Creek Hollow Ranch: A continuing journey

It has always been called Creek Hollow Ranch: 350 acres of rolling hills, pristine pastures, a sense of serenity and vibrant energy nestled in Ramona’s Valley of the Sun. Over the years the ranch has passed through several owners, but, when Colleen Burman became its owner in 2000, she not only bought the property, but brought with her a vision.

Sitting on a granite rock high above the property, Burman, like the hawks soaring above, has a bird’s-eye view of what she has created.

“We say it a lot here,—’living the dream,’” she said.

It was a dream that took several years, survived a devastating fire and is constantly being re-invented.

“My original intent was to have a small breeding operation in Ramona,” Burman said.

She soon realized that she also wanted to provide a place for people to explore a journey with their horses.

“It is a relationship that develops into a willing partnership,” she said. “I saw that people needed to be taught how the horse wants to interact with them.”

Burman took her dream of enriching life through horse-human interaction, and began to expanded it to higher levels. “I wanted to create a ranch where both the horse and the owner could be trained.”

Today, Creek Hollow Ranch is considered one of the premiere riding, boarding and training facilities in the county. Eight ergonomically planned horse arenas are available for riders to practice, receive training lessons and experience the wonders of the equine spirit.

“I’ve come to believe that on an energetic level, the horse has agreed to interact with a human,” said Burman. “When you ride, you learn so much about yourself and how you react or respond to situations on a variety of levels.”

Creek Hollow Ranch has a variety of boarding choices, care facilities, on-site staff available 24 hours a day/seven days per week, and beautifully manicured indoor and outdoor arenas. Professional trainers are available for all disciplines of riding, including Young Horse Starting, Natural Horsemanship, Hunter/Jumper, Western, and Burman’s own passion of Classical Dressage.

“Dressage riders spend countless hours preparing themselves and their horses,” Burman said. “Many of them are not able to afford some of the high prices charged by other facilities for showing.”

Burman decided to change that.

This year, in addition to their 5 rated Dressage Shows, Creek Hollow Ranch started a series of Schooling Dressage Shows. Some school shows charge between $15 to $25 per class, and the rider does not get a chance to talk to the judge.

“We charge $4.99 per class with a $15 ground fee,” Burman said. “The rider not only receives a score sheet, but is able to talk to the judge, receive advice and perhaps learn what they should work on to improve their riding.”

Dressage, a French term meaning training, is the precise joining of a horse and rider as one unit. The purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse’s natural athletic ability and willingness to perform. Through the performance of a prescribed series of tests and movements, judges evaluate the horse’s gymnastic development, as well as how smoothly the animal responds to the rider’s minimal aids. The goal is to perform the requested movements with a relaxed, effortless appearance.

“Our Dressage Schooling Show is more about putting yourself in a learning situation to see how you and your horse work together under a competition-type feeling and setting,” Burman said. “We offer two Introductory level classes, four Training level, four First level and four Second level classes.”

Each judged ride can be 6 minutes to 8 minutes long, and riders may sign up for as many rides as they wish.

Both scheduled rides and unscheduled rides are usually in 10-minute increments. Burman’s goal is to have riders be able to show up, sign up, warm up their horse and do their ride in a professional setting as if they are actually in competition.

“I wanted to offer classes that were affordable and educational for all riders to develop a strong relationship with their horse,” she said.

The first Dressage Schooling Show at the ranch was held on April 4, with 15 riders participating.

“It was a great success,” said Burman, who considers herself to be a perpetual training level dressage rider.

Five additional shows are scheduled for May 30, July 25, Sept. 19, Oct. 17 and Nov. 21.

“I’d like to do a schooling show every month but don’t want to compete with other rated shows that may be going on throughout the county,” said Burman. “I just want the riders to get the experience and training they need, at an affordable price, so they and their horse will feel confident in a rated competition.”

Her love of horses was a slow development that began with childhood visits to her cousins living in Montana, where “I would only get to be on a horse when we visited each summer,” Burman said. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would one day own a horse or ranch.”

Colleen Burman likes to refer to her life as a series of journeys. Her journey started after she graduated from Berkeley and began a career in biochemistry for a biotech pharmaceutical company in San Francisco. “I worked there for 10 years, and after the 1989 earthquake I just couldn’t stand the commute anymore.”

“I realized that my love of biochemistry was not about being a doctor or a scientist,” she said. “For me it was finding out the biological basis of who we are and how we function.”

For Burman, the scientific reasons seemed to be missing some important aspect. “My goal was to find that missing link and go beyond the microscope.”

Her journey continued when Burman returned to school and earned massage therapy and holistic health practitioner license and continued on with extensive study in Oriental Medicine and Herbology.

“I was finally able to set my own hours and work out of the home,” she said, smiling.

It was then that her husband, also working in the biotech industry, was transferred to La Jolla. They purchased a home in Ramona, and, while her husband commuted to work each day, Burman continued to practice massage therapy and do contract technical writing work for his company.

A turning point came when her 5-year-old daughter Anna said she wanted to learn horseback riding.

“Suddenly I needed to find a trainer, pay for lessons and purchase a pony,” said Burman.

To help pay for the boarding of the pony, Burman started mucking out stalls at the training facility.

“I began to see how fabulous horses were and realized that I could re-invent my life,” she said.

To do so, Burman needed a small ranch.

“I looked everywhere for a place I could start a breeding facility,” she said.

Her search included all of San Diego County, Northern California and parts of Arizona.

“All I wanted was about 40 acres, but did not want to uproot my family,” said Burman. She decided that her heart and spirit were really in her own backyard and town of Ramona.

Burman contacted her friend and Ramona real estate agent, Patti Guerrero.

“I asked her to keep her eyes open for a local ranch, and decided to take a vacation to Egypt,” Burman said.

While in Egypt, Burman received a call from Guerrero, who said, “Colleen, the ranch came up for sale in Ramona! It is way more land than you wanted, but you’ve got to come see this location.”

Upon her return, Burman drove to the property known as Creek Hollow Ranch.

“When I stepped out of the car and felt the energy of this place, I knew this was where I needed to settle and start my vision,” she said.

Burman purchased the ranch in 2000 and began her breeding operation, which soon expanded to a boarding facility, training center and a perfect location for artists and photographers to capture the beauty of the rolling hillsides, creek, pastures and wildlife. Burman’s ranch vision was complete, but a terrible twist was about to put her on yet another journey.

On Oct. 21, 2007, smoke filled the sky above much of the backcountry as the Witch Fire burst to life. The strong Santa Ana winds pushed the flames over the top of Creek Hollow Ranch and destroyed Burman’s dream.

“We lost everything,” she said.

Structures, including her home, hay barn, two sea-trains and storage buildings turned to ash. Tractors and quads vanished in the flames, and hundreds of oak and pine trees turned to cinders.

“We were able to save every horse,” she said, smiling. “But when I was finally able to return to the ranch, it was a total shock.”

Colleen Burman had reached a crossroad in her journey. She could pack up and leave or stay and rebuild. The energy she had felt from Creek Hollow Ranch surged and helped recharge her.

“I decided to re-invent myself once more,” she said.

Burman set a personal goal of one year to see if she was capable of working things out.

“I really didn’t know if this was something I could do, but during that year I amassed a great group of people who helped me see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.

Burman credits much of the development and construction of her re-invented ranch vision to the work of her friend Matt Deskovick, owner of the Catt Farm and Ranch Supply in Ramona.

“Matt was an absolute godsend,” she said.

Where Burman saw limitations to the facility, Deskovick saw a wide-open canvas of opportunity. Using his expertise in construction, Deskovick began designing areas for arenas, stalls, boarding facilities, metal fences, and workout pads.

“I saw limitations while Matt saw a few days’ work,” she said with a laugh.

Like a phoenix, Creek Hollow Ranch rose from the ashes and developed into a state-of-the art, full-service, multi-disciplined equestrian training and boarding center.

Miles of trails wind through oak and sycamore streambeds and sage covered hillsides. Training is offered for all styles of riding. Facilities are available for lay-ups, rehabilitation, broodmare and foals, and Creek Hollow is the only public facility that has pasture space to rent.

A visit to the Creek Hollow Web site takes the viewer through all aspects of what the ranch has to offer. One look and individuals can see the vast potential available to them, not only in terms of riding and training, but shaded areas designed for corporate gatherings, weddings, social parties and events of any size.

“The ranch is our gift to equestrians,” said Burman.

In return she asks only that riders honor their equine partners.

“The facility was built for the personal growth that happens to a person when they are with a horse,” she said. “Horses have the ability to teach us so much about ourselves.”

Has Colleen Burman’s journey finally ended?

“I know I made the right decision about the ranch and have absolutely no idea what I would do if I left it,” she said. “I’m a jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes kind of gal.”

She doesn’t want her vision of the ranch to ever be completed. “It keeps growing, changing, and morphs into different areas.”

She achieved her goal of creating a ranch that was beautiful and as stress-free as a horse ranch could be.

“I want people to come with families and have not only a beautiful view, but also get to explore and expand their relationship with their horse. It is an incredibly interesting journey,” she said.

Sitting on her granite rock, Burman sees that her creation has gone far beyond its original intent. Recently an old friend from the Bay Area visited her.

“I hadn’t seen her for years,” said Burman. “We have known each other since school, and she knew my personal history better than anyone.”

During the visit, Burman’s friend turned to her and said, “I’m really glad you have this land. I can see you’re totally grounded to it.”

Looking down from her bird’s-eye view at the continuous changing vision of Creek Hollow Ranch, Burman smiled and said, “I think she was right.”

For a complete visual tour of the facility, visit the Creek Hollow Web site at: www.creekhollowranch.com.

Creek Hollow Ranch is at 26131 Old Julian Highway in Ramona. For more information, call 760-789-4875.