Ranch Topic: The Big Picture

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310 – July/August, 2026

By Megan Sacia Ulrich

If Ranch Riding had a theme song, it would have to be Dan Roberts’s song “There’s A Little Cowboy in All of Us.” Its lyrics, holding up independence, honesty and tradition and emanating the spirit of the American West, hearken to the most desirable qualities in a Ranch Riding run: an honest horse willing to work hard in the tradition of the American cowboy and his work on the ranch.

The Great Equalizer

Though many reasons exist for the class’s popularity, one of them is that, like Trail, it’s an equalizer: one element doesn’t make or break the class; instead, exhibitors are always competing against themselves, improving their horses’ weaker elements to improve their overall scores. With most patterns having 11 to 14 maneuvers, a single poor maneuver is unlikely to take a rider out of contention for the class.

It’s that point that AQHA judge Brendan Brown believes has helped it become one of the more popular pattern-based classes. He’s been participating in Ranch events since their inception about 10 years ago. At that time, he had what could have been a very high-end reiner, but try as he (and other top trainers) might, “It just wasn’t there. But that horse has made a very good ranch rider,” Brown explains, continuing, “All of the other elements are there. It’s totally okay for him to get a 0 on his turns because he can make up for it on the other elements. And that’s true for any horse. If a horse doesn’t have a huge extended trot, but he’s a good loper, you can make up for that lower trot score.”

Click here to read the complete article
310 – July/August, 2026