March Recap [Story]
Good day and hello from West Crescent Ranch in Nokesville, VA with our end-of-March story.
First, let me apologize for the lack of mid-March story as I was on an assignment with the Department of the Army. The good news, as part of that assignment WAY WAY out west, I was able to stop in Hawaii, that is right Hawaii, and visit Kualoa Ranch, on the island of Oahu.
What a great ranch, that has many activities for visitors. I was of course interested in their horse effort and how they care for, manage and train over 100 horses.
I regret some of the videos are not better quality, but being on the back of a horse and keeping my focus on the horse, its ears in particular, the video is sometime a little shaky!
The history of the ranch is as varied as the geography. Of particular interest are stories of its involvement in WW II, how horses came to the island, the legend of the turtle, and the rich history of Aunty Pat’s kitchen.
The ranch’s owners struggle when the cattle industry declined but thanks to the efforts of the owners, they have many activities that one can enjoy! It is a beautiful horse ranch.
We traveled past the concrete bunkers, most overgrown now, the Army used as look-out points shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although the trees had grown in height significantly, now obstructing the view, the observers certainly had a grand view of any possible invaders approaching form the east side of the island.
You might ask how horses came to the island and here is the video showing the history of horses on the ranch. Well it is a wonderful story best captured on the plaques I too a video of and here is the history.
A historic kitchen, Aunty Pat’s cafe provides a great menu, of which I enjoyed the delicious BBQ. Here is the story of the kitchen’s founder.
The horses are well cared for and I enjoyed a two-hour trail ride. I was able to visit with some of the hands. They all enjoyed their jobs and certainly always had the interest of the horses first and foremost in their daily routine.
The young lady who guided us on the tour was passionate about horses, and shared with us her knowledge of the ranch and the different piece of geography. For example the trail ride took us past the valley where two movies were filmed in part, Lost and Jurassic Park. We even rode past the “tree” where the actors ducked for cover as the dinos jumped over the tree. Strangely though, the dinos were gone from the valley! I guess they were either back on Hollywood or taking a nap!
The horses are well cared for and are rotated through the trail ride effort. I looked closely as the hooves and they were in good shape and the horses were well fed. I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the people caring for the horses. Young man and women, passionate about horses, were very attentive to the horses and ensured they were well groomed. The ranch has a full time vet and farrier who provide great care for the horses. In all, their program is top notch and I was able to take a couple of hints back to my ranch in Nokesville.
Of course no island is complete without a legend, in this case the Legend of the Turtle Island. The legend holds that a turtle lived off the coast of Oahu, protect the island and enjoyed favor of the gods because he protected the island. He continued to grow and continued to grow and eat more fish. He got too big and began to eat to too many fish and the gods were not happy. When he got as big as you see him in the picture the he had to go farther a farther away from the island to get enough to eat and the gods were unhappy and intervened and told him not to leave the waters of the island, as he was to guard the island. He refused the gods and the gods grabbed his tail and tied it to the island as he was chasing food and there he sit today still protecting the island and trying to catch his next meal!
Well that is a little of my trip to Kualoa ranch in Hawaii! Here are a few videos that show the beauty of the Pacific Ocean and the island. I hope someday you can visit the ranch and enjoy its beauty, many activities, and the horses! God bless them for providing a safe and wonderful environment where people can enjoy the love of riding a horse and the horses can live lovin’ life! I love America!
A good point of contact is kpadeken@kualoaranch.com.
REMINDER!!!
Our open house is April 23rd, and the Christian based horsemanship week-long clinics are 27 June-1 July, 4-8 July and 1-5 Aug.
As always, come by and visit us at one of our events and God bless you and America!
www.westcrescentranch.com
Peter and Karen