Rating Horseback Riding at Dude Ranches
By Bayard Fox
Dude ranches in general have a bad reputation among many of those who are
truly interested in riding and horsemanship. This is true of many dude
ranches which cater to a clientele knowing little about horses or riding and
offer a pseudo western vacation where square dances, wranglers with big hats,
hay rides and cookouts are the main attractions. Not all ranches are
like that and they are as contrasting in character and philosophy as the
individualistic types who run them. If serious horseback riding on fine
horses is your main interest, here are some important points to consider in
seeking the dude ranch which will best suit you.
1. OWNER ATTITUDE - Do the dude ranch owners or
managers ride personally with their guests or do they feel they have more
important things to do? If horseback riding is a top priority with them, they
will participate often. If they don’t, then riding cannot be all that important
in their program. Family ranches with an established history are generally a
better bet than ones which have only been offering horseback riding vacations
for a few years.
2. THE HORSES - Do the horses used at the dude ranch belong to the
ranch itself or are they rented? Many ranches rent horses during the
season only and are often unfamiliar with the horses they get at the start of
the season. They have little control over the quality of these animals and
rented horses are usually not of top quality. It is certainly the cheapest
option for a dude ranch with a comparatively short season and requires little
investment, but it is not likely to produce as good a string as the horses which
have been carefully selected over the years or raised and trained on a ranch.
If a dude ranch has its own horses and many or all of them have been raised and
trained there, it shows a real commitment to an excellent riding program.
It is also a pleasure for many guests to see newly born foals, stallions, brood
mares and young horses in training. If the ranch has a broad selection of
different breeds and types, you are more likely to find the horse that suits
you.
3. CLIENT/HORSE RATIO - A vital factor to consider is
the client/horse ratio. If a dude ranch has only one horse per client, the
horses are going to be exhausted long before the end of the season unless they
are used very lightly. A hard riding cowboy will need half a dozen horses used
in rotation so that they can be fresh enough to work well for months on end.
Guests are unlikely to ride that hard, but if they are going to put a horse
through its paces and cover some ground in rough country, they will need at
least two or better three horses per serious riding client.
4. TERRAIN AND LOCATION - Dude ranches vary greatly in the kind of
terrain they have for horseback riding. Some are surrounded by flat,
uninteresting country. Sometimes the ground is very rocky and there are
few places where one can ride safely at any speed. There are superbly
beautiful locations in steep mountain valleys which severely limit the possible
rides which are on steep and rocky trails or up and down the valley.
Some dude ranches can ride in every direction with a great variety of terrain
from mountains and forest to alpine meadows and sagebrush plains. Others
are very limited by steep mountains, highways and no trespass neighbors.
Some ranches are far from paved roads and signs of civilization, but others are
located near highways and have buildings nearby. Some dude ranches have
rides in pristine wilderness areas and others have fences, traffic noises, paved
roads, houses near the riding trails and numerous hikers. It is important
to find out how favorable the ground will be for the kind of riding you want to
do.
5. PACE OF RIDES - Few ranches today allow riders to
gallop around freely. Liability issues have become too important and it can be
hard on horses. Many ranches do not want riders to get out of a walk and others
go no faster than a trot. Rides can move at a faster pace safely if they are
kept small and it is important to find out how big the riding groups will be.
Some dude ranches will take up to twenty people together regardless of their
experience. Others will send out groups of six or less carefully matched
according to ability which allows guests to ride to the top of their ability.
Determining ability is vital in putting guests in the most suitable group for
them. To do this properly a ranch must not only get the riders own assessment
beforehand, but also evaluate them on the spot. In this way a ranch can avoid
having skilled riders bored and inexperienced ones terrified. If a ranch has a
broad selection of horses, it is of the utmost importance to match the rider to
the most suitable mounts. The most spirited and highly trained horses would
quickly be ruined by inexperienced riders who would be in jeopardy on their
backs.
6. TACK - It is vitally important that the tack
should be comfortable for both riders and horses. Does the dude ranch have a
broad selection of saddles? Are they careful to select a saddle which will not
have uncomfortable pressure points on a horse? The rider can tell you if the
saddle does not suit, but the horse cannot. A poorly fitting saddle can cause a
horse to buck or act strangely and detract greatly from the riding experience.
Is care taken to give each horse a bit which suits him and is fitted properly?
The best procedure is to have a separate bridle for each horse. Obviously the
equipment must be well maintained and headstalls, reins, girths and latigoes
checked and replaced periodically.
7. SAFETY - If you are enjoying your life, safety
should be a major consideration. Never ride without a hard hat. After 65
years of serious riding, at least a hundred falls and seeing and studying many
accidents, I have developed some ideas about how to reduce danger. Like most of
the world’s exciting sports, horseback riding has inherent risks. They can
never be eliminated, but they can be minimized without losing much of the
potential thrill and pleasure. Here are some of the ways to reduce risk:
A) Match the horse and the rider carefully.
B) The pace of the ride should be
slow enough for the ability of the least skillful rider in the group.
C) Each
rider should get careful instructions in how to handle this particular horse. A
rider who is not in control of his horse can endanger others as well as
himself.
D) All ride leaders should be well qualified, have first aid training
and be attentive to all the riders with them.
E) It is a vital safety feature
that ride leaders should have quick communications to summon help in case of an
accident. Having a good plan in place beforehand can save precious time.
F) It is important to see that cinches are properly tightened, neither too loose
nor too tight. They should be checked before the rider mounts and again after a
few minutes of riding since horses often puff up at the start.
G) The ride
leader needs to be alerted to and aware of hazards like badger holes, quicksand,
down barbed wire and potential scares which might spook horses from game like
moose, elk, bear and deer.
H) As is the case with people, a small percentage
of horses cause most of the accidents. Safety conscious dude ranches will be
vigilant in getting rid of potential problems. They cannot do this if they are
not familiar with the horses they have. That is one reason why owning, raising
and training them on the ranch is best.
I) Head accidents are probably the worst kind. Wearing
a hard hat greatly reduces the danger of them. One has to decide whether a
pseudo Western experience with a Marlboro style hat is worth the risk.
Most dude ranches allow riders to ride without hard hats, but some do not.
8. ATTITUDE TO HORSES - Ranches have totally
different philosophies toward handling and training horses. Training can range
from the often brutal, hell for leather methods of the old West to the gentle
persuasion of the Linda Tellington-Jones (www.horseplaza.com) TTouch approach.
Some ranches have about the same feeling for a horse that they do for a motor
bike and others treat their horses like loved members of the family.
9. WORKING RANCHES - Some dude ranches have their own
working cattle operation and others get all their income from paying guests.
Working cattle in partnership with a good horse in the traditional Western sense
can be an exciting and rewarding experience. In many parts of the West it is
still the best way to move cattle from one part of a range to another and to
round them up in the fall. Remember that there is a big difference between
rounding up cattle over a wide grazing area with varied terrain and driving a
herd of cows down a dusty road at a slow pace. Some ranches have authentic
chances to work cattle and others stage it purely for the guests. If team
penning or team sorting is something you want to try, check to see if the dude
ranch offers this opportunity.
10. PACK TRIPS - If the dude ranch is near a national
forest, it may offer the opportunity to take a pack trip into the wilderness for
an overnight or more. These wilderness trips can be a marvelous experience and
provide a chance to bond with the horses who will be your close companions
throughout the trip. You will see country which would be difficult to visit in
any other way. Keep in mind that this is usually not an opportunity for fast
riding as pack horses should usually go at a walk and trails are often steep and
rocky.
11. WRANGLERS - America has been late in setting up
instruction programs for wranglers, but the Certified Horsemen’s Association now
has an excellent program to instruct potential ride leaders. The British Horse
Society has excellent instruction programs for many years and the Federation
Francaise d’Equitation has long had stiff requirements for ride leaders in
France. A good wrangler needs not only to know how to ride well, but they
should be attentive to those behind them and their problems. Sensitivity to
riders and horses is the great virtue, not macho strength.
12. INSTRUCTION - The horses at each dude ranch are
trained in a particular way which may not be the kind of riding you are used
to. For instance, if you are a dressage rider, you will need to adapt to the
dude ranch horses. They cannot be retrained for the week you are there. Most
places will give at least some basic orientation as to how they expect you to
handle the horses. Some will offer instruction from qualified riding
instructors which can be videotaped for your later viewing to get the best
results. If you are not familiar with the approved style of riding at the dude
ranch you visit, you will be more comfortable and get more out of the riding
with a few hours of instruction. On some ranches the horses are used to having
their riders post the trot. Other places just expect riders to sit in the
saddle and bounce along.
At their best, dude ranches can provide a superb horse
riding experience now impossible in many parts of this highly developed planet.
The scenery is spectacular, the air is clean and the climate excellent. It is
ideal country for horses. Few places can rival the Rocky Mountain West for
riding holidays.
Bayard Fox has been riding for 70 years on six continents and has ridden
enough miles to circle the globe several times. He is owner and founder of
Equitours Worldwide Horseback Riding Vacations. He and his wife also own the Bitterroot
Dude Ranch
where they raise and train Arabian horses. Bayard has been leading and
organizing riding tours for 35 years.
© Copyright 2005 Bayard Fox and Equitours, Ltd.
This article is licensed under a
CrCreative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.p>
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