Careers
This work is not just what we do; it is how we strive to live. It is shaped by a daily commitment and devotion molded by purpose, transformation, and growth.
HEROES AND HORSES RANCH MANAGER
The ranch is where our mission lives and breathes at ground level, every single day. Everything we show veterans through experience – facing into the present instead of avoiding it, taking ownership of their lives, finding purpose through challenge – has to already be true of our team. We don’t teach it. We live it, and participants decide what it means for them. The soul doesn’t grow in padded rooms, and neither does a ranch. Both are shaped over time, day after day, through work that rarely asks for applause.
This role calls for someone who cuts no corners and calls the job done only when it’s actually done. Someone who takes full ownership of every choice and every outcome, no exceptions. Someone who manages themselves with the same rigor they bring to managing the herd.
If you lead with radical honesty even when it isn’t easy, if you take full ownership of your choices without looking for someone else to blame, and if you find purpose in the unglamorous, daily work of caring for 80 horses and mules and the land that carries them, we want to talk to you.
The Ranch Manager owns the Double H Ranch and the Double H Equine Program, full stop. That means the pastures, the herd, the training, and the people you lead all reflect the culture you bring to the job. Veterans in our program are here doing the hardest work of their lives, learning to know themselves, to let go of what no longer serves them, to walk into the unknown instead of retreating into comfort. They need to see that same integrity mirrored in the person keeping this ranch running. Volunteers are watching, the horses respond to it, and the land itself never lies about the kind of care it’s getting, any more than the people or animals living on it do. Transformation is 99 percent logistics. When a participant arrives at a ranch that’s clean, orderly, and cared for, that sets the tone before a single word is spoken. The state of this place isn’t cosmetic; it’s the first clue veterans receive about what’s possible for their own lives.
What We Expect From You
Radical honesty. Hard conversations and hard decisions make for an easy life, while easy conversations and easy decisions make for a hard one. We value people who lead with truth, even when it takes courage to say it.
Full responsibility for your life. That means owning your choices and your mistakes, and letting both fuel your growth. We believe in taking 100 percent responsibility, owning it and moving forward.
A life lived on purpose. This ranch exists to help all of us, veterans and staff alike, clarify purpose through hard, honest work, and that starts with how we show up every day.
Leadership that builds other leaders. This ranch runs on ranch hands, cowboys, and volunteers who grow stronger under someone who invests in them. We’re looking for someone who develops people, holds them accountable, gives honest feedback, and helps them become the kind of steady, capable hands this place depends on. Building that team is a core part of this role.
A kind hand with the herd. Our horses and mules are trained through natural horsemanship, built on patience, trust, and partnership. Whoever leads this program carries that same philosophy everywhere, in the round pen and in how they treat every animal and every person on this ranch.
Steadiness in the fire. Growth happens through challenge, on this ranch and in this program, so when things get hard – and on a working ranch they will – we value someone who stays present and grounded, and who can offer that same steadiness to the people they’re leading.
Land stewardship as a calling. This land is beautiful, and it deserves someone who honors it as much as maintains it, someone who feels a real pull to cultivate the pastures, the water, and the ground itself. When you love this land the way we do, it shows in every fence line and every acre.
Care in the details, the kind that shows up as a fence mended before it fails, a limp noticed before it becomes an injury, a conversation had before it turns into a resentment. This job is built on the small things done right, consistently, because the land and the herd reflect the kind of care they’re getting.
Housing and a vehicle are provided as part of this role.
General Duties (not all-inclusive):
- Ranch Management
- Coordinate with the Facilities Manager and CEO to maintain and inspect ranch infrastructure, including dry lots, arenas, pivots, ranch buildings, fences, and roads
- Maintain and inspect ranch vehicles and equipment
- Recommend the purchase of materials, equipment, machinery, and vehicles as needed
- Create and execute a yearly grazing plan for the herd of 100 horses and mules, including monitoring pasture use to ensure proper feeding and rotational grazing
- Incorporate pivot irrigation into the grazing plan
- Equine Herd Administration
- Develop, manage, and adhere to the yearly Equine Budget
- Manage inventory of tack and shoeing supplies
- Maintain the organization’s internal horse administrative infrastructure on the H&H Google Drive, including folders, photos, sale agreements, and Name a Colt information for each horse
- Herd Health
- Respond to acute medical emergencies and coordinate with veterinarians for other health concerns
- Schedule and execute year-round trimmings and shoeing synchronized with the program calendar
- Manage equine health records, Coggins inspections, and related paperwork
- Manage and acquire hay and other feed for livestock as needed
- Herd Training
- Provide expert horse and mule training direction and guidance, grounded in natural horsemanship
- Develop and execute an annual training plan for all horses and mules
- Start and train newly acquired horses, as needed
- Coordinate volunteers and staff for training as needed
- Work with the CEO to acquire and sell horses and mules as needed
- Team Management
- Manage and train ranch hands, cowboys, and volunteers as assigned, developing them into steady, capable hands
- Compliance
- Ensure adherence to NRCS, BLM, and other ag and ranch-related agreements
Qualifications
- Proven experience managing livestock operations, ideally with horses and mules, at scale
- Strong working knowledge of natural horsemanship and a demonstrated ability to train and start horses, including mustangs
- Experience managing ranch infrastructure, equipment, and vehicles
- Financial literacy sufficient to develop and manage an annual budget
- Experience supervising and developing a team, ranch hands, wranglers, or volunteers
- Working knowledge of equine health, veterinary coordination, and required paperwork such as Coggins inspections
- Familiarity with NRCS, BLM, or other agricultural and grazing agreements
- Comfort with basic administrative systems, including managing records and files on shared drives
- Physical ability to perform ranch labor in all seasons and conditions
- Above all, alignment with the culture described above: radical honesty, full ownership, purpose-driven work, and a kind hand with the herd
To apply: send us a resume and a short video, one minute or less, telling us why you want to work at Heroes and Horses. Don’t overthink the video. Raw and honest beats polished every time. Email both to admin@heroesandhorses.org
Thank you for considering joining us on the mission!