Lead Wrangler | 2nd In Command to Barn Boss | Summer Dude Ranch Season
Sundance Trail Ranch
What’s in it for you.
A real shot at leading a barn — not a Trail Wrangler title with extra chores. You’re second in command to Gordy, our Barn Boss. You will help run the trail program, mentor the crew, and step in as Barn Boss on his days off. If you’ve been a strong trail wrangler for a few seasons and you’re ready to take the leap, this is that step.
A barn that actually rides — not nose-to-tail. We don’t run plodding loops. We’ve got real terrain, real elevation, and real variety — terrain that flexes for everyone from a complete beginner finding their seat to an advanced rider who wants to open it up. Same goes for the herd: 35 working horses ranging from confidence-builders to ones the wranglers fight over. A trail wrangler who’s been stuck doing slow loops for three seasons reads that and exhales.
Clinics, craft, and real cowboying. Gordy is bringing more teaching into the program this year — roping, barrel racing,leg reining clinics. You’d be part of building that out. STR is the kind of dude ranch that brings people back to what dude ranching actually is: the skill, the craft, the slow build of becoming a real cowboy or cowgirl. Not a resort with horses. A real rustic ranch with guests. There’s a difference, and you know it the moment you walk into the barn.
35 working horses to ride for. Quarter Horses, Paints, an Appaloosa, a Draft Cross, grades — each one with a story, quirks, and gifts. We’re on the market for a couple more this season, and you’d have a voice in choosing them.
Bring your own horse if you’d like to. Some of our wranglers, with permission and the right horse, do exactly that.
Real terrain. 138 acres tucked into 800,000+ acres of Roosevelt National Forest. 8,000 feet. Real elevation, real weather, real silence. The kind of riding country that ruins guests for arenas — and that wranglers will come back for, season after season.
A Barn Boss worth riding for. Gordy is set on running a tight, kind, quiet barn. You’ll learn from him, and he’ll lean on you. You partner with the Children’s Wrangler, the Trail Wranglers, the Head of Hospitality, and the wider team.
Owners who get it and pour into people on purpose. Weekly coaching, real feedback, and the kind of mentorship most wranglers never get. You won’t just grow as a horseperson. You’ll grow as a human.
$15.16 -$16.50]/hr + tips, year-round-style benefits in a seasonal role: on-ranch bunkhouse housing, three family-style meals a day (the same food the guests get), full ranch access on days off.
Because housing and meals are provided per IRC §119, almost every dollar you earn is yours to keep.
The kind of place you’d be coming to.
We’re a 24-guest boutique ranch — small, deliberate, and rustic on purpose. Not polished. Not a resort. Real. Guests tell us over and over again that what they came expecting was a vacation and what they found was real life. The thing they tell us most? They absolutely adore the wranglers. The trail conversations. The campfire stories. The patience with the kid who’s scared. The dust on the boots.
That isn’t an accident. It’s who we hire. And the right Lead Wrangler protects and builds that.
We’re bringing dude ranching back to what it was always meant to be — the craft, the skill, the slow earning of confidence in the saddle. Not entertainment riding. Real riding. Real horsemanship. Real cowboying.
The role, plainly.
You report to Gordy, our Barn Boss (Barn Manager / Head Wrangler) and you’re his right hand — the person the rest of the wrangler crew looks to when things get hectic.
The work:
Lead trail rides through Roosevelt National Forest — read terrain, set the pace, manage the spread, deliver the experience
Help build out and deliver our growing clinic program — roping, amature rodeo lessons, leg reining — under Gordy’s lead
Teach guests the craft, not just the ride — catching, brushing, tacking, reading a horse, finding their seat
Mentor the wrangler crew — by example, not by lecture
Step in as Barn Boss on Gordy’s days off — morning catch, horse assignments, daily rhythm
Match horse to rider — by weight, skill, and temperament. The safety-critical decision of the day. Every day.
Carry the herd’s health — soundness, feet, feed, tack, herd dynamics. You bring it forward before anyone has to ask.
Help guests fall in love with horses. Not just the riding. The catching, the brushing, the leaning into a warm shoulder at sunset.
And the ranch life part — the real part. You eat with guests. You sit at the table. You hang out at the campfire. You pitch in on dishes a couple of times a week. You pick up the hay twine you didn’t drop. You cowboy up alongside the team when something needs doing — wrangler or not. There’s no back-of-house at STR. We all do the work, we all share the table.
That’s part of why guests love it here. And it’s part of what makes the season worth coming back for.
The place.
138 acres at 8,000 ft, surrounded by 800,000+ acres of Roosevelt National Forest. An hour from Fort Collins, two from Denver. Across the road from the University of Denver’s mountain campus. WiFi limited, cell service patchy — by design. Tobacco-free, drug-free, random screening. Western dress code; uniform provided. Bunkhouse-style staff housing, separate buildings for guys and gals, shared rooms and bathrooms.
You’ll thrive here if:
– Multiple seasons of real working ranch, outfit, or guide experience — not just “I grew up around horses”
– Confident leading rides in mountain terrain at 8,000+ feet — terrain reading, pacing, group management, weather awareness
– Strong skills in at least one of roping, barrel racing, or leg reining — and the willingness to teach what you know
– Deep horse-management knowledge — nutrition, basic equine first aid, hoof and tack, herd dynamics, soundness assessment
– Leadership presence — calm under pressure, clear communicator, sets the pace without raising your voice
– The judgment to match horse to rider and make the call without second-guessing
– You live the standard “horses are partners, not tools” — visible in how you catch, tack, ride, and put away
– You’re built for the rustic-real life — eating with guests, dishes nights, real talk at the campfire
– You actually want to be on a ranch. Not just for a summer.
You won’t if:
– You think wrangling is mostly about looking good on a horse
– You’re happiest leading nose-to-tail loops at a walk
– You need to be told what to do before you do it
– You see the dishroom or the manure fork as beneath you
– You bring drama, gossip, or eye-rolls to the bunkhouse
– You want polished resort life
– You think the standard drops on Friday afternoon
Who actually ends up here.
We hire across every stage of life. Second-career cowboys who finally said “enough” to the desk. Rodeo queens stepping up into their first wrangler season. Seasoned outfitters between jobs. Empty-nesters who’ve waited twenty years for this. Twenty-somethings who grew up in the saddle and want a season that means something.
Age isn’t the filter. Character is.
If you’ve got the work ethic, the humility, the heart, and the horse skills — we’ve got a seat in the saddle.
Who you’ll work with.
We’re Jade and Monty — partners in life, in business, and in this ranch. We bought Sundance Trail Ranch because our shared love of nature, horses, and what land does to a human soul finally pulled us here for good. We left other industries we loved to come build this on purpose.
Monty has spent 25 years in the ski industry, working with some of the most iconic mountain resorts in North America. These days, his focus is on boutique destination, cat, and heli-skiing operations — mainly across British Columbia and Colorado, including Silverton Mountain. He chose to step out of the corporate rat race and the craziness of commercialism to live a life more connected to nature than to noise. The bar he holds for guest experience is high, and the standards he’s brought to STR have raised everything. Stalk away: [Monty’s LinkedIn]
Jade has spent two decades in business consulting and people strategy — building high-performance, human-centred organisations across Australia, the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Her massive transformational purpose is to create spaciousness to unlock human potential — to help people drop into flow state and reimagine what work, life, and being human can actually feel like. STR is the most direct expression of that purpose she’s ever built. She wants this to be the ripple — the kind of place that changes how guests live, how the team grows, and how the industry sees what’s possible. Stalk away: [Jade’s LinkedIn]
Read the full role, our horsemanship philosophy, and what life here actually looks like:
👉 DEEP DIVE JOB AD
Then send to jade@sundancetrail.com:
Your resume
Three references — one peer, one boss, one horseperson who can vouch for your work in the saddle
A short note — why this role, why now, why a ranch
A short video — under 3 minutes, you talking about a horse you’ve worked with that taught you something. Phone camera is fine. Not polished. Real.
We’re looking for the right person to start as soon as possible. Don’t delay. Strong fits get a call within 5 business days. The right human comes to the ranch for a half-day working interview — riding our string, working with our team. That’s where the hire actually gets made.
Sundance Trail Ranch is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We hire on character, capability, and culture fit — full stop.
Perks
We're not just a dude ranch. We're a movement.
Sundance Trail Ranch is a boutique guest ranch tucked into 138 acres at 8,000 ft in the Colorado Rockies — next door to one of the biggest boy scout ranches, surrounded by 800,000+ acres of Roosevelt National Forest, and embedded in a pocket of wilderness most people never get to live in.
We're leading what we call The Great Reconnection — a movement back to what makes us human: nature, presence, play, challenge, connection, a life fully lived. Our guests come to us burnt out, overstimulated, and disconnected. They leave kinder, calmer, closer to the people they love. That's the work.
Our team is the engine of that work.
Twenty-four guests max. A small, deliberate crew. Every single person on this ranch is either energizing or draining the culture — there is no neutral. We build for energizers. If you bring it, we'll match it tenfold.
What you'll actually get:
The Colorado Rockies as your backyard. Trails out the back door. Elk in the meadow. Stars so loud you'll forget what your phone looks like.
Real coaching and mentorship from leaders with backgrounds in leadership development, organizational culture, and high-performance team design. Most people pay thousands for what we give our team weekly.
Western horsemanship culture rooted in respect — horses are partners, not tools.
Bunkhouse-style on-ranch housing, three family-style meals a day, full ranch access on your days off.
A team that operates like owners, not employees.
What we hire for: character first, capability second, skill third. We can teach you how to lead a trail ride, plate a dinner, run a kids' program, build a campfire. We cannot teach you how to care.
Our principles:
Safety first. Always.
Hospitality is love in action.
How you do one thing is how you do everything.
Clear is kind. Direct is respectful. Silence is corrosive.
Own the experience. Ride for the brand.
Be the ripple — leave it better than you found it.
A few things to know going in:
Tobacco-free, smoke free, drug-free environment with random screening. Western dress code. Limited WiFi (we have a no device in public spaces policy), patchy cell service — by design. This isn't a 9-5. Some days start early, some nights end late. You'll eat with guests, sit at campfires, and wash dishes with the team. There's no back-of-house here.
If that just lit you up — welcome. If it sounds like a lot — it is. And it's worth every second.
Where Wild Meets Warm. The ripple starts here.