Women’s Applied Horsemanship & Skill- Building Experience

with Erica Mannix

August 9-13, 2023 | Big Timber, Montana

Five to six hours of saddle time per day | Camp out | Learn to work a cow | Improve your horsemanship skills in diverse settings | Create a leather journal | Ride with a pack string to prairie camp for a night | Take time to relax and grow with like-minded women in the wild Montana landscape! |

What is this fun experience about?!

This experience was designed for horsewomen by horsewomen to provide a supportive, fun space to improve skills and apply them in new ways. We set out to create a space where everyone with a solid foundation is welcome to come, learn, and have fun! We welcome you, wherever you may be in your own horsemanship journey. You bring a hunger for adventure and learning, and we will give you a safe horse, and guided activities in a great ranch setting!

This experience is for you if:

  • You ride fairly regularly (any discipline) and want to learn the fundamentals of low stress stockmanship and working cows.

  • You ride in the arena a lot or on the trail and want to know how to apply your horsemanship skills to doing jobs or riding safely in diverse terrain.

  • You have always wanted to learn how to rope, but never found an environment that is comfortable for you to prepare a horse for the job, prepare your skills and actually pick one up to try.

  • Your growth and learning has been held back by your confidence, and you need to find an environment/ teacher/ trainer that will go at your pace.

  • You are interested in dabbling in other skills like leatherwork and horse & mule packing to see if it’s something you would like to devote more time to.

This experience includes:

  • A supportive environment to work on foundational horsemanship skills with your equine partner for the week - we will meet you where you are at.

  • Saddle time: 5-6 hours per day of diverse activities with your horse that will allow you the opportunity to apply your skills in a new way.

  • Introduction to low-stress stockmanship.

  • Create your own leather journal while learning a few leather working skills with Erica Mannix.

  • Exercises to hone cow working & stockmanship skills on your own and with others. 

  • Nourishing meals, cooked for you.

  • Introduction to roping (no experience necessary) and opportunities to practice from the ground.

  • Collaboratively pack up our gear on mules and ride out to camp as a fun foray into backcountry horse skills for our last night. 

  • Relax and unplug in a quiet, natural setting with some sweet equines, and fun adventurous human companions.

Required minimum riding experience: intermediate rider

  • Morning travel

    • 2:30-3:00 pm arrival

    • Have the chance to orient to facilities and the wonderful humans you will get to spend the next few days with.

    • Meet your horse for the week; spend some time on the basics and getting to know your new equine partner.

    • Spend the night at our home base camp, settle in, and relax with appetizers, dinner, and good company.

  • 7:30 am breakfast

    • 9am - 12pm: Spend your mornings working on the building blocks of horsemanship and stockmanship

    • 12:00pm: lunch

    • 1pm - 3:30pm: spend the afternoons applying the skills riding outside, working over obstacles, and working cattle

    • While we will have plenty of adventures and learning, you will also get time to enjoy this beautiful place and to relax, take a walk, read, or just chat with some new friends.

    • 5-6:30 Appetizers and intro to creating leather journals

    • 6:30 Dinner

  • 9am-11am: We will spend more time with cattle and stockmanship or take some time to address any remaining skills that you would like to practice!

    11am: take down tents, pack up and stage gear for overnight pack trip.

    12pm: lunch

    1pm: packing demo, pack up mules and head out to the prairie camp.

    Arrive at camp by 4:30, Set up equine restraint systems, tents and cook dinner.

    Sleep at the Prairie camp

  • 8:00am Breakfast and closing circle

    We will leave camp by 10am to return back to home base by noon.

    Say farewells with shuttle arriving in Bozeman by 2pm

Program Itinerary

For more information about our camp and amenities, click here.

Meet Erica Mannix!

Erica Mannix grew up on her family’s multi-generation cattle ranch in western Montana. She feels a profound connection to land and ranching, and  a love of wild spaces. In truth she attributes much of that to a deep connection to horses, which have helped shape a life of purpose and allowed her a front row seat to incredible wild landscapes. 

Erica now works back on the family ranch doing any number of ranch related jobs, but her time is largely focused on animal health and stockmanship. For the last 4 years in addition to ranching, she has spent her time doing custom leatherwork, helping mentor ranch apprentices through the Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program, and continuing her own personal horsemanship journey. 

She has been blessed in her life to have found mentors that were willing to share so much time and knowledge with her from colt starting, to reined cow horse training, to low-stress livestock handling. She feels extremely grateful for the opportunity to share some of the lessons she has learned, her connection to horses and livestock, and the wild Montana landscapes with other women. 

Trip & Travel Details

Minimum horseback experience level: intermediate - you have ridden regularly at some point or currently ride fairly regularly.

Airport Shuttle Arrival: Schedule your flight to arrive into Bozeman no later than 12:30pm Wednesday August 9th. We can also pick you up from a Bozeman hotel. We will offer stops at a ranch supply and beverage store if there is interest.

Airport Shuttle Departure: Schedule your flight to depart no earlier than 4pm on Sunday August 13th. We can drop you at the Bozeman airport for an afternoon or evening flight or at a bozeman hotel where you can arrange for a shuttle in the morning.

Booze? You are welcome to byob, and we can make a stop on the way back to the ranch from the airport.

*Airport shuttle is included in this experience for no added fee.

Price: $2,800

This includes all leather and journal supplies to create your own leather journal, cow work and stockmanship workshops, tented accommodations, cooked meals & snacks, your horse for the experience and a small pack trip at the end.

A deposit of half the total cost ($1400) is due to reserve your spot.

Final payment of remaining half ($1400) is due three weeks before your experience.

You are also welcome to submit the full payment at once. To do so, add both the deposit and final payment to your cart.

Refund Policy

Packing in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Reserve your spot

All important trip details including directions to the ranch, packing list, waiver, and questionnaire will be included in a confirmation email received after completing your reservation.