Inspired by life lessons learned while his father-in-law battled Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, bridle-free ranch horseman Luke Reinbold says the goal of working successfully with horses and their people, “Is to keep the main things a priority – God, family, life together, training horses, raising cattle, and helping people.”
Since losing his wife’s father and a cherished mentor in 2009, those have been the priorities that have kept Luke, Tiffany, and the four Reinbold children – Chase, Cody, Annaliese, and Hailey – riding forward.
“Our first son was born while I was working full-time with the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office and building the ranch with Tiffany’s father,” Luke said. “He would have wanted us to keep pushing forward. So after resetting, we continued. There were horses to train and dreams to fulfill.”
Luke Reinbold Horsemanship’s social media numbers have made him a serious influencer in the industry, while simultaneously breaking ground in tourism, giving more people chances to ride in his confidence-building clinics and ranch camps by working in conjunction with a horseback-specific travel agency, Active Riding Trips, to coordinate Confidence Through Horsemanship clinics at the Kay El Bar Guest Ranch.
A History of the Kay El Bar
Homesteaded in 1909 by 18-year-old Romaine Lowdermilk, at $1.25 for each of its original 160 acres, he named the ranch KL Bar in honor of his mother, Katherine. Its cattle brand was registered in 1909 and the ranch eventually grew to 640 acres. In 1914, the first adobe building (currently the Homestead House guest casita) became the ranch headquarters and bunkhouse.
Romaine also became a writer and Western entertainer, publishing a weekly “wit and wisdom” column for a Prescott newspaper that led to the ranch’s first paying guests in 1918, after his editor visited and began spreading the word about their great stay at the Kay El Bar.
By 1925, Romaine was joined by business partner, Henry Warbasse, and, after construction of a new adobe lodge, the Kay El Bar Guest Ranch opened in 1926. The next season, Romaine sold out his share and Henry went on to be elected first president of the Arizona Dude and Guest Ranch Association in 1929.
The Kay El Bar was briefly home to actor Val Kilmer and has been listed on the Arizona and National Historic Registers since the 1970s. After a brief series of owners, it resumed operations in all its original guest ranch glory in 2018, on its 100th anniversary, as part of the award-winning True Ranch Collection.
Confidence Through Horsemanship
For the kind of souvenir – better understanding of how you and your horse respond to anxiety – that lasts longer than a kitchen magnet, try a Confidence Through Horsemanship clinic or Ranch Camp.
The Confidence Through Horsemanship experience opens with a meet-and-greet with Luke and the other guests, then explains groundwork before working on body control under saddle, riding with softness, and rating speed. This is where you will not only learn tactics and principles, but the reasoning behind them. Perfect for those seeking to address anxiety and understand how tension transfers to their horse.
Or try a Ranch Camp to gain techniques that will give you the added confidence to try new things on steadfast ranch horses, and learn how to become more effective when communicating with your own horse.
“You will be hard-pressed to have more fun anywhere else,” said Active Riding Trips president Stacey Adams, who worked and rode with the upstate New York rancher to bring him to Arizona. “Feel how ranch life gets a horse quiet, composed, and ready to work. Plus, there’s great trail riding.”
A trip that makes good horse sense. Learn more about Luke Reinbold clinics and camps at the Kay El Bar Guest Ranch at activeridingtrips.com.
