 What do you do when you move to Texas? Buy some horses and cattle of course, and that is just how the current Wolf Point Ranch began. Al and Dianna Stanger moved to South Texas in 1998, and purchased a ranch that was a severely neglected and had an old, uninhabited, ranch house on it. The land was overrun by local cattle and rattlesnakes. Immediately work was begun on the home and the metamorphosis had begun. All that remains from the original structures is the foundation from the existing home.
After beginning work the Stanger's started to feel the Texas traditions seep into their day to day activities and it was decided that they needed horses. Never having owned or ridden a horse before, their choices reflected the inexperience they shared. His first horse was a professionally trained Cutting horse that was being readied for the futurities, hers was a two year old Palomino Quarter horse mare. Immediately Al ended up in the emergency room and Dianna suffered numerous broken bones. It was not the most promising of starts.
 While perusing a book of breeds the Stangers took the aesthetic approach to settling on the kind of horse they would like to own and narrowed the breeds down to two; after viewing the Arabian horse at a show in Fort Worth the decision was easy. There are now approximately fifty head of Arabians that call Wolf Point Ranch home; included in this number are some Half Arabians that are pedigreed with Quarter Horses and Saddlebreds. A never ending learning process Dianna Stanger has now competed in every single class had at an Arabian Class A show from Cutting to Park and everything in between. An accomplished competitive equestrian, Dianna has been awarded by the United States Equestrian Foundation the honors of Handle of Supreme Honor as well as Rider of Supreme Honor; she has also been an amateur rider of the year as awarded by the Region IX Arabian Horse Association and profiled by More Magazine. In addition to the various honors that have been bestowed upon the years, the crowning achievement was in 2008 when Wolf Point Ranch became the only owner in the history of Arabian Cutting that has taken the top honors in Arabian and Half Arabian Cutting by taking the Open and Non-Pro Purebred US National Champion for a total of Four National Champions; in addition Two Reserve National Champions were taken the same year and four Top Tens. In addition to the success in cutting, Wolf Point Ranch also took the National Championship in Freestyle Reining. The ladder to success was long and arduous, but well worth the result!
In addition to the horses the ranch needed some cattle to roam the land. After considering breeds it was decided the only way to go was registered Charolais cattle. That lasted two years when it became obvious that the breed did not survive well on the salt grasses of Wolf Point. After much debate and visits to local ranchers it was decided that the only suitable bovine would be the black Brangus cattle that have become a staple on the ranch. Today Wolf Point Ranch is known for the quality and genetics that the over thirteen hundred head of cattle have been bred for. The ranch is rejuvenated twice a year when the calving season occurs - it is one of the best times to visit the ranch. Each calf is nearly identical to the next; a testament to the forward thinking of the Wolf Point Ranch's Cattle Manager Brandon Critendon.
History
 Wolf Point was originally named by Stephen F. Austin in the very early 1800’s
and was one of his original tracts of land. As it was in his day, running cattle on salt grass and scrub; the Wolf Point Ranch continues this now century old tradition and runs nearly thirteen hundred head of Brangus cattle on the seventy five hundred acre ranch. In this area of South Texas, the majority of the population are working ranches and gathering cattle means a lot of time on horseback. The physical attributes of the property make it one of the most unique ranches in the United States today. Each facet of the ranch is enhanced with beautiful water views.
The original tract of land is two hundred acres and was purchased by Dianna Stanger in 1998. This unique springboard is encompassed by over four miles of waterfront and is a peninsula on the Carancahua Bay bordered from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Island. As time has gone by the original two hundred acres has now grown to over eleven hundred that still maintains water on three sides. In addition to the original location the ranch now has added Red fish Lake and the historic Coates property to it's Jackson County holdings. All told there are over seven thousand acres that serves as home to Brangus Cattle, Arabian and Quarter Horses, Zebras, Watusi cattle and camels.
 
|
