Profiles
Amanda Lujan
By Melissa Maupin
The first time Amanda Lujan tried to ride a
wild horse would have been the last for most people. "It bucked me off and
I ran and hid in the bathroom. My dad put me back on the horse and it bucked me
again," she says. "Then he put me on again, and we were friends for
life."
Resorting to Business
Today, Amanda, 15, owns Rocky Mountain Horse Resort in Cleveland, NM. She began the resort as a sideline to her parents' business, which offers guided hunting and fishing trips on horseback. Last year, an outdoorsman from Texas brought two horses to her parents to take on hunting and fishing expeditions. When he discovered how much experience Amanda had with horses, he asked her to train them. "They had been ridden two or three times but still liked to buck," she explains. "It took me about a month to train them." Now a year later, Amanda offers boarding and training services, riding lessons, and also guides fishing and riding trips into the mountains.
Stable Profits
Because of her parents' business, Amanda's expenses to start the Rocky Mountain Horse Resort were very low. (It helps to have a family that lives on a 1,900-acre ranch with their own horses and stables!) Amanda also received a saddle and many of her other supplies as birthday and Christmas gifts. She has recently worked up an agreement with her father to pay him 10% of her net profits to cover feed and use of the land.
To promote her business, Amanda turned to
another free source of help, an entrepreneurial program at her high school. She
discussed her business with the director of the program, and they made Amanda's
business cards and flyers for free. Then she sent the flyers to veterinarians in
larger neighboring towns such as Albuquerque and Santa Fe to help drum up
business.
No Horsing Around
Amanda currently trains two to three horses a month and charges $300 to $400 each. "I can't handle any more than three at a time, though. It just gets to be too much if one of them is really green," she says. The fee covers their training, boarding, feed, and most veterinary bills. In addition to instructing horses, Amanda trains riders, too. Her brothers and sisters, who were not at all interested in riding, began to take more of a liking to the sport after a few sessions with Amanda. When she realized she also has a gift for teaching people, Amanda began to offer riding lessons for $50 daily. "That covers from whenever they want to come in the morning to whenever they leave at night," says Amanda. The lessons usually come in handy in the summer, when she offers guided trips either into the mountains or to fly fish. She charges $50 for these trips, and everyone accompanying her must first take a riding lesson for safety purposes. A large amount of Amanda's business revenue comes from boarding horses. She charges $300 a month, which includes the horse's feed, daily walks, and general care. "I basically feed them and make sure they get fresh air," she explains.
Riding High
While the Rocky Mountain Horse Resort brought in over $20,000 last year, Amanda's first client didn't pay in cash. Instead, he gave Amanda a colt that is now worth about $2,500. Looking back on what she has accomplished, Amanda is thankful today that her father kept putting her back on the horse instead of letting her hide in the bathroom. "I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't climbed back on that horse."