We first became initiated to the Bath Brothers Ranch through one of our family friends, named Ray. Years ago, Ray had me start horses for him that were similarly bred to the Bath Brothers or came from the “Come to the Source” auction. They were nice-looking horses that were easy to work with, and had a lot of heart. I took note of their breeding for future use.
At the time, I was traveling coast-to-coast, doing educational clinics, colt starting for private farms, dealing with lots of troubled horses, and seldom getting to refine any. As a result, owning more than one personal horse was out of the question. I discovered that traveling was not the life I wanted. I had paid off all my debt, and decided to head back to CO. Colorado was always the dream, and it all happened about 50 years sooner than I imagined.
I settled into CO, and the horse business was working out pretty well. The only problem was my horses all sold too fast. Well, this is where Ray comes back into the story. Ray always spoke highly of the well-bred horses at the auction called “Come to the Source,” As timing would have it, the auction was that month. I couldn’t attend the auction, but my mother and wife both went. For anyone who knows my mother, well, she might have a bit of a horse-buying problem–as my wife soon discovered (she was relatively new to the whole family life here in CO).
The day of the auction arrived, and it was a beautifully quiet day for me. I was just working horses back home. My mother went up with the idea of purchasing one riding horse. At least, that’s what she led us to believe. As the auction began, the quietness and peace in my day faded quickly. My wife began to inform me that my mother was bidding on one horse, a weanling nonetheless. I honestly thought she was messing with me.
Then the wife told me she was the high bid on the weanling. A few minutes later, she sent another text that my mother was bidding on another weanling. Yet again, my mother was the high bidder. At this point, my father and I were very concerned about housing two weanlings. We naively thought that was the end of her bidding. By the time the auction was over, we had one yearling and four weanlings. This was no joke! Lesson learned, never trust my mother at an auction ever again!
I am certain everyone at the auction thought she was crazy for buying that many young horses, because pops and I sure did at home. Two of those five horses purchased at auction were Bath Brothers’ horses, which is how I was indirectly introduced to the Bath Brothers Ranch.
The following year was the real starting point. Ray had called the Dunn family (Bath Brothers Ranch) to see if we could all go to their ranch and look through their herd. We wanted to take on a few older horses to provide diverse opportunities in the growth of our program. We didn’t have enough horses of age to replenish our numbers. They agreed, as they knew Ray quite well. Convincing them to let us join wasn’t so difficult, after they knew we had bought so many at the auction the year prior.
Kelsey and Randy Dunn took their day away from the ranch to show us through their herd. They were driving us out into the meadows, over 60,000 acres of land, going pasture to pasture, showing us every horse they had, and informing us of their history. The entire trip was a great experience, and we deeply appreciated their time with us as first-timers. We had a lot of horses in mind, and needed to whittle down our count before coming back another day when they gathered the herds up.
We showed up with two trailers, thinking we were walking away with maybe four or five horses. Well, we ended up rolling out of there with twelve that day! Now there was no question about it; we were all crazy. Overall, the experience was a breath of fresh air from a typical workday, and significantly better than any auction experience. We were able to get to know the Dunn family, view the fantastic Wyoming terrain, and observe all the magnificent horses in their element.
Now let me dive into our ranch’s situation in 2020, after purchasing the first round of horses from the Bath Brothers. We were in a considerable growth phase at our ranch. We had just doubled our herd numbers, and picked up twelve untouched horses from the Bath Brothers (ranging from yearlings to five-year-old stallions). We depleted all ranch funds in purchasing these horses, so financial tension was high.
I felt pressure to provide more as Roman was just born, and the wife was on full-time baby care. I traveled an hour a day to Ray’s house to work through the stud horses because we weren’t set up to handle four studs on our property. I was running on fumes trying to keep up with all the regular horses I was working, trying to get all 12 of the new untouched horses haltered (and preferably ridden before winter), and finally working through approximately 20 life coach clients a week. It was at this moment in time that a minor wildfire sparked up about 10 miles away from our ranch. That fire became the East Troublesome Fire that took our house, creating a whirlwind of new problems.
On top of chaotic world events, the timing of the fire put our ranch in a hazardous spot to succeed. The savior of our ranch was revealed to be the horses we purchased, started, and sold from the Bath Brothers. We would have been sunk if those horses didn’t work out and sell that spring, summer, and fall.
We learned through that experience that these horses bred at the Bath Brothers ranch were worth their weight in gold. Some were perfect trail horses, some were resilient working ranch horses, and a few could do it all. Thank goodness for their excellent demeanor because if they were rank, life would have been exponentially more difficult post-fire. If any of our family were to get injured during this time, we would have been ruined. We knew we wanted more of what they were breeding; because their horses adapt to any discipline and all people, in addition to being a pleasure to work with.
Their breeding program consists of a signature combination of Blue Valentine and Driftwood. Granted, they play with different bloodlines all the time, but at the core, they are faithful to Blue Valentine, and the Driftwood crosses. This type of horse seems to have it all. These horses are raised with great feet, conformation, and darn good looks. As for capacity, they perform well in any ranch work setting, leisure trail riding, high-level flatwork (dressage), and any show arena.
We visit their ranch at least once a year, and seem to come home with a few more every time. We have been more than pleased with their horses. The horses continue to transfer to their new owners and environments successfully for all disciplines all over the U.S.
The summation of the Bath Brothers Ranch is a great family with fabulous horses and rich history. We hope our partnership helps boost sale prices in their annual “Come to the Source” auction by showing people what these horses are truly capable of. The most important thing is our relationship with the Dunn family. With that as the foundation, I am excited to see where all this may lead. In the meantime, keep your eyes out for these horses, or if you want one through private treaty, don’t hesitate to reach out! Once we get them started, they tend not to stick around too long.