Pros
The good - the property. It is beautiful. I had a few reservations about the position I accepted and thought living on the ranch would help offset some of those concerns I had. It did not.
Cons
The bad - the horse program falls under the hospitality side of the operation vs the ranch. You're reporting to upper mgt who know next to nothing about livestock or agriculture. Some individuals seem receptive to learning. Other individuals have little to no interest learning about the animal's care or needs. The ugly - the business model they are currently trying to maintain comes at the direct expense of any consideration placed toward the employee. Changes are made up until the literal last second. Some of this is just due to the nature of guest relations. Some of it is due to the company's incompetence. There's lots and lots of talk of team work but very little action behind those words. The overall morale of the staff was poor when I started. It is now abysmal. We just had over a dozen employees quit within days of each other. Experienced staff with their own thoughts and know-how is not valued. Unskilled, naive college kids are valued. Specifically toward my position - the horses are kept in extremely problematic conditions which border neglect. They live out in dry lot pens 24/7 with a 12x20 loafing shed. That's fine and well. What isn't ok is they are kept at the lowest point in headquarters and any amount of rain other than a quick shower leads to the pens flooding. Even melting snow will result in flooding. The horses are left standing in squalor until it dries or freezes over. The horses initially had the loafing shed to use to stay dry however that too flooded. What they are left to stand in creates festering hoof abscesses and allows for the proliferation of flies which swarm the horses all day long. It's completely embarrassing to have to try to defend this all in front of guests when they ask about it. You think a company like TTR would maintain a functioning and we'll thought out facility for its' animals. Instead, they run it like a backyard petting zoo. As mentioned above, your experience and specific skill set to whatever position you apply for will never be enough. What comes first and is valued above all else if your ability to follow the mindless directions set by upper mgt, even when it goes against your position or program's best interest. Everything about this ranch is "campy". Where they need to spend money, they don't. Instead they place it toward building multi million dollar cabins and lodges that sit empty for weeks or months at a time. It's insane