COWPOKE KIDS ARE our future generation

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Owning any type of animal is a a serious life-long commitment.  To help educate our future generation, Castlewood offers a robust CowPoke Kids program. We want to get kids off computing devices and into the outdoors  learning about Ranch Life and responsible humane animal stewardship. 

Learning about equines and the tremendous amount of work needed to properly care for them builds a foundation of lifelong respect for the commitment to animal ownership. It is our goal to help kids become life long responsible, safe and compassionate stewards  of animals and the environment.

Our rescues need love and attention while waiting for their forever homes. Our CowPoke Kids help provide that care, while learning about responsible ownership, husbandry, ranch chores and in some cases riding skills.  It's a win-win for our rescues and the CowPoke Kids that  help with their care.

Cowpoke Camp is our intensive equine learning program for kids 5 years and up.  Join us in learning all about horses, horsemanship, and safety.  Basic riding skills will be introduced but riding skills will not be mastered in this short multi-day summer program.  Kids can repeat CowPoke Camp as many times as they want to reinforce skills learned. 

Fees vary based on length of Camp. Check our Events Calendar for upcoming CowPoke Kids Camps or call us for more information.

 A portion of the participation fees collected support the Rescue! 

Once kids have successfully graduated from CowPoke Kids Camp, and shown maturity around horses, they can participate in our CowPoke Kids Club.  The Club is a scheduled drop-off program where they can continue their learning about ranch life (and responsibilities) in a supportive safe environment with other kids.   Not all kids will be eligible to participate in this program.  Maturity, safety and ability to follow directions are key to graduating to this level of participation. 

The fee for CowPoke Kids Club is $100 per month to help sponsor one of the rescued horses.  Kids will be assigned one equine to groom and care for -which includes stall cleaning and sweeping mats.   100% of the sponsor fee goes toward the care of the rescued animal.

Our CowPoke Leaders help us with CowPoke Kids Club.  They have graduated through our program, or have  gained skill from other training programs and have demonstrated substantial maturity, safety and responsibility around horses.  By working with younger or less-skilled riders, they learn leadership and mentoring skills.  CowPoke Leaders must demonstrate solid skills on the ground and under saddle before graduating to this level. 

Do you want to put a smile on your child's face for his or her birthday? We can help you plan something special. We can provide summer bookings of our outdoor facilities. which can include structured pony rides in our 60' Round Pen.  Popcorn and cotton candy machines,  jump house, tables and chairs are available for rental.  We do not allow outside vendors or provide food. Onsite BBQs are permitted. Fees vary based on number of people, date time and services requested.

Have kids that love animals, but are not ready to ride? We can still host birthday parties with access to a variety of ranch animals including mini horses,  donkeys, goats, pigs and chickens.  Sorry, we only offer on site programming.  We do not transport our animals off site.  Again fees vary, please contact us for more information.