Rasmussen Family. Photo: courtesy of the Rasmussen Family

PARK CITY, Utah — Families throughout Summit County have been familiar with the Creekside Kids Academy having had their children attend, and are just as familiar with its sister facility of The PEEK Program, an Early Enrichment School, however, locals may just be learning about the extracurricular activities of the owners that go on at their Rasmussen Ranchs.

Brandy at the Rasmussen Ranch. Photo: courtesy of the Rasmussen Family.

They stay happily busy living, working, and playing in harmony with their horses, cows, sheep, chickens, peacocks, rabbits, turkeys, guineas, goats, ducks, dogs, and cats inhabiting the ranch.

Creekside Kids started just over 20 years ago. Brandy Rasmussen, owner and director, was previously a systems analyst computer engineer and went back to school to get a degree, she also wanted a way to put her Spanish speaking skills to work. In an interview with TownLift, she said, “I was thinking I would teach a high school computer class.” Mark Rasmussen is the co-owner and assistant director. His parents owned a prestigious private school in Southern California, “so he talked me into opening our own school,” she said. Their plan was to enroll infants through eight grade and over the years they expanded, but after 2008 ultimately decided to stick with infants through elementary school age students. We they offer a year round program in two locations.

Having a ranch was Brandy’s dream when she was a little girl. “It is a dream come true to have all of our places. Our ranch out in the smaller community of Wanship is gorgeous, and so is our other ranch down in Arizona.” They’ve had their ranch in Utah since 2014 and bought Arizona in 2023 so that they can train in the winter months there. Mark and the girls along with the horses, five dogs, goats, a few cats and chickens head out in November and return to Utah in April. “We rent out RV spaces and horse stalls throughout the year on the property in Arizona as well. It’s a great horse community and our property there borders the BLM land so we can ride horses for 100’s of miles. It’s absolutely beautiful. ”

“The most rewarding part about both the schools and our animals are the same – the communities that we get to be a part of and the ability to run the schools and the ranches together as a family is priceless. We home schooled all four of our kids; Sophie 22-years-old who now lives in California and is going to school there, Sidney turns 18 in September, Sadey turns 16 in September, and Wyatt who passed away December 23, 2023 would be turning 15 in November, so they have gotten to be a big part of our businesses and are an integral part of running the ranch.”

They’re not afraid of hard work and have gotten up before 6 a.m. to do chores for most of their lives. They raised dairy goats, sheep, cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys and much of their food so the kids were milking, feeding, cleaning up after and tending to the animals most of their lives.

“The most challenging part of the business is keeping things consistent and dealing with constant changes to regulations and licensing,” Brandy explained. “Many people don’t understand the limitations that the regulations put on this field. It is a fast paced, multi faceted business that is highly regulated. We need black and white policies in a very grey world. Dealing with families and children and people in general is never cut and dry, making managing the pieces a balancing act. The goal post moves multiple times every day, if you do not learn to adapt quickly and not take things too personally you will not survive. Sticking to the rules, following the policies, and trying to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our students and families keeps us on our toes.

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“It takes a lot of love, a lot of patience and a passion for people to not only be successful but to love what you do as well! Brandy told TownLift. “I love my job!”

“I completely love meeting new families and being a part of their lives. Most of our kids stay with us until they age out and seeing them leave after years also breaks my heart.” It’s highly satisfying though when they recieve a high school or college graduation invitation or have a former student want to come and work at Creekside or at PEEK.

“The horses, the animals, and the ranch are my sanctuary,” she said. “My favorite thing is to wake up in the morning before sunrise and listen to the knickers of the horses, the sounds of the roosters crowing and the animals anticipating a new day. Life on the ranch is hard work, sometimes heart breaking but always soothing to my soul.”

“Competing with my family, however, is a dream come true, she continued. “My oldest, Sophie, doesn’t necessarily love the competition aspect of it but loves the horses. My middles; Sadey and Sidney, and Wyatt definitely used to, love competing, being on the road, riding and being around our horse community. All of my girls have a deep passion for animals and have a keen sense of what they need.”

Their children all grew up doing rodeo, 4H and competed in any horse sport they could. As they all entered junior high and high school rodeo they had to scale back because they each had different horses for barrels, poles, breakaway, cutting, ranch sorting, etc. that they couldn’t keep up. They travel everywhere they go with two trucks, and two trailers just to get to competitions. They all sat down to come up with a plan and settled on Ranch Sorting as the main sport in which they would go, “all in.” They travel all over; Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Ohio, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Wyoming are the most recent, competing with the Ranch Sorting National Championship RSNC | Ranch Sorting National Championships. The girls just won fourth and fifth places, Mark got sixth and Brandy got 13th-in-the-world at the World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas in June. Their new season started July 1. “We did well in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the sorting there during the Cheyenne Rodeo in recent weeks. All of our horses are trained as cutting horses prior to moving to Ranch Sorting.

“Our next competition is in Mississippi and we have another one in Ogden at the Golden Spike Arena on September 12 and 13 then we go to Texas, Arizona and Las Vegas at the Southpoint Casino and Equestrian facility in November.”

Photo: courtesy of the Rasmussen Family // RSNC

“We have a strong line up of horses. Each of us has two competition horses and we love them all. They each have their strengths and perform at a very high level. We’re pretty spoiled when it comes to the quality of our horses.” Favorites include one named Metallic Cat, and many are roan horses and sorrels.”

“Sharing the ranch and the western way of life with the kids at school is something my whole family enjoys. We have parent socials at the ranch, the kids come and learn about the animals, ride the horses, learn to rope and experience everything we love about the ranch. It truly is all of my passions coming together to share a way of life that few get the pleasure of being a part of. I love sharing it!! The ranch and our lifestyle truly make Creekside Kids something unique for all of our families to enjoy.”

Regarding the Park City education facilities, currently they have openings available in most age groups for the new school year.