Young Entrepreneur Leads the Way for Women in a Cowboy’s World

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. - Nov. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- Becky Atnip Damman, known as “Bex” to her friends, walks and talks like a Colorado cowgirl, but Colorado is not where she lived when she began her journey to become the youngest ranch owner in the history of dude ranching.

There are only a few ways to get into the dude ranching world.  Owners typically have either inherited the ranch or bought it after years of financial success in a different part of their lives. But Becky’s story is unique.

When she was the ripe old age of eight her parents travelled with Becky and her sister from Greenfield, Tennessee, to a dude ranch near Gunnison.  It was there that she started dreaming of a life on horseback.  She persuaded her family to take her dude ranching again, and then, when she was 17, Becky began working every summer as a wrangler, leading trail rides and entertaining guests from all over the world at Powderhorn Guest Ranch and then Rainbow Trout Ranch near Alamosa, Colorado.  In her “winter life,” she attended Rhodes College in Memphis for a degree in Religious Studies, received her Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration, and spent two years assistant coaching women’s basketball at the collegiate level.

But even during her months as an assistant basketball coach, she yearned to get back to the mountains. She dreamed of the high country snow, the aspens coloring the remote San Juans, and the smell of wet leather from summer storms. The opportunity arose for Becky to lease and operate a dude ranch for a year in central Colorado called Tarryall River Ranch, and she grabbed it, leaving the sport of basketball behind. The chance to run a ranch became a full-time commitment.

Toward the end of her lease, the Elk River Guest Ranch (Visit www.elkrivergr.com for more information) near Steamboat Springs came on the market, and, at the age of 26, Becky became the youngest Colorado dude ranch owner in history. The little eight year-old girl achieved her dream of living, working and riding with horses. What she didn’t know at eight was that dude ranching is far more than horseback riding in the mountains. In fact, it’s a lifestyle that’s a whole lot more about people than it is about horses.

And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her family’s trips to Colorado planted western memories that inspire her to this day. But even more importantly, those memories motivate her to recreate that same sense of awe among her guests that she knew as a child. She wants her guests, both young and old, to love the mountains as much as she does. She wants her guests to bond with their horses in ways that enrich their lives. She wants to inspire new generations of young women looking to build their dreams in the world of dude ranching.