I thoroughly enjoyed my riding holiday at White Stallion Ranch. Despite having my own horse, this was my first riding holiday and my first experience of riding Western style. The hosts and wranglers at the ranch really made us feel welcome and put us at ease and I was delighted with the horse they matched me with - Moby - if only I could have brought him home 🙂 The riding was excellent, with a great variety of ride types including slow and fast rides, breakfast rides, beer and Cheetos rides, mountain rides, lessons and even ‘team penning’ - like One Man and His Dog but on horseback and with longhorn cattle. It was so much fun!! The food and accommodation were first class, as were the pool and ranch facilities. Many other guests we spoke to were regular annual visitors to the ranch and there was a real sense of friendliness and community there. Arrived as a guest and felt like I left as a friend. Fantastic experience and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

We have been to WSR before and the riding and lessons are always excellent. We had family with us this time and the riding was as good as ever. Excellent lessons with talented wranglers as well.

The riding was really good and there were lots of options to what rides you did every day. My only gripe was some of the fast rides were very short (less then 45 mins)

The riding was great fun, just like Bonanza and the High Chaparral!

I ride back at home and they were very quick to notice that which I thought was great! I had an ex wrangler horse who was very good. The only problem was when I had a barrel lesson on him and it didn't go so great. I did find out after that he hadn't really done it before. I then went to book another barrel lesson but you have to have 4 people and everyone I had met was leaving however Russell, the owner, sorted 3 of the volunteers to join me for a lesson and I was given another horse for this. I was very grateful they did this and thought it was amazing that the owners were aware of what happened.

Also, as I do ride I wasn't sure if I would get bored but there were plenty of different rides to go on and I ended up doing an all day ride alone and a fast ride which was great as the wranglers stepped up the pace etc. knowing that I was capable.

Overall, they were great catering for all abilities and people's confidence and I don't think I heard anyone say a bad word about the place. It was also very busy for a few days so sometimes we left a bit late but they managed well with this and were quick to change your ride if you were going to miss one.

The riding for Lorraine was excellent as she was nervous.
However if the holiday had been for me then the " nose to tail " type of riding, even at speed was more like pony trekking for advanced riders.
In all honesty I would have been very disappointed.
I do though completely understand the reasons behind this type of riding.
[ITS Comment: Thank you for your feedback and understanding. The riding generally tends to be in single file when mixed abilities groups are riding out together.]

I asked for a well mannered horse that would go, but that I could ride anywhere in the group so I could ride with my less experienced husband on slow rides, got exactly that. A polite but fast quarter horse with the lightest mouth and a bit of character.
You pick and choose your rides for the next day, did slow rides, challenging mountain rides, social rides with a stop for breakfast or a beer, as well as fast short rides and an all day ride. Not to forget team penning, so much fun.
Didn't manage to fit in a lesson, there just wasn't time.

Arrived terrified having only sat on a horse a couple times before. By the following day I had a canter in the arena and after one more lesson I was able to take part in team penning (what a blast).
This was thanks to the fantastic Magnum, my trusty partner for the week and the brilliant wranglers who inspired confidence but had safety in mind always.
Enjoyed various flat and mountain rides, especially the beer ride in the beautiful desert.
Loved the pool, hot tub and other amenities when my wife went out on the longer rides.