What a fantastic holiday. Met my fellow travellers in the lounge at Heathrow before flying to Phoenix. Was a very long flight and as the plane was full it wasn't particularly comfortable. It was a further 90 minutes by minibus before we arrived at the ranch, by which point everyone just wanted to go to bed. However you have to complete a short form on arrival as they match you up with a horse for the week based on your height, weight and riding ability.
Waking up the next morning and getting my first true sighting of the ranch and surrounding area was just lovely. After breakfast you set off on your first 'slow' ride. They are very safety conscious and there are plenty of wranglers, volunteers and mounting blocks around to ensure you mount and dismount your horse safely. The 'slow' rides only ever involve walking so are suitable if you have never been on a horse before. The 'fast' rides involve a mixture of walking and loping (cantering). To go on a 'fast' ride you need to pass a short test first which involves you loping behind a wrangler in the arena and you must stop your horse when they signal to you to do so, whilst they carry on loping. To be honest the horses are so well trained, I think most of them know the signal and would pretty much stop on their own. Anyone who wanted to do the fast rides were all able to pass the test. You keep the same horse for the week and I think we all became quite attached to our own horses even Guinness, who had a great dislike for all the other horses but was fine with humans, was very popular with the whole group. There are a variety of rides for you to choose from and Russell the ranch owner comes to the dining room every evening to tell you about the rides for the following day and sign you up for what you want to do, this way they always have your horses ready for you to go out. You can change your mind if you wish. The breakfast rides and the wine & cheese rides were very popular.
There are also opportunities to go out walking so you do not have to spend the whole week riding. Our lovely tour manager arranged to hire a car & drove some of us to the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. It is an outdoor museum and it is well worth a visit as you get to see the wildlife and vegetation that live in the desert ( never seen so many types and such massive spider cacti). Entertainment is provided every evening but most people were exhausted by then after a days riding, fresh air and of course jet lag.
The ranch itself feels a million miles away from civilisation and is run so competently. Food is served buffet style, with the exception of the cooked breakfast which you order from the waitress. There is plenty to eat and the food is excellent. There aren't any kettles in your room but you can get hot and cold drinks all day long from the dining room, you just help yourself. There is an honesty bar in the main lodge, where again you help yourself to drinks, complete a paper slip and settle your bill at the end of the week. A glass of wine was only $3. You really could go on this holiday and not spend anything all week. A few of us did pay for a lesson ($20 for 1 hour) and a massage ($65). There is also a swimming pool and hot tub onsite, which was very popular after a day in the saddle. You certainly do not need to have any experience riding a horse to enjoy this holiday as they cater for all abilities. You equally do not need to own any of the riding gear, you just need to have a shoe with a heel. The wranglers do not wear riding hats but they do have hats available for the guests. It is your choice if you wish to wear one but I would check your travel insurance as many are invalid if you are not wearing a hat. The horses are so well trained everyone felt very safe all week but I'm not sure going hatless would be worth the risk. My only criticism of this holiday is that it is too short. I think if we had been there for 10 days it would have been perfect. In reality you only get 5 full days riding, and it we had been there for longer we could have had a full day out to see what Arizona has to offer. My final piece of advice is if you do go make sure you do the team penning. This was the highlight of the week, working in a team with the wranglers to herd cattle into the penn was a fantastic experience and such a laugh. I throughly recommend this holiday and would love to go back. Here's hoping JY look at doing some more ranching holidays......