Welcome to Golden Glade Ranch: Where Dreams (and Ponies) Run Wild

Phil Goodwin
Jun 17
2 min read

Updated: Jun 25

Ever wanted to trade homework for horse hooves? Or swap out city traffic for fresh air, muddy boots, and a backyard full of adventure?

We did. And this is our story.

Why We Left the City for the Paddock

A few years ago, we’d had enough of Sydney traffic, endless meetings, and school uniforms. We chased a big business dream “up North”—and like the best adventures, it didn’t go exactly to plan.

But life threw us a curveball (thanks, universe). Suddenly, we were homeschooling, running our own show, and watching Gigi—our horse-crazy daughter—grow up fast.

The Big Lightbulb Moment

One night, Gigi sat us down, looked us dead in the eye, and said, “My passion is horses. I want to learn everything through horses. Can we do that?”

Honestly? Best boardroom pitch we’ve ever heard.

We’ve always told Gigi: if you want to master life, chase your passion and learn by doing.

So instead of paying Sydney private school fees, we reinvested in the biggest, boldest experiment we could imagine:

Let Gigi build her own future—on horseback.

How Golden Glade Ranch Was Born

Step one: buy gumboots.

Step two: say YES to adventure.

Step three: build a life and a learning journey around Gigi’s passion—for real.

Now, Golden Glade Ranch isn’t just a farm. It’s Gigi’s living classroom, business lab, and playground, all rolled into one. And you’re invited to come along for the ride—literally.

What Happens Here? A Lot More Than Horsing Around

Gigi’s Journey—Unfiltered:
Watch as Gigi trains young horses, runs mini farm businesses, learns natural horsemanship, builds stables, and sometimes gets outsmarted by a flock of ducks.
The real lessons? Resilience, hustle, empathy, confidence, and a love for wild adventure.
Learning, But Way More Fun:
Forget boring worksheets—here, maths means measuring the round yard, science is horse genetics, and business is selling eggs to buy hay.
Child-led, hands-on, passion-powered education: this is not your average school.
Friends, Freedom, and Fresh Air:
Up here, Gigi has plenty of friends, more room than she could ever dream, and a million ways to connect and grow.
Every day is social, challenging, and absolutely never boring.

The Experiment: Child-Led, Adventure-Approved

Let’s be real—this is a grand experiment, and Gigi is the boss.

No soccer mum agendas, no cookie-cutter curriculum—just pure, child-led discovery and real-life adventure.

Will it work? We’re betting the farm on it (literally).

Will it be fun? 100%.

Will there be fails, wild successes, and lots of horse hair? Oh, you bet.

Want In? Follow the Ride!

Golden Glade Ranch is for every girl (and family) who ever dreamed of living the pony life.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll get inspired to create your own wild adventure.

P.S. If you ever need an excuse for not finishing homework, try “My horse ate it.” Works every time.