This past Saturday was a gorgeous Loveland kind of day…ideal for kicking off another Summer of fun things to do in Loveland. Sylvan Dale showed off our Western hospitality with free Pony Rides and Horse Drawn Wagon rides.
We’re thankfull to all the nice folks who came out and had fun.
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Tee Cross Baron
Foaled in 2004, “Tee Cross” is a nice big stout bay gelding.
For such a big guy, he has the sweetest little pony face that you could just hug and kiss him all day long. I’m not sure he would like that so I wouldn’t recommend trying. He thinks he’s a big tough cow horse.
Tee Cross is proving to be a wonderful trail horse, very solid and sure footed. He really likes to go on the cattle drives the best, and is bred to be a great cow horse. His mother is “Tivios Cross Bar” aka. “Cassie” or “Mama Cass” as I call her. She has been one of our best guest horses since her retirement from being a broodmare.
Tee Cross’ sire is “Gold Dust Trail” a palomino stallion whose bloodlines go back to one of Sylvan Dale’s foundation sires, “Baronet Bar.” Tee Cross has a full brother, a palomino named “Sparkie Bar Rancher” and a full sister, a bay named “Sugar Tee Trail.”
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Heart-J Lady
Heart-J Lady was born on May 12, 2007 the morning of the services held for Mayme Jessup who had passed away January 9th. All the Jessup family and friends were there to honor the memory of Mayme and her beloved Maurice, who’s services were held on May 12, 1993.
It was a beautiful bright sunny morning and I came out early to see if Sun Sails had foaled. There she was, a beautiful little palomino filly, peeking out from behind her mother. She had long straight legs and large dark eyes fringed with beautiful white eyelashes. She was very shy just like her two sisters before her. Right away I thought we should name her “Heart-J Lady” in honor of Mayme Jessup. Mayme was known as the Heart in the Heart-J brand.
Heart-J Lady’s bloodlines trace back to three of Sylvan Dale’s best sires, Sparkie Y Sweet, Baronet Bar, and Thirsty’s Sandy. Her mother “Sun Sails” carries the blood of many famous cow horses. Heart-J Lady has two full sisters, “Foxy Trail West,” and “Silky Trail West,” both are beautiful palominos. There is one baby brother, a sorrel named “Gold Dust Rustler.”
I really enjoyed halter training and doing the kids program with Heart-J Lady as she is kind, willing and likes attention. Our trainer Barry McAleenan completed Heart-J Lady’s training and has turned her over to the wranglers to finish her trail training before our guests begin riding her.
She is a smart sensitive horse who should be great at trails and cattle work. Guests should be riding her sometime in 2013.
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Sundance Kid
“Sundance Kid” was foaled in 1990 near North Platte, Nebraska, and was originally registered as “Bar L Chip’s Victor” — quite a mouthful!
“Kid” and his older half brother,”Bar L Nu-Mario” came upstream to Sylvan Dale in 1993 as “Newt” and “Vic,” two tons of magnificent Belgian horses.
Both seemed mighty relieved to get their new western names and get down to work.
Sadly, “Kid’s” half brother “Butch Cassidy” died in 2007.
“Kid” continued to work with new partners, pulling countless hayrides for “Dude Ranch” and holiday guests, family reunions, retreats, and company picnics …and harrowing the Main Arena and the occasional pasture.
Hundreds of folks from around the world have had their first introduction to “heavy horses” guiding him around the small arena with “gee” and “haw” and the slightest touch of those long lines…or hitching him to the training cart for a jog around the Main Ranch.
Now semi-retired, gentle and willing as ever, “Kid” is the ideal “lesson horse.”
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Business Name: Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch
Recognition Name: Top Guest Ranches In North America
Recognized By: American Cowboy
Publication Date: October 2012
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Holiday parties are a great way to celebrate and reconnect on a personal level with staff and their families…we’ve been hosting holiday parties for over 60 years, and have recently introduced a variety of fun activities for to enhance your holiday party experience:
We offer a choice of party rooms, tasty brunch, lunch and dinner menus and bar service featuring fine wines and Colorado brews. Plus 50% savings off your party room rate!
If you’re unsure about your holiday party plans, give us a call or email…we’d love to help. Cheers!
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Larimer Country GIS Landscape & Imagery Explorer
The High Park Fire is 100% contained at 87,284 acres. … Hot spots will continue to exist within the perimeter during the containment phase and residents should expect to see smoke for days and weeks as the fire moves from containment to control.
The High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres, meaning the fire has not grown since June 27th. Containment is now estimated at 85 percent. The estimated containment date has been moved up from July 15th to July 1st. (source: Larimer County Emergency Information)
The High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres with 65 percent containment. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at 33.1 million dollars. There are 1,805 fire personnel assigned to the firefighting effort. Equipment resources include: 10 Type 1 hand crews, 18 Type 2 hand crews, 156 engines, 11 dozers and 24 water tenders. Air Resources include; 7 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 3 Type II (medium) helicopters, 6 Type III (light) helicopters, 1 Type II helicopter with a radiometric imaging system attached, fixed wing support aircraft, and available heavy air tankers. … The total of homes destroyed to date remains at 257. (source: Larimer County Emergency Information)
The High Park Fire is estimated at 68,200 acres with 55% containment. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at $19.6 million dollars. There are 1,978 fire personnel, 18 helicopters and 135 engines fighting the fire at this time with a 24-hour work schedule in place. Larimer County Emergency Information
The High Park Fire is estimated at 65,738 acres with 55% containment. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at $17.2 million dollars.
The High Park Fire is estimated at 58,770 acres with 50% containment.
http://www.larimer.org/emergency/emergency_detail.cfm?nam_id=85
The High Park Fire is located approximately 15 miles west of Fort Collins and has burned 55,050 acres to date and is estimated 45 percent contained.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/
Statistics about High Park Fire
http://www.coemergency.com/2012/06/high-park-fire-map-june-16-highparkfire.html
June 14, 2012 @ 11:27
The High Park Fire is still at around 10+% containment as of this morning. The skies are clear this morning at the ranch. View thew latest fire update: coemergency.com/2012/06/high-park-fire-update-june-14-at-1027.html
You can view the most current map of the High Park Fire here.
Fortunately for the ranch the fire is not near and there is currently no cause for alarm. There was some haze from the smoke this morning but it has cleared significantly.
The Heart-J logo above indicates Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch’s approximate location.
A summary of the status of the fire can be found here. For updated fire conditions visit www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/.
We’ll let you know via our website and on Facebook about any developments that might affect the ranch.
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Wow! It has been TOO LONG since we shared what’s happening at the Ranch with you — so sorry. But, we’ve been very busy with other things and we hope you’ll pardon our absence. Here’s a taste of what’s been stealing all of our time:
It’s been nearly a full month… February 1st marked the exciting date of the launch of our completely redesigned website at www.SylvanDale.com. What a major project it turned out to be, and it’s really just the beginning! Hopefully you’ve had the opportunity to look around, explore, and check it out.
We’ve made quite a few changes and enhancements to the site since its launch and there’s still a lot of work to do as we button and polish things up, but we’re pretty pleased with how it’s going so far.
We’d love to hear from you; What do you think about it? What do you like? What don’t you like? How we can make it better? Send us an email and we promise to take your suggestions to Heart(-J)! :)
Also, 2012 brought us a priceless present — truly a gift to leap at — a "bonus" day! Yep, 2012 is a leap year, so we get 366 days of Dude Ranch goodness to enjoy.
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Dec 28, 2011 Headed to the valley to check-up on the horses…they look happy (as usual). Glad to see they are finding their way to the drinking pond. Standing in the valley with horses on a brilliant winter morning is a great way to start the day.
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The hot days have given way to cooler nights and 3-½ inches of rain! What a blessing to the hills and the pastures and all the critters that rely on their forage. Soon the cottonwood will bathe the valley in bright yellow. Fall is here! And the geese are gone!
It’s time to reflect on the 65th anniversary summer season that brought so many good friends back “home” and so many new friends through the Ranch entry gates. We continue to relive the memories of your visit as we go about our daily routines—jingling horses, serving pancakes, making beds, and greeting guests. We hope you will turn to those memories when you need a bit of encouragement or a hug in your day.
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2939 N. County Road 31D
Loveland, Colorado 80538
E-mail: ranch(@)sylvandale.com
