A Day in the Life -
by Pia Cho, Summer Counselor 2002

Spending a summer at Rawhide Ranch as a Camp Counselor is an incredible experience. I arrived at Rawhide from Washington DC after having filled out the application online. I had a vague picture in my head of what a “ranch” would be like from the few random Western movies I had seen as a child, but I was unprepared for the beauty of this working ranch. The best manner I can describe this unique property is to tell you to close your eyes and imagine a town during the Wild West era and you shall have a vivid and accurate picture- we even have a “Main Street.”

As a counselor, you will stay in the Fort, the Covered Wagons, the Schoolhouse, or the Teepees if you are male. The first week that you are here will consist of training for the classes you will be teaching, guest speakers, never ending lectures by Tom ^_~ (the Director of the camp, but you get candy and other goodies if you pay attention), and an opportunity for you to get lots of sleep before the campers arrive!

Each session of camp, which is one week in length, will begin on Sunday with the check in of the “Ranch hands” or campers. It is quite a sight for everyone, from the Directors to the dogs, is dressed in Western attire. Full time staff members are busy driving pony carts back and forth from the parking lot to main street carrying the belongings of campers; counselors are rushing to the hotel/office to collect their campers that will be in their cabin for the week, and all the while in the background you have a real country band playing tunes that beckon your feet try some country line dancing. After everyone is checked in, counselors and Ranch hands alike join in for a little bit of line dancing before heading off to Animal Care.

Animal Care is done twice daily, whether camp is in session or not. All counselors will be assigned an animal care area. You could end up working with the ponies down at Pony Barn, or the horses up at the Town of Longhorn, Breeding Barn, or Pony Express Depot, or with the goats, cows, pigs, and lamas at Stock Farm, or with the peacocks, chickens and other birds at Noah’s Valley. During Animal Care, you will teach and supervise the kids to feed, water, and clean the stalls. Rawhide Ranch provides an animal for whatever your tastes are and the best part is, no previous experience is necessary!

After Animal Care, you will lead your cabin to flag pole where you line up your Ranch hands from shortest to tallest. Usually during the week, cabins are dismissed according to Cabin Check Points, but on the first night you are at the mercy of Molly, the Assistant Program Director. Note when I say a quiet straight line with great big smiles helps- A LOT! After dinner, you have a chance to go over cabin rules before the entire camp gets called for orientation. During Orientation, there is a brief horse demonstration, kids get broken up into groups for the week, counselors introduce themselves, and of course, we go over the RULES. Generally, there will be time to play a few games before evening coffee break is called and after coffee break, it is lights out!

For the rest of the week, your days will be pretty routine. Each morning, you will awake to Paul’s (he is the as of Camp Director) lovely voice over the PA system at 6:45 AM. You will lead your cabin to flag pole and for breakfast, each cabin is dismissed according to which cabin got to flagpole first. Right after breakfast, everyone will go to animal care. As soon as Animal Care is over, half of the kids will be in electives while the other half is in classes and they will switch in the afternoon. Counselors will head to the classes they will be teaching for the morning. Each class is 45 minutes in length with a coffee break between the 2nd and 3rd class of the morning and the afternoon. The classes or electives you will be teaching will depend on where your strengths and interest lay. You could be down on the schedule to teach Arts & Crafts in the morning and Horse Science in the afternoon, or you could be assigned to teach Riding all week if that is your love.

After morning classes, you will once again line up at the flagpole for lunch. How you get dismissed for lunch varies depending on which staff member is dismissing you, but bribes work well for both getting dismissed first and for cabin checks-HINT. After lunch is a time for your campers and you to have a little rest and have mail call. Mail is delivered by a lucky ranking Ranch hand who rides to each living area and delivers the mail Pony Express style of the Old West. At 1:30, you will once again head to your class/elective that you will be teaching for the afternoon, followed by animal care, and dinner.

After dinner, the kids have a period of free time where you will be assigned a free time area to watch, except on Mondays. On Mondays, the camp gathers for its weekly camp photo/cabin photos. After free time or photos, the camp will meet at a spot for evening activities. Evening activities range from playing games up at the athletic field, to playing Mission Impossible, to Counselor Talent Shows, or the Dating Game. Each night, there will be an evening coffee break before bed. During each coffee break, counselors will work the Sweet Shop on rotating shifts throughout the summer. Lights out is at 9:30 PM for the camp, but as a counselor you are awarded the privilege of staying up until 10 PM. Just kidding! You don’t have a bedtime, but you will find that you will be in bed by 10:30 because you will be exhausted.

Each session of camp will come to a close with the show on Saturday. The show is a chance for the kids to show their parents of all they have learned during the week. Kids can choose or are selected to ride, vault, show a pony, show a chicken or a goat, or ride a sheep. Saturday is another day where everyone is decked out in his or her full Western attire. The Show generally will be done by lunchtime and after lunch, counselors will have a weekly meeting to discuss the past and upcoming week. Then there is cleanup of cabins and animal care before you are done for the day. All counselors get one day off a week, in addition to Saturday night unless you are staying with the kids who are staying for another session of camp.

While I have written copiously about what your schedule would be like as a counselor, I cannot find the words to express all that you will feel as a counselor. It is a fact that you will have played a role in the lives of over 2,000 campers by the end of a summer here at Rawhide Ranch. There will be times when the kids will test your patience when you thought they couldn’t possibly test it anymore, make you laugh until your belly hurts, or make you so frustrated that you literally want to scream, or so proud of them that you feel as if your heart will burst, but in the end, you will be humbled by them and forever thankful to them for giving you a priceless and personally rewarding summer.

Honestly, the time that I have spent at Rawhide Ranch will be one that I will never forget. I had the opportunity to meet, work with, and make friends with people from all over the country and the world. Your co-counselors become something similar to a family because the time you spend here bonds you to each other. After one summer, you will leave knowing you have just been “adopted” into the Rawhide Family. It is not uncommon for people here at Rawhide to learn that counselors who have worked here 2 or 20 years ago are still friends and keep in contact.

Yee-haw!

• To apply online, complete the online application and online background check
• To apply by fax/mail. download and print out the PDF application and Word doc background check and
  • Fax to 760-758-0440
  • Mail to Rawhide Ranch, PO Box 216, Bonsall CA 92003
  • Get Adobe Acrobat for the PDF document

Once we have reviewed your forms we will contact you to set up an interview. Thank you for your interest in working at Rawhide Ranch. If you are selected you will have an experience of a lifetime!

For more information call 760-758-0083 or e-mail jobs@rawhideranch.com