Bright Star Ranch

06/25/2026

We are reaching out to our Bright Star family and friends today to help us with something that is dear to our hearts and we know will be to yours as well...help for our sweet Sophie!

If you've been at the ranch any time in the last year or so, you've seen how hard it has been for us to keep weight on Sophie despite the extra supplements and efforts. The last few months she has gotten even worse. 🥹 (She has even started losing her sight.) The GOOD NEWS is, her blood work came back showing no more EPM 🙌 and with a procedure yesterday and a complete change in diet, we should see her gain weight back and possibly even reverse some of the sight damage. ❤️

Of course, with the good news comes the cost of the vet visits, procedure and special diet for the foreseeable future. Sophie has touched so many lives and her mission is not over yet. Her spirit is full of independence and determination (which is why she's perfect for the job here at Bright Star!)

If you would like to donate and help take care of sweet Sophie so she can continue to bless the people who need her at Bright Star Ranch, you can do so on our website (www.brightstartanch.net/donate), through PayPal.me/brightstarranch or Venmo (-star-ranch). Put Sophie in the comments and we'll make sure it goes directly to her care!

06/23/2026

Last week, we got some new props and began to desensitize Simon to a few of them. The first one took him some time to get used to and go through, but with patience and the right teaching methods, he did go through it several times! 🎉

Next, we took the SAME prop and turned it on its side. All of the sudden, we were back to square one. Simon refused to go through it and needed to start the process over.

It's funny how looking at something from a different perspective can make you feel completely different about a situation. In this case, the change in perspective made him feel uncomfortable, unsafe, etc. But sometimes, when we will simply look at something from a different perspective, we can gain a better understanding and therefore relate to people in a way that wasn't possible before.

06/17/2026

We wrapped up the last day of our camp season today and had fun doing it! We got to play with the new props that the crew from Mortenson made for us last night.

The first two pics show a couple of ways we can use the two stands they made. But, there are actually SO many more ways that you'll see us use these in the future because they're very versatile! It took a few minutes to desensitize Simon to it but he went through it multiple times ...until we put the stands down horizontally. That's going to be another desensitizing session. 🤣

He warmed up to the bridge pretty quickly and when we added the ground pole for the seesaw effect, he handled it like a champ!

We now have 12 cavalettis to create a variety of ground pole obstacles and there's even a 5 ft tall mailbox that the participants can "drive" right up to during lessons.

It's like Christmas around the ranch!

06/17/2026

This evening, we had a group of people from Mortenson, who are working at the Meta data center site, come out to the ranch and build some new props for us! They asked us for some suggestions and made it happen. It was great meeting such nice people with awesome talents and seeing them use those talents to help others in the community. We can't thank them enough for their generosity. Just know that everything will be well used!

We can't wait to reveal what all was made to our campers tomorrow and then share with everyone else. So stay tuned...

06/16/2026

The last camp that we do is for some of the kids who have been to camp multiple years in a row. One of these campers has been to camp EVERY year that we've had one!

We like being able to teach more in depth horsemanship skills to them after they've established a great base with the other camps. Today, we were thankful the rain held off for the most part!

And we can always count on Chi to flirt with the girls. 😍

06/10/2026

Chi joined us for the last day of camp 2. Although I'm sure he prefers being the greeter, he did a great job with the leading exercises today. He especially liked the treats afterwards!😋

Of course, Freedom always enjoys a good spa day before the rides begin!

06/09/2026

Today, we practiced safety, horsemanship, teamwork and tried some new things. Everyone had a great time learning how to safely handle a horse and getting to practice with Simon. I think Simon enjoyed making all these new friends too. (They're already planning Summer Camp 2, which is apparently what we're calling it when they come next year! 😂)

06/08/2026

Camp 2, Day 1.
We finally got a boy in the mix. 🤣 This year has been all girls so far. We learned some basic safety rules, parts of a horse and got to bathe a horse. (After which, Mrs. Nikki needed a bath too!! Poor Sophie is still shedding some winter hair and I ended up wearing most of it. This was after I got a bunch off. 😬)

06/06/2026

It's that time of year! Time to start gathering all of our wonderful vendors for our 2nd annual Holly Days Festival on Nov. 21, 2026 from 10-4! If you have a business that sells handmade goods and are interested in participating in an event that not only supports individuals and families in our community but has some wonderful scenery and a great group of people to help you from start to finish, then THIS is the perfect event for you!!

We are offering an early bird pricing for those who register before August. So, sign up now and save some 💲.

Click the link 👇 to sign up.

Event Information: November 21, 2026; 10 am - 4 pm Event Address: 1416 Rowland Rd., Monroe, LA 71203 Contact us at (318) 667-8271 or [email protected] *Each vendor booth will be a 10x10 space. Vendors are responsible for providing their own tent (most spaces will be covered by our aren...

06/03/2026

As we close out the first week of camp, I have to say that this has been such a fun, sweet group! When you have an odd number, it's really easy for someone to get left out but these girls have gotten along SO well all week long. They have paired off in various ways with ease and have ultimately been the best little group of friends.