Rugged Mountain Outfitters

06/17/2026

Day three of the Backcountry Horsemanship and Wilderness Medicine Course and the pack animals came into the picture.

The morning was dedicated to pack animal operations, covering all the equipment used to get a load into the backcountry and keep it there safely. Students got hands on with decker and sawbuck saddles, soft and hard sided panniers, and manty loads, learning how to properly pack, balance, and secure each configuration. They also worked through three of the most important hitches in pack animal operations, the barrel, basket, and box hitch, and practiced manty load tying from start to finish.

The afternoon shifted to a full block on environmental injuries, covering the full spectrum of what the mountains can throw at you. Cold weather injuries including hypothermia recognition and management and frostbite treatment, heat related illness from cramps and exhaustion all the way to heat stroke, lightning strike management, plant related injuries, and altitude illness covering acute mountain sickness, high altitude pulmonary edema, and high altitude cerebral edema. By the end of day three students could pack a mule and recognize life threatening environmental conditions in the field.

06/17/2026

Pack and Purpose is open to veterans of all branches and eras, and it is also open to Gold Star families who are still searching for connection after loss.

If you lost someone who served and you have been searching for a way to be around people who carry the same weight and speak the same language without having to explain it, this weekend was built with you in mind just as much as it was built for the veteran sitting next to you around that fire. The work is real, the setting is genuine, and Golden Forge Ranch sits on 170 acres of Colorado land that has a way of putting things in perspective. For the weekend of July 10-12, 2026, it becomes wall tent camp, a working corral, and the kind of place where something real can happen if you are willing to show up for it.

Heroes' Harvests built this program around Mission, Skill, and Tribe because those are the three things that hold people together and the three things that transition, loss, and time have a way of pulling apart. Food, accommodations, and all equipment are provided free of charge to every participant, and the only thing not covered is travel to and from the ranch, which is on each participant to arrange. No riding experience required and no fitness test. HūmnKnd Films will be on site to document the weekend and tell the story the way it deserves to be told. Space is limited to five participants and applications close June 30th at www.heroesharvests.org/upcomingevents.

06/16/2026

Day two of the Backcountry Horsemanship and Wilderness Medicine Course and students got their first real time in the saddle.

The morning covered everything you need to know before you ever ask a horse to move out, properly sizing and fitting a saddle to the horse, applying a bridle and getting the bit seated correctly, and making sure all your tack is fitted and secure before you mount up. From there the group worked through proper mounting and dismounting, riding posture and balance, using body cues and rein control to communicate with the horse, and what to do when a horse gets spooked or decides it wants to test you. Knowing how to handle a horse that gets spicy in the mountains is not optional, and the group got solid instruction on how to stay in control when things get unpredictable.

The afternoon medical block covered musculoskeletal injuries and field evacuation, walking through how to assess and manage fractures and soft tissue injuries in the backcountry, hands-on splinting with improvised materials, and the patient movement skills needed to get someone out when you are miles from help.

06/15/2026

Day one of the Backcountry Horsemanship and Wilderness Medicine Course. Students kicked things off at Golden Forge Ranch near Guffey, Colorado, owned by Suzi McKinley, with a combined safety briefing covering both equine and medical protocols before getting into the first horsemanship block. The morning covered horse psychology and behavior, proper approach and handling techniques, grooming basics, basic health checks, and how to recognize when an animal is stressed or uncomfortable. Students also got hands on with all the equipment they would be using throughout the week, saddles, bridles, halters, lead ropes, and grooming gear, along with the knots and hitches used to properly secure horses to a trailer or post.

The afternoon shifted to wilderness medicine, starting with the core principles of how backcountry medical care differs from conventional emergency medicine, then moving into patient assessment and hemorrhage control. Students worked through tourniquet application, wound packing, pressure dressings, hemostatic agents, and managing impaled objects and animal bites. Solid first day and a strong foundation for everything that follows.

06/15/2026

There is something that happens when you put a person back in creation and give them something hard to do, and if you have spent any time around veterans who have found their footing again after transition, you have probably seen it.

The noise quiets, the weight shifts, and things that felt stuck for years start to move in ways that no program or seminar ever managed to move them. That is the conviction behind everything Heroes' Harvests builds. Pack and Purpose is grounded in faith in the Lord and the belief that healing is not passive, that it does not happen in a waiting room, but when you are standing in a corral at first light earning the trust of an animal that does not care about your rank or your resume, only your presence and your patience. When you are tired and the work is not done and you do the work anyway, because that is who you are and this weekend is built to trust you with exactly that.

Veterans do not need to be coddled. They need to be trusted with something hard again, and Pack and Purpose is two days of real work in the Colorado mountains with wall tent camp, horses, a pack string, and a small group of people who have all been through the same transition and are ready to do something about it. HūmnKnd Films will be on site the full weekend documenting the story the way it deserves to be told. Food, accommodations, and all equipment are provided free of charge, and the only cost to participants is travel to and from the ranch. Space is limited to five people and applications close June 30th at www.heroesharvests.org/upcomingevents.

06/14/2026

06/12/2026

Pack animal operations have been part of special operations logistics for generations, and for good reason.

Horses and mules can move through terrain that no vehicle, drone, or supply chain can reach. Knowing how to work them, load them, and move with them is a skill set that very few people carry anymore, and it is one of the core things Pack and Purpose is built to teach. Over two days at Golden Forge Ranch in Colorado, participants will learn panniers, mantys, rigging, load planning, weight distribution, and basic and advanced hitches and knots, all of it hands-on in real terrain alongside real animals. This is not a demonstration or a guided tour. It is a working program built for people who learn by doing, and it draws directly from the same traditions that have made pack animal operations a cornerstone of backcountry military logistics.

Beyond the technical skills, you will spend time in the saddle on trail rides that put everything to work in context. Heroes' Harvests built this program for veterans and Gold Star families, and every part of it is free of charge to participants.

Five spots, applications close June 30th. www.heroesharvests.org/upcomingevents

06/09/2026

Here is what the Pack and Purpose weekend actually looks like from start to finish.

You arrive Friday evening at Golden Forge Ranch, check into wall tent camp, sit down for a meal, and spend the night around the fire getting to know the people you are about to work alongside. No agenda, no ice breakers, just a fire and a conversation that sets the tone for everything that follows. Saturday morning starts early with optional barn chores for those who want them, a hearty camp breakfast, and then you meet your horse. Each participant is assigned a horse partner for the full weekend, and the morning is spent on the ground learning to read that animal, earn its trust, and build a working partnership before you ever get in the saddle. The afternoon shifts to mounted fundamentals, a trail ride putting those skills to work in real terrain, and then an introduction to pack animal operations covering equipment, load planning, hitches, and knots, all hands-on.

Sunday builds on everything from Saturday. The morning pushes your riding further and the pack animal work goes deeper, this time packing the animals as a team with problem-solving scenarios and advanced techniques. The afternoon is the capstone, a trail ride with a full pack string.. The weekend closes with an After Action Review, a group photo, and something real to carry forward.

Five spots, applications close June 30th at www.heroesharvests.org/upcomingevents.

06/02/2026

Camp is set and we are ready to go. Wall tents are up, the corral is ready for the horses, and participants arrive Sunday for the June 8-12 Backcountry Horsemanship and Wilderness Medicine course here at Golden Forge Ranch in the Colorado Rockies.

A huge thank you to Suzi McKinley and the entire Golden Forge Ranch team for hosting this training and providing us the land and support to make this happen. We could not do this without you.

If you have been putting this off, spots are still available. This is a five-day intensive program developed in collaboration with Orion Medical Consulting that prepares outfitters, guides, hunters, search and rescue personnel, and anyone working in remote terrain with the integrated horsemanship and wilderness medical skills to handle emergencies when help is hours away.

For registration instructions, contact [email protected].