Back on the ranch: a dream holiday for horse lovers in the American west

Sipping a margarita as the sun sets over the White Stallion Ranch, I ponder my choices. Do I want to do the Fast Ride to Suicide Ridge, or a Slow Ride with Beer and Cheetos? The margaritas are slipping down and a sing-along session is kicking off by the fire, so I reckon it’s better late than never to choose the path of wisdom, help myself to another drink from the honour bar and sign up to the slow session.
I’m in Arizona, satisfying a long-held dream, exploring dude ranches where you can round up cattle, canter (or, as they say, lope) among the saguaro cacti, or saunter the trails in pursuit of a nice cold beer. During my time at White Stallion, I will discover a passion for team penning, experience the thrill of loping the twisting paths, and fall in love with a horse called Rocky. Indeed, throughout the trip I will fall in love precisely three times: with Rocky, Randy and Slack; which I also realise sounds as if I’m making my way through the college football team.
The stories of the American west, once a staple of cinema and TV, are potent, from City Slickers to Brokeback Mountain, and through five seasons of Yellowstone. They also provide the backdrop for explorations of conflict, spirit and soul in literature. They are there in Sebastian Barry’s beautiful 2017 Days Without End, and in Kevin Barry’s most recent novel, The Heart in Winter. Riding through the Sonoran Desert, it starts to make sense. As we trek out, I ask Jeremy, our Navajo wrangler, if the riding is any different on his family ranch on their Nation lands farther north. “No,” he says. “Ranching cattle is ranching cattle.”
Do you have to be able to ride to enjoy a dude ranch holiday? No, as I quickly learn from a fun group of flight attendants on a mini break. Some guests are experts, while for beginners, a couple of lessons is plenty to enjoy a slow ride where you don’t go above a walk. Pass a (very) quick riding test to enjoy the faster outings. The western style of riding, with long stirrups and a loose rein, is easy to pick up, although like all the best things in life, it can take a lifetime to master.
Team penning is another matter. We divide into groups of four, and I’m designated the cutter, so it’s up to me to pick out three of the mingling cattle, and separate them from the group while my colleagues prevent them breaking back into the corral. After a couple of false starts, we get all three into the pen. A nudge of the knee, or even a lean in one direction, is enough to turn Rocky on his haunches, and he clearly knows way more about it than I do. So, I imagine, do the cows.
White Stallion is horse heaven, but you can also do archery, shooting, axe throwing, yoga and art classes. When I arrive I feel anxious as I have spotted some fellow guests sporting bandages and slings, but it turns out all injuries, including a couple while I’m there, have been off the ebikes, seemingly far more tricksy than the very well-mannered horses.
Spread out on a plain, surrounded by mountains, accommodation at White Stallion is in little “casitas”, with your own stoop area, including a fire. As I’m there in June, the thought of lighting a fire seems a little overheated, but I can only imagine how lovely it must be as autumn nips in. Instead I opt for a dip in the pool, before joining the rest of the guests for sundowners and snacks. Food is a tasty, hearty combination of buffet and barbecue.
The Tombstone Monument Ranch is a smaller affair, and it is here that I meet Randy, a remarkable chestnut that knows a thing or two about plunging down precipitous slopes. We ride out to the remains of an old railway. Once it would have brought silver and some gold from the mines that made this town famous. Now our horses bring us up a steep bank to ride along the line, before we slide down again as it abruptly ends near rocks where Native American petroglyphs mark the red stone.
“You can see the claim stakes,” says Kyler, wrangler and lead rider, pointing to bits and pieces topping the hillocks. “They would discover silver, stake their claim, and ride like heck to register it.” What, I wonder, would happen if someone else lay in wait, to steal your claim the moment you had gone? “People were killed for far less round here,” he says laconically.
I have arrived fresh from Tombstone itself, which is full of gift shops and saloon bars. I skip the daily re-enactment of the Gunfight at the OK Corral to take a look at the Birdcage Theatre, home to a legendary poker game that lasted eight years. But it’s time to ride again, so I head to the ranch. Accommodation at Tombstone Monument is in a joyful film-set of a place, with rooms in the Mining Office, Blacksmith’s or old Post Office. Walking in, dusty from the car park, I can almost imagine someone saying: “We don’t like strangers in these parts.”
Except they do: in the Saloon they couldn’t be friendlier, and Cliff the bartender, who looks like he could easily have stepped out of a movie himself, serves icy beer and highly acceptable cocktails. There is a welcome swimming pool here, too, and if I had come a week earlier, I could have signed up to help with the cattle drive, bringing the animals in off the range, sorting and penning. The dress code, as everywhere, is Horse Casual, so jeans and boots do the job. Hard hats are not required, and safety concerns aside, a wide-brimmed hat will give you better shade. Tie on a “stampede string” for under your chin, to stop it flying off at full tilt.
My third ranch is in Wickenburg, where Rancho de los Caballeros offers a horse-and-golf combo, which is ideal should you have happened to fall in love with someone who inexplicably prefers putting to ponies. Wickenburg is famous for cattle roping, hosting annual events that attract competitors from all over the world. A roping lesson on a fake cow demonstrates the requisite flick of the wrist, and after managing to catch the inanimate piece of plastic three times in a row, I’m delighted with myself.
Resident naturalist Dick Fredrickson leads a walk into the Sonoran desert, pointing out medicinal plants, and ones that are quite the opposite. This time of year, he says, female rattlesnakes are leaving trails of pheromones for their suitors to follow. Sadly I see neither these femmes fatales nor their snaky swains, so I go and get acquainted with another charming chestnut, Slack, for a lope through the surprisingly green desert, with its near-endless horizons of saguaro dotting the scrub and the misty ridge of Vulture Peak rising in the distance. “Epic” doesn’t do it justice.
A relaxing massage sets me up for the evening, and the mountains turn pink and purple as sun sets. Horses whicker in the cooling evening, and I think about how much the landscape inflects the myths of a place. Horses have been part of the story of humanity for more than 5,000 years, and a horse holiday is one of the best ways I can imagine to connect with the older cultures of a place, while having a damn good time into the bargain. It is, in a word, unforgettable.
Gemma Tipton was a guest of the Arizona Office of Tourism and Visit Tucson.
Getting there
Fly to Tucson via Los Angeles or Chicago with Aer Lingus, or to Phoenix via London with British Airways. Individual dude ranches can arrange transportation, but depending on your itinerary, it can make sense to hire a car and take time to explore downtown Tucson and its interesting shops and eateries, as well as drop into the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is an amazing must-see park, with a wealth of animals and plant life plus a hummingbird sanctuary. For an ideal itinerary, take a night or two in Tucson, and then three or four nights apiece in different dude ranches.
Best for everything horsey and more: White Stallion Ranch from €370 per room per night, including meals and riding.
Best for western adventure: Tombstone Monument Ranch from €154 per night B&B, or opt for a package including all activities and meals at about €220 per person, single rates available.
Best for travellers with different tastes Rancho de los Caballeros from €195 pps B&B, or packages including all meals and one activity per day from about €245 pps.
Castle Leslie, on 1,000 acres of Co Monaghan’s finest land, including bridleways, cross-country, a mile-long all weather gallop, show jumps, dressage and an indoor arena, is horse heaven. Packages are available for absolute beginners, improvers and experts, with three nights, including three hours riding per day, plus dinner, B&B from €800 per night for two, or inquire about tailoring your trip at [email protected], castleleslie.com.
Pony-mad kids (and their parents) will love Killarney’s Europe and Dunloe Hotels, as both places have Austrian Haflingers hanging out on site. Each hotel offers complimentary short (10-15 minute) guided rides on these gorgeous golden ponies, which might well make somebody’s year, or lead to years of pony pestering. Europe from €395 per room, Dunloe from €295. Want more than your 15 minutes of horse? The Killarney Riding Stables do trail rides year round, including in the National Park, from €60 per hour, with longer rides taking you through the Killarney Reeks, with B&B accommodation en route from April until October each year. Three nights from €1,095, including accommodation.
In Kilkenny, Mount Juliet Estate has a state-of-the-art equestrian centre on site, and 500 acres to hack out over. One-hour group trail rides from €125 for adults/€95 for children. From €335 per room. Kenmare’s Sheen Falls Lodge has stables, and its one-hour ride, which is perfect for beginners, takes you alongside Kenmare Bay. Horse and carriage excursions are also available. Riding costs €45 for under-12s, and €60 for adults. From €420 per room. Ashford Castle has trail riding, lessons and pony rides, from €120 children/€150 adults. Winter rates from €475 pps B&B.
Find all the info on bespoke racing yard visits across counties Kildare and Tipperary, as well as horse riding, and details of the Fethard Horse Country Experience at Thoroughbred Country, where you’ll also get info on accommodation, including The Horse & Jockey, Club Hotel at Goffs and Cashel Palace. The last of these has its very own equine concierge, who can arrange a Racing Royalty private tour to the likes of Ballydoyle and Coolmore, with lunch for a thoroughbred price of €1,250.
Ireland’s bridleways are sadly underdeveloped, but a notable exception is the Beara Bridle Way in west Cork. Its billing as “Ireland’s first ever horse trail” skips the fact that once all this country’s highways and byways were, in essence, horse trails, but it is a wonderful amenity, linking the valleys of Castletownbere, Allihies and Urhan. Maps and accommodation info, including where to park your horse for the night at bearabridleway.com.
Some believe the modern horse originated in Mongolia, and horseback is certainly the ideal way to explore this extraordinary place. YellowWood Adventures has a nine-day trip staying with local nomadic families in their gers, and riding both horses, and Bactrian camels when you get to the Gobi Desert. Runs May to September, with 2025 prices from £1,999 excluding flights.
Closer to home, Trans Wales has lovely farm-based riding holidays on Welsh Cobs, from one-day pub rides, two-day riding weekends in the Brecon Beacons, to a challenging five-day adventure across the Black Mountains, and concluding with a bracing beach gallop. From £135 for the pub ride, £595 for two nights, to £2,250 for the full trek. Riding weekends run March to October.
Responsible Travel has an eight-day, customisable horse holiday in the volcanic countryside close to Girona. This is an accessible holiday, and is suitable for wheelchair users too. Includes lessons and trekking, and accommodation in an eco hotel. Families welcome, and there is a friendly pony for the under-fives, from €795 excluding flights.
Ride with the anti-poaching unit at Ant’s Nest in the Waterberg area of South Africa, home to one of the three largest remaining rhino populations on Earth. Includes night-time rides for the experienced, and gentler rides for novices. Five nights from £1,500. africanhorsesafarisfoundation.org