Rachel who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A dream come true | Whilst its a long way to travel it was worth every mile. Montana didn't disappoint, nor did the Ranch or their horses. Lots of wildlife - deer, eagles, rattle snakes! A stream to swim in and a hot tub to relax in.
I was paired with a perfect horse for me, fun and engaging but safe and sensible - just what I asked for! The riding was great fun, varied terrain and the trailer up to Medicine Rock was a perfect ride and the woodland complimented the ranch rides well.
Riding was a good mixture of learning different skills such as barrel racing, and rein less games, horsemanship and plenty of trail rides. Lots of walking on the trail rides, with opportunities for long lopes where possible too. I felt the guides had the right level of "eyes on" to keep us safe, but "hands off" so we didn't feel curtailed or micro-managed.
The food was delicious and varied, the company was great too.
My only complaint was the week was over all too soon - a week just wasn't enough!
[Olwen from In The Saddle - I am so glad that you enjoyed Montana - one of my favourite places in the world.]

Fiona (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) The most amazing holiday! | The riding was brilliant, various terrains, absolutely stunning scenery. Everyone had choices regarding trail rides, liberty work and lessons. Everyone was well catered for.
The horses were so well cared for by knowledgeable people, so well trained and everyone was matched up perfectly with their horses.

Cecilia who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Surprising | Amazing the professionalism of Maria, Sara, Jessy and Anna

Catherine (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fantastic experience | Made to feel welcome the moment I arrived and got to experience so many different aspects of the ranch.

Andrew (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Exceeding expectations | Excellent

Celia (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Excellent | Excellent

Anna (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fabulous! | The horses were all so lovely and friendly. They were well matched to our ability - some were very forward going but had brakes! The wranglers were very caring and helped if we had any concerns.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: It's wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the riding at Rocking Z Ranch.]

Mari (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Absolutely fantastic!! | Wonderful teachers - it was all just so much more than I imagined

Abigail who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Living my cowgirl dreams! | Rocking Z Ranch was everything I hoped for in a ranch holiday. Zack and Patty and their family have created a wonderful experience that made us feel like we were welcomed into a family, rather than guests at the lodge.

The wranglers and interns were amazing- so knowledgeable about the horses and they worked really hard to care for them and make sure we all got to experience the things we wanted from our holidays.

The horses (and gorgeous Lizzie the mule) were beautifully trained and there were options for all levels of riders. The trail rides into the surrounding countryside were stunning and the options at the ranch- from cow work to liberty and many more gave us a really varied and interesting experience. The Friday night trip to the rodeo was a fantastic bonus and a great night out!

I would highly recommend this trip and am already making plans to return next year.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback. We're thrilled that you had such a great time at Rocking Z!].

Alexis who has been on 10 In The Saddle rides. Another lovely holiday at Rocking Z | In my experience, Rocking Z is a special place because the horses are so well cared for and there is a real understanding of the value of natural horsemanship and the communication between horse and rider. My husband and I really enjoyed time spent with our horses and the instruction we received to learn more about improving our understanding and communication - and to have fun! The scenery is beautiful, the horses are great and the people are friendly and helpful. It also gave us time to unwind and enjoy life.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you so much for your lovely feedback. We are so pleased to hear that you enjoyed your return to Rocking Z.]

Janice (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fabulous experience | We rode at a very difficult time of year, with snow still on the ground following a very harsh winter. Staff made sure we had varied and interesting rides.

Additional training was provided for natural horsemanship, plus other activities such as learning to rope steers.

Fiona (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing experience! | I was quite apprehensive when I went as I had not ridden regularly for many years and was not sure if I would participate in some of the activities. However from the very first ride, I felt confident enough to canter on the trail and ended up doing everything that was on offer.....This included Arena games and Barrel racing, Working with Cattle and Wagon driving! Everybody at the Ranch went out of their way to make sure all the guests were happy with their horse and got to do everything that they wanted to.

I really enjoyed the riding and it more than exceeded my expectations.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you very much for leaving us your feedback and I'm so pleased to hear that you had a lovely holiday at Rocking Z.]

Liza who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. The quality of 2 of the horses I rode was perhaps not quite as good. One seemed to be slightly lame and the other had no doubt previously been very good, but coughed a lot, had difficulty keeping up and was affected by his age. But there was no problem in getting another horse.

Sine Orgaard Olsson who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A dream that was fulfilled. Good horse, tack and fantastic scenery

Susan who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Everything I'd dreamed of! | We had a fantastic week! I learnt so much; tried cattle cutting, Liberty, barrel racing and driving the heavy horses. I had two fantastic horses, who I felt quite sad to leave at the end of the week.

Ruth who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Great time learning to be Cowgirls!! | We were matched up with our horses after a discussion on our ability, and requirements. We did need to switch later, but in the end we got our perfect match.
It was a shame that the rides were not better divided up into riding ability. Experience riders often went out with a group of novice riders.This did effect the pace of the rides sometimes. We would have liked more opportunities for faster "lopping"
Maybe in future requests of what was happening the following day could be discussed the evening before over our meal. There was always a delay with the rides going out, which could have been better organised. I think that the week we were there they were a little overstretched.
The horse were beautifully cared for as was the tack.

Charlotte (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) A great week in beautiful Montana made very easy by in the saddle | I think I downplay my riding ability a little bit which did mean it took a few days to find a horse I really loved (my fault). I wasn’t expecting such hard ground which meant quite sedentary paced rides & there were lots of beginners so I would consider experienced rides only for my next trip. The opportunities to have long canters (through a little more than one field) were limited, but the staff did everything they could to suit everyone’s wants and the rides with Maria were particularly fun / all the staff are lovely. Some periods of disorganisation and waiting around in the mornings - i think this is because there is not schedule which is both a pro and con for them from what I could see.