Blaze a new trail in the wilds of Wyoming with just about any outfitter or dude ranch in the state, and chances are you’ve ridden on one of the thousands of horses owned by Chad Madsen.

Madsen is the owner of Yellowstone Horse Rentals in Afton, Wyoming. To say it’s an empire is no stretch. When Madsen looks out on his herd of 2,500 horses in winter, he sees a horse horizon. Nothing but horses from near to far.

The horses are sent out to dude ranches and outfitters across Wyoming and beyond in the summer. Then they rotate into hunting parties in the fall.

Wintertime, there are some horses that go out into the Wyoming winter for sleigh rides and the like, but most of them take a trip to Madsen’s Pavilion Ranch for a well-earned vacation. 

They’ll get new shoes and shots, as well as all the hay they want, until it’s time for them to get back to work, taking tourists on adventures in the Wyoming wilderness. 

Believe it or not, Madsen said he knows every one of all these 2,500 horses by name, as well as all of their individual quirks. It’s all part of ensuring every customer across the state gets the horses they’re going to like the best.

“With new horses, we’ll send in a description with the do’s and the don’ts,” Madsen told Cowboy State Daily. “Whether this horse is a good kid horse or a good lady’s horse or a guide horse.”

Some ranches have favorites, Madsen added, and those favorite horses will go back, year after year, to the exact same ranch throughout their careers.

If, on the other hand, a horse isn’t working out at a particular ranch, Madsen will rotate that horse to a new group, making sure it has the right fit.

“One horse might be hard to catch, but he’s a really good ride,” Madsen said. “Another might be fast in the line when they’re walking. It just kind of depends on the horse.”

Building A Horse Empire

Madsen didn’t start out to build the largest horse herd in Wyoming. His family had an outfitting business with its own herd of horses, so he was familiar with them and loved working with the animals.

Then in high school, he worked in the horse-leasing business. 

“When I was 21, that guy wanted to sell his horses, so I talked the bank into loaning me some money to put down, and he financed me on the rest,” Madsen said. “That was 350 head of horses 25 years ago in the middle of March.”

That was as big as Madsen figured he’d ever get. But times changed, and Madsen was just ideally positioned to fill a growing need.

“When I first started out, a lot of local guys in the fall had their own horses,” he said. “But now, nobody wants to own their own horses just to go hunting.”

Wyoming outfitters, meanwhile, have a short, eight-week season. 

“You just can’t financially justify owning horses for that,” Madsen said. “Dude ranches in the summer can’t really justify owning horses for a 12-week season either.”

For Madsen, the timeframes all work out well for all three of the tourism industry’s biggest needs.

“The horses coming from their summer releases are in good shape,” he said. “They’ve been getting used all summer. So that’s really a lot better than owning a horse who is fat and out of shape and doesn’t really want to go up the hill to go hunting.”

Buying Them Gentle

Madsen travels across the country every winter to stock up his herd with gentle horses. 

“Our goal is to buy them already gentle,” Madsen said. “We don’t really have any tricks other than that. There’s no substitute for work. Horses that work for a living are the ones you want.”

Madsen will buy 250 to 300 new horses every year, and goes to auctions all winter long, making sure he’s all stocked up for the summer.

“We like the draft crosses,” he said. “They’re not all draft crosses, but we like quarter horses. The bigger frame, bigger boned, bigger-footed horses.”

Madsen buys horses from the “ground up.”

He looks at their feet, he looks for a sound body, and he looks for that friendly, gentle temperament that means they’ll be a happy horse for a dude ranch or outfitting group.

“Generally, you want to buy them in the prime of their life,” he said. “We don’t always do that, but that’s what we want.”

He does still buy older horses though. They are often good for children. 

“Not every horse you buy is gonna work,” he added. “That’s just how it is.”

West Is Short Horses

One reason Madsen travels far and wide to buy horses is that the West is short on them — and getting shorter all the time.

“Some of the bigger cow outfits still use horses, but it’s not like it used to be,” he said. “There are a lot of cow outfits that don’t use horses at all anymore. They use four wheelers and side by sides.”

These days, he’s finding some of his best stock from the Amish, in the Midwest. That’s because the Amish are still very much in the horse business. They still primarily use horses for transportation, farming, and other work.

The shortage of horses has made what Madsen does even more important for the state of Wyoming’s tourism industry.

“The outside money that this brings back into the state of Wyoming is actually pretty remarkable,” Madsen said. “And a lot of that money is coming from outside the state.”

Huge Economic Ripple Effect

Madsen wouldn’t name a specific figure for what his horse herd brings to Wyoming, but said it’s in the millions. That money gets used to buy hay and other supplies for the horses, as well as fix or buy equipment, and shoe horses. It also pays worker salaries, who in turn go out and buy clothes, food, and all the other necessities and wants of life — a huge ripple effect that makes Madsen’s operation a vital prong in the tourism industry.

“I’ve always been kind of proud of that,” Madsen said. “The fact that these horses bring a lot of money into the state. As far as being essential to the tourism of Wyoming, they really are. They’re bringing in a lot of money for the state and helping (tourism) across the state.”

Madsen, meanwhile, loves what he does for a living. Nothing looks more beautiful to him than that horizon full of beautiful, spirited horses, manes and tails flying in a Wyoming wind.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.