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Cavvietta Ranch
Western-style ranch provides unique experiences
Story & Photos by Nancy West-Brake
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Cowboys and cowgirls, ranch rodeos and traditional Mexican horsemanship: they’re not just found in the movies or out West.
Elm City in Nash County is the home of Cavvietta Quarter Horse & Cattle Company, a 94-acre Equestrian Center and Event Venue.
Cavvietta, whose name is taken from “cavvy,” or a ranch’s herd of horses, is the thriving brainchild of Gracie and Pedro Torres, who live and work at the ranch.
Pedro Torres, a third-generation horseman with a rodeo and wrangling background, is Cavvietta’s resident horse trainer and teaches riding lessons along with his wife.
Gracie Torres, a rider since the age of three, has a passion for mounted shooting, ranch roping and sorting cattle and ran barrel races in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association with the N.C. State
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University rodeo team that she helped to start.
Horses brought the couple together, and they married at the ranch in 2017.
“I saw Pedro at Carousel Farms in Raleigh one Tuesday night doing the pickup roping – roping bulls after the bull riders come off,” Gracie said. “I couldn’t see his face, but he was riding the most majestic horse I’d ever seen. I contacted him to ask if he taught roping lessons because I’d been wanting to learn, and it was all a wrap from there.”
The Torres’ mission is to “help others learn and grow in their own stockmanship, horsemanship and sportsmanship via safe and effective communication with their equine partners.”
But behind that goal lies another: to make Cavvietta a place where people can come, have a good time and “get away from the realities of life,” Gracie said.
“There’s always somebody staying here,” Gracie said, although her statement barely hints at the level of activity at Cavvietta, which offers horseback riding lessons, horse and mule shows, horse clinics, a yearly rodeo complete with bull riding and summer camps for boys, girls and women who want to leave the world behind for a while to be cowboys and cowgirls.
While Pedro described the biggest crowd pleaser as the Ranch Rodeo, to be held this year Aug. 20, he said the people’s favorite is the camps, adding that he and Gracie get tremendous satisfaction watching growth in everyone who comes.
The Torres said that the effect on children who come to stay for the “Ranch Academies,” which involve four days and three nights of tent camping along with horse care, swimming, fishing and up-withthe-dawn ranch life, leads to personal self-
discovery and self-confidence that lasts long afterwards.
Nelson Deans of Greenville, at Cavvietta recently to watch his son, Eason, and wife Sara taking lessons, said his family has been coming there for three years ever since his older son, Holden, came to camp.
“He learned to take care of the horses, rope – the total ranch experience,” Deans said. “He loved it.”
Deans was unstinting in his praise for the Torres and their helpers.
“They’re awesome, great with kids. Knowledgeable, patient and more than willing to help,” Deans said. “It’s good, clean, wholesome fun here.”
Jane Evans of Wilson brought her granddaughter, Burgen Robertson, for Burgen’s very first experience with horses, including a first lesson.
“I love the fact that they get kids to know the horses,” Evans said. “They had her bring the horse from the field, groom her and get to know her before getting on. That horse, Diamond, is blind in one eye, and Bergen learned to walk up to her and talk to her before touching her.”
Cavvietta is home to the only fullscale Charreada in North Carolina, which Gracie describes as a traditional Mexican horse show/rodeo combination judged on finesse, horsemanship and stockmanship.
“The competition is very strict on tradition and is super-proud of their heritage – as they should be,” Gracie said, adding that Cavvietta is home to the “Charros Caballeros” team, which translates to “gentleman charros,” or Mexican cowboys.
The Charreada features Vaquero horsemanship, described by the Torres as an art form that puts the well-being of the horses first and “ensures an awesome, willing and fine-tuned mount.”
Cavvietta’s 94 acres currently houses 15 riding horses in the “cavvy,” plus additional boarders, with total horse capacity at about 40. The ranch’s herd of Corriente and Longhorn cattle are used for limited breeding, cattle roping and sorting, as are commercial beef cattle for the same ranch events.
Overnight stays for travelers with horses are offered, complete with several on-site air bnb’s. The ranch is also an event venue with indoor space for weddings and parties.
The Cavvietta Quarter Horse & Cattle Company, located at 6131 Town Creek Road in Elm City, has a Facebook page and website, www.cavvietta.com.
