Horsemanship at the Rocking Z

The Rocking Z Guest Ranch is located between Great Falls and Helena, just off I-15 a little less than two miles. Typically, you’ll travel quite a distance from the main road to get to some of our ranches but this one is easy access.

When I got to Rocking Z the other day a trail ride was just coming in to the ranch yard. There were great smiles all around! Our weather had been a bit dicey – rain, thunderstorms, drizzle and a bit of sunshine. This ride was lucky to have mostly sunshine. Here’s a happy looking photo of one of the riders and I believe the beautiful white horse was named Storm.

The riders were talking about the great scenery they had seen that day and the awesome horses they had ridden. OK, I was a bit jealous!

Patty and Zack Wirth own the Rocking Z and I think they said they have run it as a guest ranch for thirteen years. The impressive rock canyon known as Wolf Creek canyon is the backdrop for their ranch.

When I said the trail riders all had great smiles, I wasn’t kidding!

Actually, this rider is Patty and Zack’s youngest daughter and this photo is just a glimpse of her at work, sitting atop her horse. Yeah, I’d say she enjoys working at the Rocking Z Guest Ranch!

It was interesting to visit with the guests that week at Rocking Z Guest Ranch. I heard quite a few foreign accents – Germany, France, United Kingdom and one gal said she was from both Ireland and the UK. Patty and Zack have marketed internationally for quite a few years. One of their sons who is an excellent horseman even went to England and participated in a reality-type jousting contest.

There were also two couples from the United States who were repeat guests, a great testimony to the ranch.

Rocking Z is a down-to-earth ranch, not fancy, with million dollar views and well-trained horses.

Horsemanship is key at the Rocking Z and there are several corrals not too far from the main lodge where guests can learn riding techniques.

After the trail ride the other day guests took a break, then mounted their horses again and rode over to one corral to learn how to work cattle. They learned how to do a “roll back” which involved quite a few different things to think about. Then they got to “work cattle”.

Here’s a photo of Anna doing a demonstration of a roll back. She looks great on her horse!

And, it was a great day at Rocking Z.