A ranch vacation is the perfect treat for all the family this year, so if you were thinking of entertaining your young ones with a trip to Disneyland in 2013 you may want to reconsider. Here’s what makes a trip to a ranch so very special.

Come and experience all the thrills of a ranching holiday this year and you’ll wonder why you didn’t go sooner. Choose from a Luxury Dude ranch, a Working ranch or a Family ranch and indulge yourself in the numerous opportunities a ranch vacation has to offer. Many families are fooled into thinking that a trip to Disneyland is the best option for their children but if you consider the pros and cons below, no doubt you’ll agree a ranch has everything to offer each family member and it’s a much healthier choice for everyone, too.

Value for money

A week’s trip to Disneyland will set you back in the region of $1,900 per person including flight, hotel accommodation and park entry. Be warned that hotels vary in standard and with so many guests being catered for, hygiene can be far from acceptable. As well as your initial holiday cost, you’ll need plenty of spending money because Disneyland is one big shopping temptation for children, and the array of fast food on offer doesn’t come cheap either.

While a ranching holiday will cost you that bit more (in the region of $300 per night, although this can vary greatly depending on the ranch and time of year), you will most certainly get what you pay for. The initial cost of your trip usually covers everything, so once you’ve paid you can relax without worrying about any hidden extra costs.The activities available at ranches are endless, so shop around to see what suits you best. For adults, there’s riding, of course, white water rafting and other water sports, fishing, golf, spas, tennis, yoga, mountain biking, climbing and much more. Younger travellers can take advantage of the children’s programs on offer – supervised activities which allow children to immerse themselves in the day to day running of ranch life or learn how to care for a pony days and weeks, too.

Healthy holidays

While Disneyland provides plenty of entertainment for children, it’s difficult to eat well. Pizza, burgers, chips and other fast food is widely available, but there’s a severe lack of fresh, healthy food on offer and when you do order, the cost is exorbitant. Then there’s the ride queuing time to consider (often more than an hour). With so much time standing around, children can easily become bored and a lack of exercise (combined with all those e numbers) can leave them hyperactive even at the end of a long day. Disneyland is packed out during the holiday season, so expect long lines, poor air quality and substandard restroom facilities.

If there’s one thing a ranch can promise it’s top quality food. Much of the produce is sourced on the ranch and the food will be fresh, tasty and healthy. With so much to do, the whole family can benefit from plenty of exercise if they wish and all the fresh air and outdoor activities will leave children waiting for their beds at the end of the day. For adults seeking a more relaxing vacation, choose a ranch where your children can get involved in the organised programs while you sit by the pool and enjoy a stress-free day in the open fresh air. Limited guests and so much open space will guarantee you a good night’s sleep and plenty of ‘you’ time.

Safety first

If you do opt for Disneyland then be sure to hang on to your little ones, because turn your back for a minute and they may be gone. Disneyland can be a stressful and rather scary place for parents, so be prepared for all the noise as parents shout to their children to stay close and not run off.

At a ranch, on the other hand, your children can run free in a safe environment – whether you’re with them or not. Whether it’s a Dude ranch with an organised children’s program or one that is simply family friendly, your young ones will be able to indulge in the ranch’s activities safely and securely. With so much space and so few people, they’ll be able to run to their heart’s content as they take in all that fresh air and finally experience true freedom – something that many children never get to do.

Stress or stress-free?

While Disney is a magical place, it’s most definitely not somewhere to go to relax and unwind. The crowds of people, long queues, screaming children and extra spending money all take their toll on parents, creating stress and worry. Bored children waiting in long queues are not always the best behaved, so prepare to contend with children having fits as they wait and wait – sometimes up to an hour and a half – for their ten minutes of fun.

Instead, why not tailor-make your holiday at a ranch so you can do exactly what you want, when you want? If you want to go horseback riding, you can. If you want to relax by the pool and leave your children supervised by a ranch professional, then go ahead. In fact, if you tell the ranch exactly what you want from your holiday, most will happily oblige. And if a particular ranch can’t cater for your needs, there will always be another one that can at www.top50ranches.com

Learning curve

What better way to learn new experiences than in a fun way on holiday? Sadly, Disneyland may offer fun, but the only thing a family will learn on a trip is which rides to queue up for again and which to avoid. Meeting Disney’s characters – Mickey Mouse and the likes – is the best education your children will get on this vacation.

While a holiday is generally somewhere to escape from education, learning new skills in a fun way is something a ranch can promise anyone, no matter what age. Learn all about the life of a modern day cowboy and take part in real-life cattle drives. Or why not take advantage of a Natural Horsemanship clinic where you will learn to handle horses in a truly professional way? Your children will also learn about the basics of life and be submersed into positive values as well.

Weigh it up

So this year, try something a little different. A ranching vacation is the new Disneyland – a magical place offering a whole range of exciting activities without the stress of crowds and plastic food! In a nutshell…

Disneyland – crowds of people, stress, poor-quality food, extra spending money required, the worry of losing children, long queues for ten minutes of fun, substandard air quality, varied hotel standards, grubby restrooms.

Ranch – relaxation, rest, security, no hidden extras, no queues, a wide range of activities, healthy, home grown food, space, comfortable accommodation, good air quality.

You know it makes sense!

Personal Note: Jody Dahl took her three children (aged 3, 5 and 11) to Disneyland in 2012 and here’s her account of her trip. “We did have a very fun and magical time – but note, relaxing it’s NOT! In fact, when we left the place we all needed a vacation to get over it! We greatly enjoyed all the Disney characters and fun rides, but also had to withstand loads of fits, losing our youngest child (which happens all the time there). You can’t take your eye from your child for even a split second. The food was poor quality (keep in mind, I’m used to very quality ranch vacation fare) and the feeling of grime all around you as you touch anything, combined with droves of people, makes you feel like you’re on the great migration. Two days was more than enough!”

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Grab your scarf, pull out the leaf rake and put some hot water on the stove for a cup of hot chocolate.  Fall has arrived.  It’s that wonderful time of year when the air becomes crisp, the sky has a different hue of blue and the leaves change into the most beautiful colors.   We were a little worried about the Ozark color because of the dry summer season but low and behold mother nature still gave us a work of art.  A canvas of reds, oranges and yellows scattered across the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch valley.

Oct. 15 – The color is starting to really show.

October 20 – More color.

October 20 – One of my favorite ways to look at the fall colors is horseback.

October 20 – Fall means breeding season for the goats. This is one of our bucks (male) enjoying the fall sun with a doe (female).

October 24 – more change in the color.

October 24 – The horses after a day of work.

October 24 – A beautiful fall evening.

October 24

October 24 – The color on the hills makes me think of a big patchwork quilt.

October 25 – The day the color is predicted to peak.

October 25 – Peak day for color. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see the breakfast cookout riders.

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So you have thought to yourself, “Would a dude ranch be a good place to hold a family reunion?”.  And of course our answer would be “YES”!  A little bias maybe but here are the reasons we think you should consider it:

1. No planning.  Okay, you do have to plan when you want your reunion and how everyone is going to get here but after that it’s a snap.  The activities are all ready figured out.

Traditional dude ranch activity: Trail riding.

No so traditional dude ranch activity: High adventure – walking the cable bridge.

2. No cooking or meal plans to work out with one another.  That in itself if worth it’s weight in gold.  I say that because when we have had the Johnson Family reunion we all had to take turns making meals for the group.  If your group is large, that is not always easy.  We ended up making pizza by ordering on the phone.  Martha was not too thrilled.

Grandfather, son, grandsons and nephews.

3. There is something for everyone.  Horseback riding to rock climbing to canoeing to zip lines to just sitting on the porch enjoying a good book.  It is not uncommon when you get your family together that they all don’t like the same thing.  It’s okay, we have it covered.

Sisters with their granddaughters.

4.  Everything is included in one price.  Other than some souvenirs or snacks from our Trading Company there are no extra charges.

So if you have been wondering if this kind of vacation would make for a good family reunion, again we say “YES!”

Son and Father. It’s a great way to get reconnected with family.

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This year during spring break we noticed that quite a few of our guests had something in common, besides coming and having a great time at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, families were stopping at destinations of attraction on their way to the ranch.  What a great idea!  It is a way to make things more interesting for the children and do multiple activities in one trip.  We have a pretty high percentage of guests that drive through or near St. Louis, MO and quite a few of them take advantage of what the city has to offer.  As we got to talking about “their on the way adventures” we found out we have gone to a couple of these places so we have decided to share the two that our kids have enjoyed the most.

ST. LOUIS CITY MUSEUM:  Although it was in 2009 that we visited our kids still talk about how much fun it was.  We highly recommend this museum.  NOTE: If it is raining they close the outdoor portion and that was the part our kids loved the most.

Much to see and climb! Inside near the entrance.

Description from their website: “Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.

The outdoor section.

Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions’. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!

“City Museum makes you want to know,” says Cassilly. “The point is not to learn every fact, but to say, ‘Wow,that’s wonderful.’ And if it’s wonderful, it’s worth preserving.”

The second was the St. Louis Zoo.  The admission is free (the parking is not). Make sure you have a lot of time if you want to make it through the entire facility.

“The St. Louis Zoo is one of the country’s best. Actually, both Parenting Magazine and Zagat’s call it the top zoo in the nation. Not only does the St. Louis Zoo excel at getting visitors face-to-face with animals, it’s also respected for creating exhibits that resemble each animal’s natural habitat. Surprisingly, it does all this without charging a dime for admission!

The Zoo has always been on of the best free attractions in St. Louis. What to see once you’re there? Here are ten things that shouldn’t be missed.”  By David O’Brien, About.com Guide

Cameron liked looking at the penguins just not smelling them.

 

I don't remember what these are called but thought they would be a nice addition to the ranch.

Grumpy Bird: This was like a little mini zoo rodeo. He did not want to leave the enclosure, but his handlers did.

 

Don't let Creed's expression fool you, he really did have a fun time.

 

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Spring has arrived!  Green pastures, blossoms and baby animals.  What more could you ask for?

Redbuds are some of the first trees to blossom.

Spring rains get our streams flowing.

Spring brings new life to the ranch, mostly goats.  Next month we should be adding a foal to out ranch nursery list.

There is never a shortage of baby goats during our spring season.

The new piglets are some of the favorites in the petting zoo.

The Dogwoods bloom at the end of March and first part of April.

The Honey Locust blossoms have filled the Canyon with it's sweet smell.

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Last year we got some mini pigs from our good friends Sky & Debora Shivers.  Now from time to time we make more piglets.  These little guys and gals were born the first part of March.  We think they are among some of the cutest baby animals, right up there with puppies.  It always amazes me at how mobile they are right from the start.  They get up and run around almost from day one.  I guess that comes from survival of the fittest.  We have enjoyed having this new addition.

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Every year, sometime in January, the Dude Ranch Association holds a convention for all of us fellow dude ranchers.  This year is was held in the Cody Wyoming, home of COLONEL WILLIAM F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.  So we packed up the family and took the 22 hour/1252 miles West to Cody.

After many miles of sage brush and mostly flat land mountains finally appear.

We were worried about snow but instead Barry had to hold the van on the road when gusts of 50 to 60 mph winds would come across the highway.

Traveling is so much more fun now that our youngest is 8.

There is always a lot of sleeping on such a long drive.

The start of the Boysen State Park.

We drove through Boysen State Park in Wyoming where the Wind River runs along side the road.  During this part of the drive we always make the kids turn off their electronic devices because of how interesting and beautiful the pass is.

The truck in front of us gives you and idea of the size of things.

At the convention we get renewed and refreshed with new ideas and it always gets us excited and ready for the next season.   We love seeing all of our friends we have made over the years from coming to this event and we always seem to make new ones.  It is half vacation half business I guess you could say.

Walking the streets of Cody, WY.

Lunch at the La Comida

Cody found his dream "climber" wagon while we were there.

Cody is located just outside the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  If you drive up the canyon towards the West entrance this time of the year(which is closed in the winter) you can see all kinds of wildlife due to them moving to lower grounds for food.  Our favorite are the big horn sheep.  They are much harder to spot in the summer when they are up running around in the rock.

Heading up the canyon.

Can you see the big ram? You will need to click on the photo to enlarge it to find him.

They are literally right on the side of the road.

Another ram.

Mule Deer Does: We saw a lot of mule deer. They are so much bigger than the white tail. Notice their big ears, it's how they got their name, they have ears like a mule.

A big herd of elk.

People ice fishing. The weather was pretty mild, around 40 and 50 degrees. Usually it is a lot colder and the ice fishermen will be more out on the lake.

When we came back we stopped at Cowtown Candy Company.  April from Three Bars Guest Ranch had gone there earlier and said they had this most magical white chocolate covered stuff  and we should get some.  Okay, maybe she didn’t call it “magical stuff” but after we ate some we did!  Cowtown’s truffles were good but this white chocolate covered “puff” stuff was the best.  If you ever go to Cody you have to go in there and try some, actually don’t even worry about trying it, just buy a bag it’s worth it.

Huge jawbreaker.

Old fashion rock candy.

Cameron was sad because he ate all of his candy.

All dressed up for the Educational Trust banquet and fundraiser.

After lots of good meetings and classes it was time to pack back up and head South.  It was a short trip but well worth it.

Nebraska Sunset: There is beauty in every part of this country if we just look. It's a little blurry but there is no stopping on I-80.

Another early start to driving home, day two.

Kansas Sunrise

Home Sweet Home!

Growing up in Utah there is just something about the West that will always have a piece of my heart.  If you haven’t done it you really need to visit Yellowstone National Park.  All of the Yellowstone entrances are unique and different.  If you decided to go through Cody and the West entrance there are a several things you should take a moment and see/do:

1. Visit the Dude Rancher Association Heritage Center  building right in downtown Cody.  Make sure you tell Colleen and her staff “hello” from Horseshoe Canyon Ranch.
2. Visit The Irma: “A place in history”.  Buffalo Bill named the hotel after his daughter.
3. Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  You will need plenty of time to explore and see all the center has to offer.  Very interesting and informative.

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Febuary 11, 2012 – 6:00 p.m.

Dinner, Cowboy Stories and Music!
Cost: FREE
You must call and reserve to attend.
800-480-9635 

Cabins are available to rent. 

SKY SHIVERS: WESTERN HUMORIST / COWBOY STORYTELLER

 Awarded “1997 & 1999 Storyteller of the Year” - by the Academy of Western Artist
Awarded “2006 Best Storyteller” - by the American Cowboy Culture Association

A “Doctorate” in Cow Lot Psychology, a Masters in Colorful Thinking and several “B.S.” degrees in Pert Near True Tale Telling is only part of the qualifications that make Sky Shivers one of America’s favorite Western Storyteller.

Sky started at an early age on the journey to attain these lofty degrees by hangin’ around cattle auctions, and attendin’ feed store gatherin’s on winter days after the locals had fed up the stock. 

Sky even apprenticed as a driver for several years with two highly successful but ethically challenged dealers of second hand mules and horses.

After years of tutelage from “ole men,” each of whom were legendary; Sky now shares his talents of making a true story even truer, puttin’ hair raisin’ excitement into past mediocre events, and creatin’ wondrous works of fiction from pick-up tailgates at gatherings and festivals where a well dressed story is valued.

JD Baker

JD Baker has written and performed cowboy poetry for over 15 years. He has performed all across the United States, from a chuck wagon camp in Oklahoma, to the University Club in St. Louis. From pack trips and hay rides, to western festivals and cowboy gatherings, JD takes pride in keeping the tradition of cowboy Poetry alive.

From a mere hand full of stories around a campfire to an entire evening of western entertainment, JD aims to please with something for everybody: Classic cowboy poetry, modern day poetry, Gut busting funny, or a good old tear jerker.

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This is the time of year when the guest ranch part of the ranch is closed and we start on projects.  Right now the lodge is getting the walls and floors refinished  and  the little old shooting shack (which it is truly a little shack) is being torn down and a new one put in it’s place.  These are the normal types of things that happen over the winter but this time around we have added a new project that we haven’t done in a long time, young unbroken horses.

Back when we first started the guest ranch and didn’t have as many horses as we did today we decided it would be “fun” to buy some young quality stock, that normally would cost quite a bit older and broke, and start them ourselves with the hopes that they would work out for our trail string around the age of  4 1/2 – 5.  Max and Slingblade are couple of those that have been here for many years.  This past year we decided since we had Cowboy Cody and Tember, who have both started colts and are very capable of training a horse, why not get a couple “projects” with the intent to either resell to pay for an older broke horse or keep him around and turn him into a trail horse for the string in the future.  So off I went to last September  Lolli Brothers Special Horse Sale in Macon, MO to pick out a couple long yearlings (these would be two in the year 2012). And I did just that, except I came home with one extra…oops.  :)

Here are the colts I purchased at the sale, they have yet to get their nicknames:

Zebs Dunn Parr - born May 21, 2010 Registered Quarter Horse

BQH Buckshot Burney - born June 7, 2010 Registered Quarter Horse

Sheer Golden - born June 1, 2010 Registered Quarter Horse

 This guy is the “extra” horse… guess you would call him the third wheel since I was only supposed to come home with two.

Then we remembered we needed to add Thistle to the “project” list.  She was born and raised here.

Thistle

Thistle - born April 2010 Sire: Quarter Horse Dam: Flower (Spotted Draft)

In December Barry and I decided to go  the Tulsa Horse Sale in Tulsa Oklahoma to see if we could pick up a riding horse or two for less than we would pay in the spring.   During the sale a coming three year old bay roan gelding was led in, not broke of course.  His price was so cheap that now he has been added to our “project” list.

Belles Sixcess - born May 31, 2009 Registered Quarter Horse

Now that we have our “projects” it’s time to get started with them.  The 2010 “kids” will only need to be worked with in the round pen with saddling and bridling, very minimal stuff, until they get a bit older this summer.  The 2009 gelding is old enough to do it all.  We have only run into one problem with our plan, Cowboy Cody left us to work on a 650 head cattle ranch in Oklahoma but we still have Tember.  :)

We are looking forward to watching these guys (and girl) grown and develop into reliable and fun trail horses.

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What is going on?  We were just in the mid 60′s and we blink for one second and what do we have? Snow!  It seems a bit early to be getting snow.  I wonder if this is a sign letting us know we are going to get more than usual this year.

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