Son Bride Ranch was founded by Ramico and Sue Lyn Blackmon. Ramico has spent much of his life as a mentor and coach having trained school-aged, collegiate, world class, and professional athletes. He also was a resident at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) for 10 years in which he competed and finished his career as an accomplished Olympic level wrestler and later a professional MMA fighter. During
his time at the OTC, he saw a great need to empower athletes. In addition, he spent seven years in the social work field where he saw an even greater need to empower children and their families. His passion to work with horses began as a child when he began to ride at his aunt’s horse boarding facility. Consequently, a vision was spawn to use horsemanship as a tool to illustrate a relationship with Christ. Sue Lyn grew up herding cattle on a working cattle ranch owned and operated by her family in NE. She has worked with children for 14 years as a teacher with a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Special Education. She, too, has come from an athletic background as a Nebraska Husker Cheerleader and has coached many through the National Cheerleader's Association (NCA). Together they have combined almost 50 years of working with children, their families, athletes, and the horses they love. Horses and humans both come into this world with parallel fears, trust issues, strengths, and weaknesses. At Son Bride Ranch, we use horsemanship to show people how humans (horse trainers) resolve these in horses and how Christ resolves them in humans in an effort for our guests to see who they really are…champions destined to succeed at what they desire to and are committed to succeed at. Most people would agree that we rise and fall based on the relationships that we have or do not have with others. Furthermore, children and young adults alike are witnessing and enduring more and more broken relationships which is a breeding ground for fear, anxiety, depression, lack of trust, low self-esteem, and a sense of worthlessness. Unfortunately, even the greatest athletes in the world do not rest exempt from this gradual decay nor the cause of it. Ultimately, these broken relationships give children and all other victims of broken relationships a skewed and false image of our Heavenly Father’s intended relationship with them. Son Bride Ranch exists to stand in the gap where children and their families have experienced so many broken relationships that have led them in a struggle to see Christ as a loving Savior and God as a loving Father. Children quickly learn that our horses aren’t judging their aptitude to perform in academics or sports. They come to know that the horses don’t care what brand of clothes they’re wearing or what size of house they live in. Horses don’t judge they’re way of life, decision making, nor their outward appearance. Consequently, they never experience guilt, shame, or condemnation about those things when around these animals. Therefore, they get to experience and see a template of what a true relationship with Christ is like: no guilt, shame, or condemnation. In turn, the doors open to share Christ, the love of the Father, and all the good He intends for them. Our vision is to see our guests at Son Bride Ranch come to know their Creator as a loving Father who does not, will not, nor cannot condemn them because of the work of Christ on the cross for the purpose of empowering them to discover and fulfill their God-given destinies.
