The Horton family moved onto the land September 9, 1991, moving a tiny mobile home underneath a canopy of large Spanish oaks. Jerry continued working in Austin at the University of Texas, but Judy quit her job and focused on caring for Kelly in their new home in the country.

There were no usable buildings on the property, only a small, decrepit barn that barely served to house Blossom the donkey and Belle the tiny mule. Cows roamed at will in the front yard and gardens. Friends came out to help clear away the old shacks and build the Ranch's first chicken coop and henhouse.

Gradually a homestead emerged. Eager to be of service to those the Ranch had been created to serve, the board authorized the Hortons to begin offering programs on a limited basis.

• In 1990, while still living in Austin, the first issue of The Spirit, the Down Home Ranch newsletter was published and sent to the few hundred names on the tiny Ranch mailing list. The issue told of the impending purchase of 214 acres of land on which the Ranch would be built.
   
• In 1991, neighbors Bob and Molly Barton helped trench and install a septic system, and set up the mobile home. In September, the Hortons moved to the land and Kelly started kindergarten in Thrall school.

• In 1992, two Austin men with disabilities began riding the bus to the Ranch two days a week, sleeping on the couch or a mat on the floor - to help clear brush and take down old fences.
   
• In 1993, the first greenhouse was donated to the Ranch and Terry, Lynn, Bill and Linda were picked up each Tuesday and Thursday morning to help.
   
• In 1995 Ranch Camp, a sleepover camp for adults and teenagers with intellectual and physical handicaps, began.
   
• In 1998, thanks to a generous gift by the board president, the mortgage was paid off three years early, and the Ranch qualified for foundation grants to begin building permanent structures.
   
• In 1999, the RGK Foundation of Austin gave the Ranch funds to build the Pavilion.
   
• In 2005, the Ranch qualified for status as a provider of Home and Community-Based Services, a Medicaid program administered by the Department of Aging and Developmental Services of the State of Texas. This program offers a vitally important way to help parents support their child while living at Down Home Ranch.

The story continues ... looking to the future