By Sara Gugelmeyer
The Reinhold family is no stranger to tragedy. But no matter what fate throws at them, their faith and love for people and ranching brings them through.
That beautiful breaky country in western South Dakota, with good grass and the Black Hills on the western horizon is ideal for raising cattle and horses. That’s why Larry Reinhold’s grandfather homesteaded there more than 100 years ago. But it can also be unforgiving.
Larry had just turned 21 when he realized the wrath of Mother Nature. The Reinhold family had branded their Hereford calves that cool Memorial Day morning in 1979. Then in the afternoon, as was customary, the family gathered for fishing and fun on the sizeable reservoir on the ranch.
Larry’s 17-year-old brother Lee, and Lee’s friend Wayne were fishing in the middle of the lake when an unexpected storm blew in. The frenzied gusts whipped the water and capsized the young men’s boat. Larry and his other brother Lyle rushed to their aid only to meet the same fate.
“Lee and Wayne had just competed in the state track meet,” Larry explains with a lump in his throat, although it was 35 years ago. “They were athletes. We were all good swimmers. It was just one of those situations where they were capable young men, but the odds were against them; the water was just too overwhelming.”
Both of Larry’s brothers and their friend drowned that day.
“It was one of those storms of life that prove to not only be a life lesson but a life-changing event, as well,” Larry says. “My brother Lyle had a dream of starting a camp. We had prayed about it and pondered it and thought that it would sure be something that would fit.”
After such a tragic loss of life, Larry’s family that remained – his parents, sister and himself – felt that it was the Lord’s will. That same year they started building the main lodge for Rainbow Bible Ranch, a Christ-centered working ranch camp for youth, right on the family’s historic commercial Hereford and Quarter Horse operation Lonetree Ranch, near Sturgis, S.D.
In 1980, the first campers learned about the working ranch lifestyle and God’s word through real-life ranch work. And for the 35 years since, about 300 kids between the ages of 6 and 18 visit the camp each summer and participate in activities like riding horses, fishing, swimming and moving cattle. They might get a chance to compete in a rodeo, sing around a campfire underneath the starry sky, chase frogs, learn how to rope, teach a baby colt to lead and just explore the wonders of God’s creation. In short, the Reinhold family has given about 10,000 kids from around the world the opportunity to be a ranch-raised kid even if it’s only for a week or two.
But on Oct. 6, 2013, Mother Nature struck again. Western South Dakota experienced the worst blizzard ever. Lonetree Ranch and the camp were at her mercy. Larry, his wife Robin and six children who operate Rainbow Bible Ranch today were devastated to find, after three days of record snowfall and wind, 91 horses and 12 head of cattle dead.
It was a storm unlike any other, Larry says.
“It’s not uncommon for us to get a little snow in September and first part of October,” he says. “But to get a snow storm like that after 80-plus degree weather just days before is unheard of. It rained first, then snowed with that kind of wind, and we could not put them in a ‘right place.’ We lost 60 head of horses within 500 yards of my house. There was just no way around that. There were others that put their best saddle horses in a barn and they all died because the roof collapsed.”
Besides the unfathomable loss of horses and cattle, the ranch and camp sustained structural damage and lost nearly all its trees and windbreaks.
“Our theme for the 2013 summer camps was ‘Just Trust,’” Larry says. “It’s oftentimes easy for us to say we put our trust in God in good times, but so often we end up relying on ourselves more. When we go through these kinds of situations, one realizes how helpless we can be in the face of storms. We realize it’s vital to have that trust in a greater One, because it’s more than we ourselves can handle. God has given us the opportunity to continue life even in the hardest of times.”
Larry explains that out of this tragedy, too, his family and the camp have recognized blessings.
“For example, we heard from a church in Canadian, Texas, that had a heart for those who went through the storm and wanted to help. To have people you’ve never met step up to help and encourage you is overwhelming.”
Larry’s six children –-Rachel, 20, Molly 18, Danny 14, Caleb 11, Julia 8 and Kiersten 6— took the loss particularly hard. Many of their personal riding horses were killed in the storm.
The three older children were the ones who searched for and found the dead horses. Larry was busy using the tractor to pull linemen around the area to restore electricity which was out for six days. They described the sight like a picture of an old Civil War battlefield—dead horses scattered everywhere.
Danny says it’s hard to ride past that area now without remembering each horse that laid there and a particular camper who learned to ride on him. Rachel, who works as the camp’s head wrangler, described those horses as her best friends.
“It takes a long time to make a good horse and we really knew that bunch of horses,” Larry says. “We knew their little idiosyncrasies and what kind of kid could get along with each horse. We basically had to start over on the camp string of horses and it’s critical that we have the right kind of horses so that kids that come to camp have a good first experience horseback.”
It gave the Reinholds the perfect opportunity to launch an idea they had been pondering for awhile: The Dakota Horse Challenge.
“We had this idea for a while, but necessity really put the wheels into motion for the sheer need of needing some good, broke horses,” Robin explains. “Of those that survived the blizzard we had a batch of younger horses that needed to be started. They were all home-raised horses that were halter broke as babies then turned out.”
The Reinholds solicited applications from trainers interested in participating. They chose 15 trainers and each got two horses to work with for 90 days. Then, on June 21, 2014, the trainers brought their horses back to the ranch to compete in The Dakota Horse Challenge. Each trainer demonstrated his or her horses in two phases of competition. The first phase involved required maneuvers like opening a gate, dragging a log and performing some reining maneuvers, among other things. The second phase was “freestyle,” and each trainer got to showcase their individual horses’ talents.
“Some showed more reining capabilities,” Robin explains. “We also had some cattle available to work and some did cutting and sorting, some roped. One gal did some jumping and drug her husband around on a sled. We saw a lot of creativity and it was fun to see the different styles of each trainer and the different strengths of the horses.”
Marty Leggett of Broken Bow, Neb., won the competition. Prizes and money was awarded and at the end, the Reinholds chose one of the two horses from each trainer to keep for Rainbow Bible Ranch. The other horse was the trainer’s to keep as part of the incentive to participate.
“It went so well,” Robin says. “I think in the future we will do more advertising and get more spectators and trainers. But those 15 trainers had a desire to help us and see us get back on our feet again. It wasn’t just about training horses and it wasn’t just about the chance for them to earn money. It was about rebuilding Rainbow Bible Ranch’s remuda. We saw that spirit of community come together again.”
Although those horses won’t be ready yet for campers, they are far enough along that the Reinhold family can ride and prepare them for camp use. Between Lonetree Ranch and the camp, Larry says they use 35 to 40 saddle horses.
“We’ve got the numbers,” Larry says, “but we are still working on the quality. It takes a lot of riding to get horses like what we had, especially good enough for our campers.”
The camp hosts between 35 and 55 kids at a time. There is a charge, but the fee covers only about half of the expense of each camper. Rainbow Bible Ranch is a non-profit organization and the rest is funded through donations.
All eight members of Larry’s family work full-time on the ranch, and that’s not exactly banker’s hours. Plus, the camp employs 15 more people each summer.
“The fun thing about that,” Larry says, “is most are young people who grew up coming to camp here. We really appreciate when a staff member has a sense of ownership. It’s fun to hear them refer to it as ‘my ranch’ or ‘my place’. They feel like this is home.”
Although it is a faith-based camp, it’s not necessarily a vocal thing, Larry says.
“We certainly talk some about our relationship with the Lord, but by living it, it is obvious that’s what our life is about. We don’t have to do a lot of talking about it. Our decisions are based on biblical principles.”
In addition to summer camps, Rainbow Bible Ranch hosts Friday night activities during the school year and a popular living nativity (complete with the real-life barn aroma) in December. Larry says sometimes other ranchers ask how he could possibly get his ranch work done with so many kids around all the time.
“The answer is simple, we don’t always get everything done,” Larry says. “In all reality, when you think about it from an eternal perspective, horses won’t last, our treasures here on Earth disappear, but these kids, that’s where it’s at. If we can introduce them to having a relationship with the Lord, that will have an impact on everything from that day on for them. That’s worth it for us. Our relationship with these kids is such a huge part of our lives. To share our life here on this ranch with kids from all over the world, well, it’s really quite a privilege.”