It was immediately clear, when I first dove into the whats, how-tos and wherefores of Ranch Riding, that no mere 10,000 hours, let alone a few thousand words, would adequately cover this fun and addicting class. Sure, one could describe it as a pattern class with lots of transitions. Certainly one could expand upon on its return to the fundamentals of Horsemanship. It would be easy to explain that a horse and rider simply move forward with purpose through different obstacles and maneuvers. Yet those summaries miss what’s really going on in barns, arenas, and show pens across the country.