About Us

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 My name is Rachel Ibarra.  Horses have been a part of my life for 20 years!  I have taken English and Western riding lessons, competed in horse shows, playdays, college rodeos, and jackpots.  While majoring in Animal Science at Texas A&M University ('13), my horse Red, and I competed in barrel racing as part of the Rodeo Club. A few years later, I started teaching riding lessons with Red.  

I started teaching in Bryan ISD in 2013.  Currently, I am blessed to be able to teach 2nd Graders and then share my passion of horses with riding students of all ages through teaching riding lessons at iheartranch.

 My name is Hugo Ibarra. I attended school for 12 years and miraculously returned for another 12. In all of those years I do not remember one single course on farming, ranching, equine science, tying knots or many other areas that I now consider interesting and necessary. While marketing, management, law and business administration were all interesting and have proven helpful, they were not always exciting.

I grew up in a large suburban area and have spent most of my life indoors. Having tools around the garage was 'not a thing' since I really didn't have a garage. To say that my exposure to horses and ranches was 'average' would be an understatement. 

And then...

And then... I met Rachel, her family, her friends, Red, and learned more about the crazy work ethic behind taking care of horses, feed stores, barrel racing patterns, rodeo, Texas A&M Rodeo & Equestrian Teams, Catalena Cowgirls, boarding horses, grazing, overgrazing, and so many other things related to this field. .   

If we had to call an expert every time we've needed anything done at the property, iheartranch would not exist. We are constantly building, adjusting and implementing -tangible and intangible- systems and operational pieces from the ground up and we have done most of the work ourselves. There have also been times when we have relied on amazing friends who have shared with us their time, knowledge and experience. 

When Covid hit the world, we canceled trips, held lots of Zoom meetings and saved enough money to buy iheartranch. From that day on, we have spent numerous weekends, early mornings and late afternoons building additional stalls, working on the never-ending project that an arena can be, mowing, etc.  We have also watched more YouTube videos than we ever thought we could do: from how to tie a halyard shackle knot, to how to safely and properly haul a horse. So... we are still learning. We have also convinced ourselves that Lowes and Home Depot should send us a 'Thank You' note for keeping them in business.