests with two horses.
learn the
LINGO
Before you strap on your chaps, make sure you know your cow
boy-speak, because words that mean one thing in the big city
mean something totally different on a ranch. The word dude, for
example, doesn’t just mean a guy—or gal. To ranchers it means
anyone who hails from the city. Here are some other common
words and phrases:
WORD MEANING
Outfit A truck
Jingle To bring the horses in
Coulee A ravine or dry creek
Draw A shallow natural drain for rainfall
Wild rag A colorful handkerchief you wear around your neck
to keep out the wind
www.experience.com
Then I meet them in the backcountry, start a fire,
and cook lunch so it’s ready when they get there,”
he explains. While the wranglers and riders are out
and about, people like Wilkinson are working in
the office, taking reservations and helping to make
sure the ranch runs smoothly. The day usually ends
around 5 p.m., and after dinner
there is an evening activity, such
as two-step dance lessons. And as
you might expect, there is a dress
code for every employee who is in
view of guests: cowboy boots,
hats, and other western paraphernalia.
Admittedly, salaries on the ranches are low (one
person reports a $600 per month paycheck, plus
gratuities), though room and board are included,
and staff members do get time off—one or two
days a week, plus some evenings. But most twen
tysomethings don’t become ranch hands for the
paycheck. Most we spoke with chose these jobs
either for a break before joining the “real world”
(what better place to contemplate next steps?) or
because their ranch job is related to their future
career (in anything from veterinary medicine to
accounting to hospitality).
The ranchers we spoke with agree that they’ve
gained a boost in confidence and improved their
leadership and people skills on the job. Jennifer
Schmutzler, 22, says that the kind of networking
she’s been able to do on the ranch may prove help
ful when it’s time to look for a job. Wilkinson, who
began his ranch career in the kitchen, switched to
the office when he began to consider law school
and wanted to gain some skills that might be more
applicable down the road. Still others intend to stay
put, acknowledging that life on the ranch is every
thing they could want from a career.
So, while a job on a ranch might not be the first
thing that comes to mind when one thinks of pro
fessional development, to most who make their
home on the range, it’s a solid career venture and a
priceless life experience. As Lund says, the allure is
simply the fact that she “probably won’t get to do
anything like this ever again.” Cl
Like Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, Associate Editor
Martin Lieberman likes to be called “The Dude.”