Holly McLain

 

Owner of Rumble Ridge, a private boarding and training center in Missouri Heights, Carbondale, Colorado.

 

I am a lifelong equestrian. During my young competitive career, I rode American Quarter Horse Champions at my family’s Willow Brook Farms in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. In college I switched to hunters and jumpers and won the 1969, “1st year Green Hunter Horse of the Year”, National Champion with the great horse, Castle Walk.

 

In 1973 I stopped competing and moved to Aspen, Colorado to ski for one winter and I never left.  In 1974 I bought raw land at the end of the Snowmass Creek Valley.

My husband and I operated Moon Run Ranch, which was surrounded by wilderness, the perfect place to offer pack trips into the Snowmass / Maroon Wilderness for tourists and locals alike. I sold the ranch in 2014 and moved to Rumble Ridge Ranch in Missouri Heights.

 

Now that I am older, I enjoy riding my horses on our valley’s high country trails. As an environmentalist and advocate for our wildlife, we horseback riders and hikers are slow moving trail users. We enjoy a peaceful walking experience. Going slow gives us the opportunity to notice beautiful wild flowers, bird's sounds and flights, and we often stop to watch the calm passage of our wildlife.

 

I joined the non-profit Roaring Fork Valley Horse Council (RFVHC) in 2005 as their Communication Chairman. I work with the Horse Council to designate some trials for hikers and horses only, without fast moving mountain bikes. We advocate for critical winter range closures on wildlife habitat open space lands. For me personally, wildlife is a priority. We are losing them. Climate change, predation, human development and recreation are all taking a toll.

 

Horse care and people’s safety at my Rumble Ridge Ranch is my prime concern.