Specialty Crop

Homemade mild, medium, and natural salsa, and Bloody Mary mix using fresh tomatoes, spicy peppers, onions, garlic, and spices from the family garden. There is also a recipes’ page on the website.

Red Pony Salsa was one of two Wyoming specialty food producers (see Fremont County section for the other) that earned an invitation to the 2024 Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas, a three-day event of networking, trendspotting, and sampling the newest and best specialty foods from hundreds of exhibitors in more than 40 categories. The event attracted some 17,000 people.

The salsa is named after the fictitious Red Pony, a popular Wyoming dining establishment and bar located near the fictional town of Durant. The Red Pony is operated by Henry Standing Bear, a close friend of Walt Longmire in the famous Longmire book series by Craig Johnson of Ucross, just a 10-minute drive (two hours if you’re riding a fit red pony) to Rhoades’ hometown of Clearmont.

Rhoades, who perfected his salsa recipe over many years in his home kitchen using produce from his garden, including tomatoes, hot peppers, onions, garlic, and spices, is friends with Johnson. “I was having coffee with Craig one morning and him and (his wife) Judy said, ‘Why don’t you just use the Red Pony?’”