Sagebrush Ranch moves to reservation

Encroaching houses convince owner to relocate business

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After seven years providing local residents with an equine escape on the outskirts of town, the popular Sagebrush Ranch has moved even farther away from the hustle and bustle.

The "ranch with all the pretty horses," formerly of Ann Road west of the Las Vegas Beltway, relocated this spring to 50 acres of leased land on the Paiute Indian Reservation near Moapa.

"Progress was catching up with us (on Ann Road)," Sagebrush owner Jacque Fitzgerald said, referring to bustling development in the northwest part of the valley. "That land will be developed eventually."

So Fitzgerald, a self-described "lifetime horsewoman," packed up her 130 horses and hit the trail. Her new ranch is more than triple the size of the northwest Vegas Bureau of Land Management land she had rented by way of a recreational permit.

"We've got a lot more land," Fitzgerald said. "We've got the 50 acres plus the trails throughout the reservation. We're not utilizing the whole 50 acres yet. We have our regular stuff, plus in the future we plan to expand."

The ranch's "regular stuff" includes horseback riding lessons, trail rides, children's horse camps, and special holiday rides, such as a Valentine's Day sunset dinner ride and a Christmastime horse-drawn wagon ride.

The ranch also boards horses for students and employees.

In addition to having a lot more range to roam at its new location, Fitzgerald said the ranch benefits from the Paiute tribe's offer of a long-term lease.

"We're working on a 25-year contract," Fitzgerald said.

Phil Swain, the Moapa tribal chairman, said Fitzgerald may very well end up with an even longer lease.

"It could be 25 years. It could be 100," he said. "It takes time to negotiate a lease. Putting a business on any land takes time."

The tribe has been trying to recruit new development and business on its land as a way of raising money for its 350 members, half of whom earn less than $15,000 a year.

A June Wall Street Journal article details the tribe's 2004 agreement to allow Ash Grove Cement Co. to build a $300 million cement plant on a portion of the tribe's 72,000-acre reservation, bringing plenty of jobs and revenue along with it.

The tribe also operates a truck stop and fireworks stand off Interstate 15.

Swain said the Sagebrush Ranch is another welcome addition to tribal land.

"It looked like a good thing for the tribe to have a riding stable out there on the reservation," he said. "They chose a site that was away from most of our potential development areas."

Though Fitzgerald said the move to the reservation might initially put a dent in the number of Las Vegas residents who visit her ranch, she thinks once people get used to the new location, they'll be back in the saddle.

"It's a little bit of a mental block for the Summerlin people," she said, "because (the Ann Road location) has been so handy for them. But it's not a bad drive, now, and in two or three years we'll be back up to speed with our locals."

The ranch owner said she is seeing more business from other areas of the city, specifically Aliante in North Las Vegas, than she did before the move. And she believes business from tourists will remain steady.

For now, Fitzgerald and her ranch hands are focusing on recuperating from the move.

"We survived," she said. "It was a long process, but we never missed a day of work. I about worked my people to death. We're just plain wore out."

For more information about the Sagebrush Ranch, visit www.sagebrush-ranch.com or call 645-9422. To get to the ranch, take Interstate 15 north to Exit 80, turn right and follow the signs.