White Stallion Ranch

We just got back from WSR and had the best time ever as a family of three with our daughter Layla turning 10 at the ranch. Photo's do not do this place justice- You have to see it with your own eyes! I cannot say enough good things about our experience- my only complaint- 5 nights was not long enough!! We re-booked for later this year upon checking out. Regarding the review about safety below- The OP has a good point that accidents can happen in any risk taking activity and inexperienced riders should be wary. We sign a waiver acknowledging that we could get thrown/injured on the horses. These are the risks we take as humans every day of our lives in different ways. I witnessed NO horses throwing riders, I witnessed NO accidents or injuries- nor did my husband or 10 year old daughter who advanced from slow to fast rides to the 1/2 day ride while at the ranch. Take your time. Take the lessons they offer. Accept the risks you choose to take. Mom/wife in cancer remission perspective: Just go. Book the trip. Take advantage of all the activities. Eat all the food. Listen to the birds. Ride the horses. Life is short and fleeting and the only things you can take with you in the end are the memories. Thanks WSR for the memories! Assaker Family

This ranch is wonderful. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left everything was amazing. The entire staff goes out of their way to make sure your trip is great. The food is amazing. The wranglers are helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly (thank you Grace and Terry). There are a wide variety of activities for everyone. We can not wait until we get the chance to return.

TL;DR: Terrible, unsafe experience for horseback riding, with actual injury as a result Very unfriendly management and wranglers Nice enough for families with children, but other places probably offer better value for money. Long: This was sold as a horseback holiday - but the horseback riding was terrible. The slow rides were mind-numbingly boring: head-to-tail riding, no changing of the order, with 1 unfriendly wrangler in front who couldn't be caught dead having a simple conversation with the riders in his group. The fast rides were downright dangerous. People who had never ridden a horse could join if they passed a "test" - which resembled rodeo riding more than actual loping (the instructions were clear: lean back and hold the horn - much like rodeo). One elderly guest had blisters on his hand from holding the horn so hard - as he had never ridden before. Since there were so many inexperienced riders, they endangered us. During an almost-gallop, the rider in front of us couldn't get her horse going, and the one behind us couldn't keep him back, so we were sandwiched in between. A fall of either of them would have meant an accident for us. When we asked for a slower lope, we were ignored. During the mountain part of the ride, the inexperienced riders were often out of sight, so the wrangler could not keep an eye on them. The next day we went on a full day ride. During this frantic lope, someone’s stirrup in our group just came clean off, luckily without accident. Afterwards, we had a nice trek, however, during lunch, we overheard some wranglers and a guest talk. The guest wanted to keep the horse he was riding - the horse I rode the day before, but didn’t like the gait of. The wranglers then commented that the horse was actually scheduled “for another guest” (i.e. me), but that he did not like him. Although not inappropriate, the way they spoke was clearly derogatory. Back on the trail, we discovered that our wrangler was about 19 years old and that she had (almost) never ridden a horse before joining WSR as a volunteer a mere 7 months ago. Sending such young, inexperienced people out, is just irresponsible. On the way back, my girlfriend's horse started acting up, constantly trotting, even though my girlfriend held him back. At some point, he was just trotting in place. We know how to deal with that, but didn't have the time: the wrangler ignored the issue, until I rode up to her and spoke out, about an hour after the annoying behavior started. We quickly came to understand, however, why he acted all barn sour: once on ranch property, after 6 hours of riding without food for the horses, they started loping - fast, and long, in essence just teaching the horses to be barn sour. Back in the room, we discovered that, due to the poorly behaved horse and ill-fitting saddle, my girlfriend had a significant friction burn on the back side of her leg - which she never had prior in years of riding. The next day, we went to the reception