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RANCH INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Heart Bar Ranch welcomes every year a few select individuals to spend 4 weeks up to 5 months on a real working cattle ranch from late spring, summer until early fall. We do as much as possible horseback and we value a high level of horsemanship and stockmanship. This program will allow you to get professional hands-on experience and get insight in the life on a real working ranch, which is unique and rewarding. 

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We offer 3 different Ranch Intern opportunities:

 

Regular Ranch Intern: pay $1000/month, work and ride when there is work to be done. Room and board will be provided and you can do whatever you like after hours at your own expense. After the first month a Regular Ranch Intern may be invited to be a Waived Fee Ranch Intern. 

 

Waived Fee Ranch Intern: some applicants can convince us that they are special and have their fees waived. Room and board is provided. They work when work needs to be done. Getting the position and keeping this position is based on who is the harder worker, better anticipates requirements, or is easier to get along with. When applying, let us know why you think you would qualify for this opportunity. At any time a Waived Fee Ranch Intern may be invited to pay to become a Regular Ranch Intern or a Ranch Trainee.

 

Ranch Trainee:  pay $2000/month (weekly rates available as well), the trainee arranges their own lodging and provide their own meals. They can choose when and with what they want to participate.  

 

Interns have the option to bring their own horse at a reduced boarding rate.

 

What can you experience and learn?

Every day is different, depending on the season you are here, your experience can include:​

  • Learn about Canadian ranching practices

  • Daily ranch chores and horse care

  • Moving cows

  • Sorting cows

  • Calving cows and heifers

  • Pairing off cow/calf pairs

  • Brandings

  • Learn about recognizing and treating sick cattle

  • Learn about horsemanship

  • Learn about stockmanship (low-stress cattle handling)

  • Learn about rotational grazing

  • Learn about ranch roping

  • Learn about starting and training horses

  • Opportunity to drive/handle tractor/machinery

  • Participate in other chores around the ranch

 

Longer term interns will have more opportunities and gain more privileges than shorter term.

 

Who are we looking for?

  • A good seat and confident in basic riding skills (English or Western) if wanting to ride with us.

  • Good physical condition

  • A good attitude

  • Respectful

  • Willingness to learn and adapt

  • Ability to follow instructions

  • Observant

  • A “what can I help with” attitude

  • Due to the environment, we do require strong understanding and speaking skills of the English language. However, it doesn’t need to be perfect or be your first language.

  • No smoking/vaping/drugs permitted

 

Life on the ranch:

Interns usually stay in our RV. We can also provide space for your own RV if own one.

 

We live close to a small town. If you don’t have your own transportation, we do have a bicycle available if you want to go to town. Elk Island National Park is about 20 min drive from here, and Blackfoot Provincial park is about 10 min from here. We live about 50min from Edmonton. During the summer there are lots of rodeos in the area.

 

Public transport is pretty much non-existent, so if you want to go out and see things, you might want to either rent a car or buy one, or do your sightseeing before/after you come to our place.

 

We do pick up/drop off from the Edmonton airport. This has to be arranged ahead of time and day/time be confirmed with us. You can also arrange pick up/drop off with a taxi service.

 

How to apply?

Do you have the passion and dedication to be a cowboy or cowgirl and want to learn all about it? We would love to hear from you! Please send us an e-mail and tell us in which opportunity you are interested in and include the dates you are considering. Tell us something about yourself, and why you think you would fit in here. 

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