Iron Oak Canyon Ranch

We fared okay through yesterday's storm, but not all ranches did. Here's a GoFundMe from Sweetwater Farms, and Driftwood Ranch down in Imperial Beach has been flooded out, too. Please help if you can!

Sweetwater Farms devastated by flood, organized by Emiley Ainza Hi my name is Emiley, I am fundraising for my families horse ranch. Sweetwater Farm… Emiley Ainza needs your support for Sweetwater Farms devastated by flood

Don't wait til it's too late! The pumpkin patch is open 12-5 Saturday and Sunday, all month long.

We're gearing up for spooky season. Check out last night's harvest moon peeking through our first crop of corn!

The pumpkin patch opens soon. Stay tuned for details!

Iron Oak Canyon Ranch is closed to outside horses until further notice as a result of the Vesicular Stomatitis outbreak. Find more information below, from ECLAP:

Update on Vesicular Stomatitis Outbreak: For Horse and Livestock owners   Update on Vesicular Stomatitis Outbreak: ATTENTION HORSE AND LIVESTOCK OWNERS NEWS UPDATE: On May 17, 2023, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa

Check out the top two from our annual costume contest this morning!

We are closing early today due to this!

We'll be back tomorrow at noon :)

Message us or email [email protected] to sign up. Don't be DEAD last.

Something big is brewing... our pumpkin patch opens this weekend! Come see us from 12pm-5pm today, and every Saturday and Sunday from 12-5, through the rest of October.

PS-- this pumpkin is named Jupiter and currently weighs 63 pounds. Come see the rest of our 'planets' and get a jaw-dropping jack o'lantern for your porch!

Happy belated fifth birthday to Iron Oak Canyon Ranch!

What a journey this has been. When I brought the idea up to my husband in fall of 2016, he agreed-- to my utter shock. Later, he admitted he never thought it would actually happen.

Well, it did, and I remember by the end of 2017, we had a little breathing room, so I made us a new sign. It was cobbled together with craft store supplies and plywood, hand stained and assembled using my calligraphy/lettering experience.

And it was great, until it rained.

The plywood peeled, and the stain faded, and I resurrected it a time or two, but it just got worse again. So this year, for our fifth birthday, I got the ranch a new sign.

I lucked into a bunch of weathered mahogany from a Victorian house nearby, and I designed us a new vector logo online using free software. The only part of the sign I had to pay for was a very talented metal cutter I adore who cut everything out and enameled it for us. (Thanks, Langley Metal Works!). Scott built the backing out of the mahogany, and then, once again, I painstakingly spent hours in our yard in the dark lining everything up.

Then Scott dumped it on accident trying to move the sign and I had to do it all again 😅

But, that's life doing this. You have the best intentions, and the skill, and the wherewithal to get it done, and something else just happens to set you back. There's not enough time. You need supplies. Something out of your control comes along and shoves your priorities around. We rarely get things done when we want to, but starting the sign in May meant that gosh darn it, we had it up in time for August 1st.

We've learned so much the last five years. And it's been incredible, full of joy and tears, gains and losses. Feeling anchored while a storm rages around you and simultaneously battling swamping waves with no life jackets.

I wouldn't trade it, but it's also been the hardest thing I've ever done. Happy birthday, IOCR. Cheers.