Halvorson Ranch

For my final project I decided to photograph and write about my parents' ranch. Halvorson Ranch is located in Guthrie, OK. At the ranch, my parents, Wayne and Rebecca Halvorson, raise quarter horses to be shown in halter competition. Halter is an event where horses are judged on structural conformation and appearance. My mom also gives lessons to horse lovers of all levels. 

The ranch spans about 200 acres and has several pastures and barns. The pastures are a great place for young horses to graze, grow up, socialize and play before they are brought in for training.

Having such a large ranch takes a lot of work. Feeding requires two employees. Fernando rides the tractor to feed and water all the horses in the pasture and Beatriz feeds all the horses in the barns.

Horses are not the only animals on the ranch. We have several dogs and cats that each play their role.
Our cat, affectionally named Dog, is an excellent mouser. She helps keep the mice away from the horses and their feed.

Rosie is a corgi. Many horse people have corgis because even though they are small, they have great herding skills and horse smarts. 

My father is not only a great horseman, he is also a great businessman. He is seen in this picture discussing a horse he found online with Jouquin, a man who boards his horses at the ranch.

My mother gives lessons to a seven-year-old girl named Maggie. She just got her first horse, JP, for Christmas. When they brought JP to the ranch for the first time, my mom taught Maggie how to unload him from the horse trailer and lead him around properly. 

One of the best parts about our ranch is the relationships formed between people and horses. Maggie is excited to begin her new relationship with JP.  

In contrast to Maggie and JP, there are long-term horse and human relationships that exist on our ranch. Trudy and her mare, Red, live on our ranch. Trudy has owned the 30-year-old mare since she was 12. 

Halvorson Ranch is a place where everyone, horses and humans alike, are treated as family. Beatriz has worked for my family for 15 years and my mom has formed a close bond with her. 

Living on the ranch not only taught me about horses, it taught me about hard work. It was also wonderful growing up in a small, tight knit and loving community. Halvorson Ranch is a great place for horses, but it is so much more than that.