Red Top Ranch Trickriding School

09/02/2026

08/27/2026

Hello from Red Top Trickriding School!
Though we took a long break since our 2025 October, school, I know you have been waiting to hear from me and I thank you for your patience. The staff and are excited to resume the schools again, and I wanted to welcome you and let you know that we will be hosting two fall schools the next two months. I have attached the flyer with all the information. The first will be Sept. 25,26,27. The second will be Oct 16,17,18.
Some of you have contacted me personally so we already have several students registered since I made this flyer. In the September school we still have room for four students who do not have horses, which we will supply. And also have room for two more students who are bringing their own horses.
Contact me by email at [email protected] or call or text the phone number on the flyer. Deposits are due Sept 15th to hold your spot.
It will be good to get back in the trickriding arena, here in Boone, CO.
Blessings,
Linda and the amazing staff and horses at Red Top Trickriding School

04/28/2026

Hello everyone,
I want to thank so many of you for the kind words and cards and your grace as I have been processing Karen going to be with her Lord. We were all overwhelmed and so blessed by those of you who were able to come to her celebration of life in January. It almost felt like a family reunion with all the love that was packed into West Assembly in Fowler. Many came from so far away, and it did not go unnoticed.
I want to thank you for your kindness in giving me space and time to spend with the Lord to hear from Him what and when the next steps should be. Yes, we will continue, as least for the foreseeable future. The staff and I plan of having two fall schools this year, be we are still working on the dates.
But I do have information on a clinic coming up this weekend that I recommend highly.
As many of you know, Lexi Shawcroft Heuser who has ben our student for a long time, and now teaches trickriding with me, has been doing clinics of her own the last few years, in addition to coming to the ones in Boone with Karen and I.
I wanted to let you know that she will be doing one in Alamosa, CO on May 2 and 3. She has two slots open. Her email address to contact her is [email protected].
You can also find her at topsyturvytrickriding.wordpress.com
The cost is $450 with lunch included. Please contact her if you are interested.

01/16/2026

Our beautiful Karen is with the Lord.
She has impacted my life in incredible ways. She was a true gift from the Lord to me. What God has done through that woman of God, well only in eternity will we know the full measure.
Her celebration of life will be Monday, Jan 19th, at 2:00 pm at West Assembly of God Church in Fowler. For friends and family that do not live close, or have scheduling conflicts, the service will be available livestream on the church’s website.
https://www.westassembly.org/live
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.

Karen mentored me in life, in ways too many to count. She did that for everyone whose life she touched. She and Harry asked us in 1978 to travel with them as chaplains for their staff and the fans at rodeos as well working for the rodeo company where Paul worked behind the chutes, feeding and working at the ranch. I sang at cowboy church and had the privilege of teaching Kirsten kindergarten, cooling out pickup horses, learning how to take care of her beloved black front-end horses with excellence and professionalism and riding those same dear black horses in rodeo openings.
Then when I started the trickriding lessons, I was hooked! She and Harry were the most incredible encouragement on that journey. At that time, Karen still ponyed ME and taught me every free moment she could, during the day or after the rodeo. I wanted to absorb every word and every lesson. Karen signed for my PRCA card and with her and Harry’s blessing after about 3 yrs, Paul and I ventured into Pro rodeo on our own and it was like coming home whenever I would get to trickride at Vold rodeos with Vickie Tyer and the All American Trickriders.
Paul and I still lived near them and often worked at the ranch, and about 1989, Karen asked if I would help her teach a few trickriding students who wanted to learn. And that was the start of Red Top Trickriding schools. After several years we became partners in business at Red Top Ranch Trickriding Schools, and the rest is history.
Every day, every school, it has been an honor to live and work beside her for the 37 years of holding these schools. Her whole goal, besides giving the best professional trickriding lessons in the country, was “to plant the seed” and share Christ at every school. And not only those two core goals, but along the way, she taught students life lessons of hard work, integrity, godly character, competence, proficiency, and professionalism in and out of the arena, and having those qualities the moment you drive onto the rodeo grounds.
She loved her godly incredible staff who have been the backbone in keeping the schools going – hours of ponying, cooking, disking the arena, preaching and playing the music at the Sunday Cowboy Church, saddling and feeding horses. Countless jobs they do because of their love for the Lord, AND for the queen of trickriding and rodeo.
Her incredible gift of teaching trickriding from her years of being the best of the best, is seen in so many of the incredible trickriders in rodeo today. She loved every moment in the school arena, encouraging and training eager students. To our best estimate over 1400 students have come through the Red Top Ranch Trickriding Schools. We had 30 years of teaching at the Vold Ranch until we moved to Boone during Covid, to take some pressure and jobs off of Karen’s plate. But the cooking and teaching never stopped that precious bundle of energy, even in her early 80’s! I know it was the goal of most students to get one of her prized cookbooks, which, not only includes delicious recipes used exclusively at the schools, but the history of her life was in them as well.
When Harry and my Paul both went to be with the Lord within 3 months of each other, in 2017, Karen and I learned this journey of widowhood together. It was then she found another avenue to share her love of Christ, with the help of West Assembly of God, her home church in Fowler, CO. She and I partnered together in this venture as well, to host her beloved Widow Retreats at her ranch to help and encourage other widows.
I am forever grateful the Lord allowed me to be mentored by and be her dear friend. Then I had the incredible honor to be able to be with her, through the last days, and to sing to her 2 nights before she went to be with the Lord! Though her body was tired, her spirit was aways still worshipping her Lord. Though there was no sound, she would mouth the words along with me to the songs about her Lord.
It has been an honor being part of her journey on earth for 48 years and walk with her to the edge of eternity. I wouldn’t trade the precious years I had with her for anything in the world. I am at peace that she is rejoicing at the feet of the One she loves and is healthy and whole.
As one of her friends told me, we are “rejoicing even as our hearts break”.
If you would just look at the cover of that Red #2 cookbook, THAT is how she made her GRAND entry to heaven. Just imagine her looking at Jesus with that smile!!! It is her incredible former Miss Rodeo Arizona smile, that lit up the arena. And that’s the smile that I know she had the moment she saw her Jesus.

Again, For friends and family that do not live close, or have scheduling conflicts, the service will be available livestream on the church’s website.
https://www.westassembly.org/live
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.

09/12/2025

We have been doing a bit of musical students for this next school, and though it is late notice, we now happen to have two spots open for the Sept 26,27,28 school.
So if you are interested email me at [email protected] rather than on messenger.
Karen Vold and I would love to have you at the Red Top Trickriding School!

01/25/2025

https://www.facebook.com/100064902333484/posts/1017839860389416/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Calling all talented youth rodeo performers! 🤠

The American Royal Youth Contract Act Showcase is back for a second year and will be happening on April 22! Showcase your skills in one of these categories:
🎙️ Announcer
😂 Comedy Act
🐎 Specialty Act

Don't miss your chance to shine! Entries are due by April 11, 2025. Find more details and the entry form at https://bit.ly/ARYouthRodeo

05/13/2024

Ok Trickriders!!!! Before you ever come to another trickriding school here you better watch a few episodes of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
THERE WILL BE A TEST!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/rKin2riPELeqxDSz/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Golden Cloud made an early appearance as the mount of Maid Marian, played by Olivia de Havilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). A short while later, when Roy Rogers was preparing to make his first movie in a starring role, he was offered a choice of five rented "movie" horses to ride and chose Golden Cloud. Rogers bought him eventually in 1943 and renamed him Trigger for his quickness of both foot and mind. Trigger learned 150 trick cues and could walk 50 ft (15 m) on his hind legs (according to sources close to Rogers). They were said to have run out of places to cue Trigger. Trigger became such a ham that as soon as he heard applause, he would start bowing and ruin that trick. He could sit in a chair, sign his name "X" with a pencil, and lie down for a nap and cover himself with a blanket. Rogers' most carefully guarded trade secret was to get Trigger housebroken. "Spending as much time as he does in hotels, theaters, and hospitals, this ability comes in might handy and it's conceded by most trainers to be Trigger's greatest accomplishment." —Glenn Randall, wrangler with Hudkins Stables.
His horse was so important to Rogers that when he purchased a "Best Wishes for the New Year" advertisement in Variety, he signed it "Roy Rogers and Trigger". Trigger was ridden by Rogers in many of his motion pictures, becoming much loved by the youthful audience that saw him on film and in Rogers' 1950s television series with his wife, Dale Evans, who rode her trusty buckskin Quarter Horse, Buttermilk.
Trigger became the most famous horse in film entertainment, even having his own Dell comic book recounting his exploits.
Roy Rogers made many personal appearances with Trigger in tow. More than once, he escorted him up three or four flights of stairs at hospitals to visit with sick children, according to his autobiography Happy Trails.

12/25/2023

Blessed Christmas from the Scholtz Ranch. ❤️ May the realization of why our Savior, our Christ, our Redeemer our Messiah came, fill you with exceeding great JOY.

03/05/2023

11/29/2022

If just riding is this good for you, how great must Trickriding be!!!!

Here are six reasons to saddle up:
Cardiovascular health. A study commissioned on behalf of the British Horse Society found that horseback riding is indeed a good cardiovascular workout. Even just a half hour of riding is considered “moderate exercise,” said BHS PR executive Megan Hawkins, “while trotting exerts more energy than playing badminton.”

Core strength. Sitting tall, pushing your legs into the body of your horse ignites the core muscles, which are imperative for balance and posture.

Burning calories. In a Texas A&M University study, researchers focused on the amount of energy expended during high-intensity horseback riding. But you need not be roping cattle to burn calories.

“Riding a horse for 45 minutes at a walk, trot and canter can burn up to 200 calories,” said Dr. Dennis Sigler, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horse specialist and professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University in College Station. “If you do something a bit more strenuous such as cutting or reining, that can come out to nearly seven calories per minute for the entire length of the riding period.”

Plus, lifting a saddle onto and off the horse’s back, carrying buckets of hay and water to its stall, grooming -- all these burn plenty of calories.

Lowering blood pressure. One of the benefits of regular exercise is lowered blood pressure; horseback riding is exercise. Lower blood pressure can reduce the risk of heart disease. Plus just being around animals has been shown to do that as well.

Helping make decisions. While riding, you’re constantly deciding whether to speed up or slow down, what paths to avoid, when the horse and you need a break. That knowledge translates into the rest of your life, too.

Relaxing. The horse’s natural movement is calming; walk together and your bodies will be in sync.