Get to Know Chelsea!

Q: What is your role at Bridle Ranch?
A: I am the Chief Vision Operator. I am also 50% owner. I answer both to "Captain" and "Hey, I need..."

Q:  What is your favorite treat?

A:  Hmm.  I love snuggling with my husband, taking deep breaths outside, and going to Disneyland.  But if we’re talking food, I would probably have to go with cheesecake.  Ooh, and Oreos.

Q: What’s your favorite color?

A:  Too hard.  I love them all.  Maybe pink?  Or green?

Q:  What hobbies do you have?

A:  I love to read, both for fun and to learn.  I love to build things, like businesses and business ideas, and fantasy worlds.  I also really enjoy putting together puzzles for other people to figure out, like treasure hunts and such.  Of course playing outside, especially with animals, is completely amazing.  Oh, cooking is fun too.  And hosting parties.  I don’t like going to parties, but hosting is a blast.

Q:  Where are you from and what was your life like growing up?

A:  Well, when I was young I was a pretty typical suburban kid.  I went swimming all the time, and my dad had me out on the tennis court from the time I was about 3 years old.  When I was 9, we moved out to my Grandma’s ranch near Hollister, CA.  I lived there for 8 years, and spent my days either reading or playing outside.  It was amazing being able to walk out any door and be able to climb a mountain or explore one of several different valleys and fields around us.  I learned how to ride horses, and move cattle, and the meaning of work, and how much crossover there can be between work and play.

Q:  Where are you in life now?

A:  Now… I am very happily married, with 5 absolutely amazing children.  Of course, I own and do a lot of behind-the-scenes work at Bridle Ranch.  I also homeschool my children, and am looking forward to the next several years of growing with my family.  This is actually an interesting time for me, because our last baby was born in September of last year, and she is the last we’re planning to have.  Right now we’re still in the baby stage, but as she gets older and more independent, I am looking forward to being able to work on some of my own goals.  I have wanted to improve my riding skills for several years, and I think we’re at the point now where I can start thinking about making that happen.

Q:  Any big plans in the future?

A:  So many.  So, so, so many.  I have like 5 different businesses that I want to start in addition to Bridle Ranch.  I’d also like to write a book.  Or 4.  Or 16.  I also need to work on building Bridle Ranch so it meets the vision in my head, as well as help my kids to get to the point where they can start to build their own lives.  

Q:  What is your experience with horses, animals, and ranches?

A:  Well, like I said before, I grew up on a working ranch in California.  It wasn’t everything we did, but it was a defining feature of my life.  After I went to college, I got a job working at a Residential Treatment Center, teaching troubled youth how to ride horses.  That was such an amazing experience.  I learned so much about myself, about teaching, about horses, about training, and of course about dealing with troubling behavior in teens.  After I left there, I ended up, a couple of years later, doing an internship at National Ability Center in Park City.  I worked in several different areas, but did a lot in their barn.  We worked a lot with kids with autism, as well as people with physical disabilities.  That was another amazing experience.  It helped to reconnect me with what a good horse program looks like.  I also learned that I don’t work very well with people with autism.  But, between my experience at the Residential Treatment Center and the National Ability Center barn, added with my own study into Natural Horsemanship, I was able to create my own ranch that, I think, is able to serve a lot of people in a different way than most barns out there.

Q:  Can you explain what you’ve gotten out of Bridle Ranch?

A:  Bridle Ranch has turned me more into a leader, I think.  It has also helped me get in touch with parts of my personality that I wasn’t expecting to find.  When I first started teaching horseback riding, there was a crazy learning curve.  I spent the first year just figuring out how to deal with an arena full of kids and horses that didn’t really want to be there, and trying to keep everything calm and sane while turning it into a fun experience.  After that, I learned a lot of details that helped me to teach actual skills.  That right there helped me to become a more confident person than I’d ever been before.  When I started Bridle Ranch, I had to remember a lot of those skills, but then also become comfortable with setting policies, asking people for money, and being an authority figure for those who came to me looking to learn.  As we’ve grown, I’ve also had to figure out how to be a good boss, and manager, and to do my job while letting my employees do theirs.  I’m starting to figure all that out (and hopefully I’m doing a good job with it all!) and I’m starting to get an overall feel for how business works, which may just transfer if I do decide to start these other businesses I have in my head.

The other thing I’ve gotten out of Bridle Ranch is some amazing friends.  I have absolutely loved getting to know all my employees.  There’s something about working with people that gives you a real sense of who they are and builds camaraderie as you’re working towards something.  There have been a few customers, as well, that I’ve become really close with.  As a pretty strongly introverted person, that has been an amazing bonus.  Plus, I just love being able to look at people riding my horses and knowing that they are able to grow and be happy because of something I have done, something that we’re all doing together.  Bridle Ranch has brought a lot of worth into my life, I think.