"Now Ya'll Listen Up Here!" Dave Says On Top Of Zip While Directing The 2006 Taylorsville 4th Of July Parade
THE WALKING G RANCH AND SUMMER CAMP
The Walking G Ranch is literally a dream ranch! As a small boy on a horse farm near Newport, RI, I dreamed of having a horse ranch out West where you could ride the trail for days without hitting a fence. My dream ranch had beautiful, well fed horses, cattle, and all sorts of animals. It had lush green pastures, a river to swim in, and watering holes to fish in. After leaving home at the age of 18, I made my way west by working on ranches and traveling through all the Western states. On August 16th, 1950, my search finally came to an end in the California Genesee Valley. Soon after settling down on this dream ranch we call the Walking G, I thought how much I would have enjoyed spending some time on a ranch like this when I was a child. Watching my own children grow up on the ranch, I knew that we should share this experience with others. In June of 1957, we started the Walking G Ranch Camp with five children for one month. The emphasis then, as it is now, was a family atmosphere. We have kept our enrollment small so as to preserve the family atmosphere and allow us to get to know each camper as an individual. Each child that comes to the Walking G Ranch soon realizes that they are not just another camper, but someone very special to all of us. Here on the Walking G Ranch, my grandchildren, my children, and myself, along with all the counselors work hard at what we enjoy most . . .
MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE!
WHAT IS THE WALKING G?
I am often asked where we got the name Walking G. While making my way out West, I decided that I wanted to raise Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses. I managed to get work with some of the leading breeders of that time by going to each breeds centers. I did some "horse tradin" to accumulate a foundation of breeding stock. At this time my ranch was still a dream. So I pastured my growing band of horses on the huge Antlers Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. The Antlers Ranch covers many thousands of acres, much of it open range, so that horses had to be branded for identification. At the time I called my outfit the Gypsy Ranch. I called it this because I was very similar to a traveling Gypsy with many of my horses scattered in various ranches through out the western states. When I finally put my roots down, the name was changed to Walking G which represented a gypsy whose legs are always walking with travel to new places and exciting experiences.
We don't brand our horses anymore. But we do have the Walking G on the back of our racing silks and we often have the pleasure and excitement of watching some of our homebred race horses carry the kelly green and white colors with the big Walking G right to the winner's circle! The campers will help feed and train a future winner during camp this very summer!