After an extensive eight hours at school every day, many students and teachers would go home and live ordinary lives with every-day activities like doing homework, completing chores, and cooking dinner. For Spanish teacher and tennis coach Rebekah Newell, things look a little bit different for her and her family on Broken Wire Ranch.
Broken Wire Ranch is located in Orange off of FM 1136. Newell and her family own and maintain the ranch. The ranch recently opened to the public and has numerous opportunities for recreational activities when they are open.
“The Broken Wire Ranch was established in 1998,” Newell said. “My family bought land, built a house on it, and expanded it over the years into what it is today. It has been open to the public since earlier this year. We are open to the public once a month on Saturdays.”
Maintaining a ranch is not an easy task, but Newell and her family get it done. There are over 100 animals on the ranch, and each of them eats a variety of different foods. It is challenging, but it keeps them busy every day, and it is rewarding in the end.
“Ranch life is pretty busy and does require a lot of work,” Newell said. “My dad is always working on a project as well, whether it’s dirt work, yard work, or building new fences and pens for the animals. He and my mom recently designed and built a rain catcher barrel system to water the animals.”
Owning a ranch also comes with owning and maintaining lots of different animals, and Broken Wire Ranch is no exception. With how many there are to keep up with, Newell sometimes cannot name all of the different animal varieties on the ranch.
“There are a lot of different kinds of animals on the ranch,” Newell said. “We have llamas, emus, donkeys, horses, mini ponies, highland cows, angus cattle, longhorn cows, turkeys, peacocks, ducks, chickens, rabbits, and goats.”
When the ranch is open to the public during their once-a-month events, it is open between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Tickets to enter the ranch are $10 per person, but they occasionally do ticket giveaways and have special offers on their Facebook page. The ranch offers a variety of fun activities for both children and adults.
“The ranch has a lot of fun, family-friendly activities,” Newell said. “The visitors interact with and feed the animals, go on carriage rides, fish in the pond, play in the sand pit, visit the general store, play with the homemade bubble mixture, and just hang out in the beautiful serenity of nature.”
Being able to appreciate the beauty of nature is a great opportunity and experience. Taking care of all of the animals is challenging, but ranch life is rewarding at the end of the day.
“My family always wanted to be on a lot of land and in the country, away from the busy hustle and bustle of city life.” Newell said. “Raising a family in the quietness and calm of the country gives kids a place to run around and stay busy outside in the sunshine. A ranch is always a family-friendly environment.”
