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Paul D’SouzaRevenue · Legacy · Land
Wild mustang sanctuary · Vanderwagen, New Mexico

A second chance for wild horses — and a place for leaders to find their way back to themselves.

We built this ranch to rescue wild mustangs from the Navajo Reservation and give them a second chance to be of service. Today those same horses share what I call their horse medicine with business owners and executives who come here on personal retreat — to slow down, work on themselves and align their business with the whispers of their heart.

Ask about a retreatMeet the sanctuary

  • The herd

    Mustangs rescued from the Navajo Reservation

  • The land

    327 acres · half a section

  • Elevation

    7,000 ft

  • Where

    30 miles south of Gallup, NM

The sun setting into a band of orange cloud behind a line of juniper, with rabbitbrush and grass in the foreground pasture
Sundown from the pasture
Why this place exists

The horses came here needing a second chance. So, in their own way, do most of the people who visit. The ranch holds both: a safe place for a wild animal to learn to trust, and a quiet one for a leader to remember what they were building all of this for.

Five horses feeding inside the timber-framed barn under work lights, steel corral panels lining the sand floor
Evening feed in the barn
The sanctuary

Rescued from the Navajo Reservation

Every horse in this herd began as a wild mustang on the Navajo Reservation. Horses that had never felt a hand came off the trailer here, wintered in the barn, learned the arena and went out onto the range with a halter they trusted.

Rescue is only the start. Gentled slowly, in the panels and the round pen, a mustang gets a second chance to be of service — not as a project or a pet, but as a partner and a teacher for the people who come to the ranch.

Horse medicine

What a wild horse can teach a leader

Horse medicine is what I call the thing these mustangs give back. They cannot be fooled, flattered or rushed, and that makes them the most honest mirror most executives will ever stand in front of.

A white horse and a black horse standing side by side on the sand floor of the barn in warm lamplight, green corral gates either side
Two of the herd, barn aisle

01

A horse reads you, not your title

A mustang that has lived wild knows within seconds whether the person in front of it is calm, scattered or pretending. It does not care what you run or what you are worth. It answers to what is actually going on inside you.

02

The feedback is immediate

Push and the horse leaves. Get quiet and clear and it walks over. Leaders who have spent years managing other people's reactions find, often for the first time, a partner that tells them the truth.

03

The lesson carries home

What changes in the round pen — patience, presence, saying plainly what you want — is the same thing that changes in a boardroom, a sales call and a marriage.

Equine therapy retreats

A personal retreat for business owners and executives

Days at the ranch are built around the herd, the land and the question most leaders never get the space to ask: is this business still serving the life I want?

01

Time with the herd

Groundwork with the mustangs in the barn, the panels and the arena. Feeding, grooming, standing still with an animal that once trusted no one.

02

Quiet

No traffic, no office, no one waiting outside the door. At 7,000 feet the only noise is wind in the juniper, the herd at feed time and whatever you have been too busy to hear.

03

Work on yourself

Space to look honestly at where you are: what you are tired of, what you have been putting off, and what you actually want the next ten years to hold.

04

Align the business with the whispers of your heart

Then the practical part. With Paul, you bring what you learned back to the strategy, the revenue model and the exit, so the business starts funding the life you want instead of consuming it.

The retreats sit alongside the SmallBiz Fight Club, Paul's work with founders on strategy, revenue and exit.

The land

High desert, room to breathe

At 7,000 feet the summers stay cool for horses and people alike, monsoon clouds build over the juniper ridge, and the nights are cold enough for a blanket. Two wells bring water up from just 80 feet — out here, the thing that makes a sanctuary possible.

Land
327 acres of high desert, juniper and open range
Elevation
7,000 ft — cool summers, clear nights
Horse facilities
Barn, arena, round pen and several pastures
Accommodation
2-bed, 2-bath home to stay, write and rest
A fenced dirt riding arena with white pipe rails and two barrels, a juniper ridge and tall summer cumulus behind it
The arena in August
A small log cabin with a stone chimney in fresh snow, low winter sun flaring over the juniper ridge behind it
Winter morning, after snowfall
Two large grey shepherd dogs asleep on a red patterned rug in a pine-cabinet kitchen beside a gas range and dishwasher
The kitchen, as we live in it
The album

Life on the Ranch

78 photographs from the first snow to high summer — the herd, the dogs, the cabin, the house and the light at either end of the day. Swipe, or use the arrows.

001 / 078

  • A wrought-iron patio table and chairs on a frost-white yard at sunrise, bare trees framing the pasture and a mobility scooter parked at left
    001Frost on the patio, sunrise
  • Pink sunset clouds above white pipe-rail fencing and a tan outbuilding, two dogs lying in the dirt yard
    002Dusk over the yard
  • A log cabin with a stovepipe chimney under streaks of orange and pink cloud
    003The cabin at sundown
  • A blazing orange sunset over sagebrush flats, a dog in the foreground and horses grazing far off
    004Fire in the sky
  • A wider view of the paddock, a palomino and a dark horse grazing, a juniper at the left edge
    005Two of the herd grazing
  • An orange sunset seen through bare branches and dark juniper above the corrals
    006Sundown through the branches
  • An antique iron farm implement beside a flagstone path, sheds and juniper behind at dusk
    007Old iron by the path
  • Low sun breaking through heavy cumulus over sagebrush flats
    008Afternoon light on the flats
  • A palomino and a dark horse at a round hay bale, the sun directly behind them
    009Hay out in the pasture
  • Two horses eating from a round hay bale under a cloud-streaked sky
    010Feeding off the bale
  • Low sun behind a bare tree above a snowy driveway, a pickup parked beside the juniper
    011The driveway after snowfall
  • Fresh snow across the yard, bare trees and a line of footprints under a deep blue sky
    012Footprints in fresh snow
  • A palomino horse looking in through the barred door of the log cabin, snow on the ground outside
    013A visitor at the cabin door
  • A lone horse in a snowy paddock, low sun throwing long fence-post shadows
    014Long shadows on the snow
  • Horses and a dog at the far end of a dirt pasture as the sun sets
    015Sundown in the pasture
  • Horses and dogs gathered beside the log cabin and a utility vehicle at sunset, patches of snow on the ground
    016The herd by the cabin
  • A white pipe-rail fence line running toward bare trees under a high winter sun
    017The fence line
  • The sun setting behind a juniper beyond the pipe-rail corrals
    018Sundown over the corrals
  • A dark horse looking over a pipe-rail gate at sunset
    019Over the gate
  • Two palomino horses looking straight at the camera over a wire fence, a cottonwood lit gold behind them
    020Two palominos at the fence
  • Pink and orange streaks over a dark sagebrush ridge, a dirt track in the foreground
    021Afterglow on the ridge
  • A cream-coloured horse standing alone in a dirt corral at dusk
    022In the corral at dusk
  • A palomino grazing beside the log cabin as woodsmoke rises from its chimney, snow on the ridge behind
    023Smoke from the cabin chimney
  • A white horse walking out toward three dark horses on an open pasture
    024The herd on open ground
  • A straight two-lane highway running through juniper under a bright winter sun
    025The road out
  • The log cabin at dusk with a lit window, afterglow along the ridge
    026The cabin at dusk
  • Two palominos nosing at the door of the log cabin
    027Palominos at the cabin door
  • Two palominos and two black horses outside the log cabin under a blue sky
    028Four of the herd at the cabin
  • A lone pale horse in the pasture, the log cabin small in the distance under a vivid pink sunset
    029Pink sky over the cabin
  • A snow-covered paddock with juniper and pipe-rail fencing under a white sky
    030Snow in the paddock
  • Snow heaped on a wooden bench against the log cabin wall
    031Snow on the cabin bench
  • Two dark horses and a chestnut at the corral fence, snow on the ground and dusted juniper behind
    032The corral in snow
  • Dogs and horses around the corral panels in snow under a big cumulus sky
    033Snow in the corrals
  • Snow over the pasture beside the corrals, sun behind cloud and a bare cottonwood at left
    034Winter afternoon
  • The stucco main house in snow beneath storm clouds
    035The main house in snow
  • The log cabin at dusk with a utility vehicle parked beside it and pink cloud overhead
    036The cabin and the UTV
  • Horses kicking up dust in the corrals at sunset, the log cabin behind
    037Dust at sundown
  • A dark horse trotting through golden dust with a dog at sunset
    038Evening turnout
  • The sun setting over the pasture, a dog walking toward the fence line
    039Sundown over the fence
  • Two dogs on the dirt drive beneath a row of bare cottonwoods, pink sky on the horizon
    040The drive at dusk
  • Two dogs in the yard at dusk beneath a bare tree and pink clouds
    041Dogs in the yard at dusk
  • A fire burning in a stone outdoor fireplace at dusk, a pair of boots propped up in front
    042The outdoor fireplace
  • A cream horse and a dark horse at the open front of the timber barn
    043At the barn
  • A cream horse standing on the sand in front of the barn
    044In front of the barn
  • A white horse and a black horse inside the lit barn between green corral gates
    045The barn, lights on
  • The timber barn at dusk with its lights on, a cream horse and a black horse standing in front
    046The barn at dusk
  • A grey horse looking in through a cabin window, a framed Om symbol on the log wall beside it
    047A face at the window
  • The patio table and chairs beneath a cottonwood with the sun low behind the trees
    048The patio, late afternoon
  • Two pale horses and a black horse meeting in the sagebrush at dusk
    049The herd at dusk
  • An elk standing on a juniper hillside above the sagebrush
    050An elk on the hillside
  • A twisted juniper and a row of trees against a pink and orange sunset, outbuildings beyond
    051Pink sky through the juniper
  • Light snow over the log cabin and a pickup beneath a grey sky
    052First snow on the cabin
  • The sun setting under a cottonwood beyond the garage, seen through a window screen
    053Sundown from the window
  • A near-empty interstate through flat desert under a pale sky
    054Open highway
  • A wider view of the cottonwood, the SUV and the tan garage at sunset
    055Sundown by the garage
  • The view between a black horse's ears, riding toward the setting sun
    056Between the ears
  • A black horse's mane and ears in the foreground, the sun low over the sagebrush
    057Riding into sundown
  • Riding a black horse down a sandy two-track toward the sunset
    058The two-track home
  • A dark horse crossing the paved county road ahead, more horses grazing by the fence
    059Horses on the county road
  • A band of horses, palominos, a roan and bays, moving along the fence line through sage
    060The band on the move
  • Two black horses and a palomino at a blue pipe gate set in wire fencing
    061At the blue gate
  • A dirt road through juniper at dusk seen through a windshield, the moon already up
    062The road in at dusk
  • A shed with its porch light on at dusk, juniper and a pipe gate around it
    063Porch light on
  • Two dogs sitting on the drive at dusk beneath the trees
    064Dogs on watch
  • Paul D'Souza on a black horse above the valley, palominos grazing beyond
    065Riding the high ground
  • A wide view across the valley under a long bank of storm cloud
    066Weather over the valley
  • The stucco main house seen from the rise, juniper and cottonwoods around it
    067The main house from the rise
  • The main house shaded by a large cottonwood, dogs in the yard
    068The main house and the yard
  • Orange sunset clouds over the sagebrush and juniper
    069Evening over the sage
  • The sun setting into the far horizon over sagebrush
    070Sun on the horizon
  • Sunset through the trees, the house at right and a pickup in the yard
    071The yard at sundown
  • A bull elk in velvet standing in the sagebrush
    072A bull elk in velvet
  • Two dogs lying on the dirt drive at sunset
    073End of the day
  • The stucco house with a gravel parking area under a blue sky
    074The house and parking area
  • The side of the stucco house, a ladder against the wall and juniper beside the gravel
    075The house, side view
  • The house with a wooden deck and lattice skirting in bright sun
    076The deck
  • A bare tree silhouetted at sunset, seen through a window screen
    077Sunset through the screen
  • Sun rays breaking through cloud over the valley
    078Light through the cloud
Come out to the ranch

Photographs only get you so far

Stand at the rail at feeding time. Walk the arena. Watch the sun go down behind the juniper and listen to how quiet it gets. If you are ready to spend some time with the herd and with yourself, tell Paul a little about where you are and he will be in touch about a retreat.

A black horse tacked in a western saddle and Navajo-pattern pad, tied in the juniper while a palomino grazes beside it
Rosa and Joey, tacked up for a ride

Ask about a retreat

Your details go straight to Paul. Expect a personal reply, usually within one business day.

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