The Singleton Ranches started in 1986 when Dr. Henry Singleton purchased the famous San Cristobal Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to breeding and raising good cows and horses, Dr. Singleton wanted country that preserved the ranching heritage brought to New Mexico over 400 years ago. Purchases of land grants in New Mexico and California over the years have resulted in assembling more than 1,000,000 acres of ranch country. Dr. Singleton passed away in 1999, but fortunately today his five children continue to operate the ranches as he wished. Caroline, Singleton's wife of 57 years, was also actively involved in the ranching business until her death in 2007.

Singleton Ranches is one of the top five operations in the United States in terms of total acreage and cattle numbers.

But it is the families that work the land who form the heart of Singleton Ranches. These families are totally immersed in ranch activities year-round. The spring and fall works involve not only the wives and children of the ranch cowboys, but the neighbors as well. Whether it is gathering cattle, working in the branding pen or fixing dinner, everyone helps. These families are proud of the way they live, treasuring the simple things most.

The people of Singleton Ranches do not limit their support of ranching, agriculture and family values to our business alone. We are a strong supporter of 4-H and FFA Livestock programs, a rodeo scholarship at NMSU, and we supply horses for the Horse Management Program at Lamar Community College in Colorado. The horse division holds several public horse clinics each year. We also maintain membership in the New Mexico Cattle Growers, AQHA, NRCHA, and NCHA. The California ranches are involved in the Salinas “California Rodeo” and the Monterey County Cattlemen’s Association.

In 2004 Singleton Ranches was the recipient of the New Mexico Best Remuda Award. More than 20 cowboys mounted on Singleton horses accepted the award during the 2004 New Mexico State Fair Rodeo.

The Singleton Ranch horse division, located at the San Cristobal Ranch, includes a complete breeding and training facility. We have over 40 American Quarter Horse broodmares that enable us to produce horses for the cowboys. Breeding to these mares are two ranch stallions: Dualwithme (Dual Pep x Smart Little Lena) and Timber Cat 101 (Docs Hickory x High Brow Cat).

The 2005 American Quarter Horse World Show is an event that Singleton Ranches will not forget. Ranch stallion Dualwithme ranked in the top ten in the cutting his first time at the World Show. He did so well all year that he also won the Hi-Point award for the year in open and junior cutting. Dualwithme qualified for the AQHA World Show in 2006 again, and also won the High Point award in junior cutting for 2006. He has also earned his Superior Cutting ranking from AQHA.

The NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in September 2006 was another big event for Singleton Ranches. We had three fillies entered, Smart Crackin Chic ridden by Todd Crawford, Soft N Shiney ridden by Robbie Boyce, and ARC Shining Please ridden by Bob Avila. All three did really well. Smart Crackin Chic won the Futurity, Soft N Shiney was a finalist, and ARC Shining Please missed the finals by 1/2 point.

The 2007 AQHA World Show is now added to the list. Smart Crackin Chic and Todd Crawford were finalists in the Junior Reining, and Dualwithme and Bobby Lewis qualified for the Senior Cutting.

NEW MEXICO

Singleton Ranches is the largest cow-calf operation in New Mexico and the fifth largest in the United States. The late Dr. Henry Singleton, a world-renowned entrepreneur, bought the 29 New Mexico ranches over a 14-year period. All told, Singleton’s New Mexico ranch holdings encompass approximately one million deeded acres, with an additional 165,000 acres of state lease ground.

Still known by their original ranch names, the Singleton Ranches of New Mexico are: San Cristobal, Agua Verde, Trigg, Bar Y, Latigo, Conchas, Bigbee/Lobo, Bojax, and Dunlap/Perez. Full of natural beauty, archaeological sites and historic events, these ranches are bulging with New Mexico history. Indian pueblos, ruins, camps, petroglyphs, and artifacts dating back between 300-1500 years can easily be found on the ranches. There are also Old Spanish forts, missions, and churches.

Over the years many things have not changed. Our cowboys and their families are fiercely proud of their way of life. For Henry Singleton, who grew up on a ranch near Fort Worth, Texas, the greatest reward was “just being out in the country, the association with the land, animals and people.” As he put it, “take care of the land, and have it in turn take care of the people who work on it.”

CALIFORNIA

Dr. Singleton also purchased ranches in California. Sitting in the beautiful Salinas Valley along the San Andreas Fault are two of the Singleton Ranches, the historic Peachtree and Topo. And across the San Joaquin Valley, nestled in the foothills of the Sierras, is the River Island Ranch. The Peachtree and Topo Ranches combined are about 90,000 acres and are considered to be some of the most productive ranches for yearling cattle in California. These ranches are also a part of what was once the Mexican San Lorenzo Land Grant of 1842.

The Peachtree Ranch is rich in Spanish history. It is named for all the peach trees that were planted by the Franciscan friars in the early 1800’s, who established the nearby Mission San Antonio. The Mexican Vaquero is still traditionalized in California by the cowboys. They still use the traditional riatas, bits, spurs, and tack of the Vaquero.

These California ranches are covered in rich grasslands as well as 42 varieties of oak trees. They are also rich in wildlife, including elk, deer, wild pigs and mountain lions.