The Ranch and The People
Hanging Ten Ranch, located in Hygiene, Colorado, is an operating small acreage ranch that provides boarding for horses and land management consulting.
Steve Brinkman acquired the Ranch in December of 1994 from its original owner and began studying range management, including Allan Savory's teachings. "It taught me how to gently nudge the land toward achieving my goals of increased productivity, enhanced wildlife habitat, and how to use livestock management as a tool to achieve your goals. I continue to nudge to this day", explains Brinkman. In 1996 he acquired his first American Bison because of their native history to the area, and their impact on the land is more in tune with the local ecology.
Since 2008, the Ranch has had a small horse boarding operation, along with raising grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free beef for friends and family.
Steve Brinkman
Steve grew up in Malibu, CA, where he once rode his horse Ginger (photo circa 1969) to elementary school. His interest in animals and their relation to the land developed while helping with family chores, from raising chickens, sheep, and vegetables when he was not surfing. He received his BA in Geology in 1986 from UC Santa Barbara. Moving to CO for work in the environmental field, he has worked as a Project, Program, and Office Manager for all-sized projects with a wide range of technical challenges. He has specialized in radio isotopic cleanups and real-time data-guided soil remediation and has experience in environmental compliance, health and safety oversight, and regulatory negotiations.
He purchased Hanging Ten Ranch in 1994 and began studying range management, including Allan Savory's teachings. Brinkman continues to devote his time and passion to understanding the interface between healthy pastures and livestock. He has explored the tradeoffs between managing for the pasture vs managing for the livestock. 30+ years of scientific background combined with 25 years of ranch management experience has resulted in a goals-oriented land management approach. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Hygiene Volunteer Department, where he served as a firefighter for 17 years.
Claire McArdle
Claire is an internationally renowned sculptor. She works in her studio at Hanging Ten Ranch and assists with ranch chores. Her high regard for horses has been influenced by her Irish family's history of working with horses in Ireland. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University, she moved to Carrara, Italy, in 1988 to study with the master marble carvers and learn centuries–old production techniques. McArdle's sculptures synthesize elements of traditional classical sculpture with aesthetic qualities found in ancient sculpture, prehistoric art and the European modern masters.
She was included in an exhibit in 2017, Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition, curated by Joseph Bercherer at the Frederik Mejer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI. Her works are in public and private collections throughout the USA, Europe, and Japan. (see more http://www.cmsculpture.com )
