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All the Pretty Horses- Horseback riding in Island Park, Idaho

November 18, 2012 by Jean Holy Smithereens 2 Comments

Even before we left Sydney for this trip, I made it loud and clear that I am not leaving the Northwest area of the US without going to a dude ranch. A dude ranch is a working cattle ranch that accepts visitors for a day of activities. Some even cater accommodation.

I really wanted to stay at a dude ranch in our 4 day stay at Yellowstone. I didn’t know that September was still peak season in the area so I left it too late. By the time I wanted to book, the best place left available was this quaint little motel that offered chocolate chip cookies every afternoon.

Backtrack to when we were in East Glacier staying at the best cottage ever, I was really desperate determined to get a hold of this family-owned ranch that offered day long horse ride trails. They are a Blackfeet family business so all the more I wanted to go with them than the big commercialised companies. Don’t get me started on the lengths my husband and I went through to reach them. It involved almost trespassing the area late at night (the fierce guard dogs kept us from going further in), and hounding the place with phone calls next morning, me pleading trying to get the owner to open up a trail ride for the day. But it was just tough luck. The owner didn’t think there was anyone going for a trail ride on a Monday so he sent all his guides on a day off.

My next choice was Wyoming, where not only dude ranches are abound, but rodeo shows are everywhere too. But we only planned 1 night in Wyoming, just passing through Jackson Hole to get to Utah.

So on our last day in Montana, we went to Eagle Ridge Ranch. This ranch is along Old Shotgun Road in the town of Island Park, which sits just inside the border of Idaho and Montana.

Oh them pretty horses!!

All of the horses were so curious, so friendly, they immediately came near the fence where we were to say “whats up, sister?” as this pretty brown one did

hey soul sister!
I reckon this horse is smiling in this photo! we can recaption this as 2 smiling horsies 🙂

This brown one was just soo friendly, it cozied up to me and gave me a ticklish nudge with its nose on my cheek!

the black stallion

This black stallion was so huge but so gentle. I was hoping to ride either him or the really friendly brown one (my girlfriend) above, but I was given a smaller one. Good old gentle one named Senator:

Senator is about 50-60 years old in human years. He was soo gentle mannered.
Now on to the ride
and so my brokeback adventure begins..

 

It wasn’t really a traditional trail ride. Our guide, a cowboy named Tanner, pretty much told me to go where I want to go and the rest of the group will follow. The ranch is just massive!
I really love being with horses. It’s so tranquil and peaceful. It’s quite easy to read horses’ mood and temperament, and they do the same to you. I’m no horse whisperer but there’s a bond between man and horse when you go horseback riding. When I say bond it’s not necessarily good. So there are times when you just don’t feel comfortable and your horse feels uneasy too–that’s when either a bond is not formed, your horse just doesn’t like the feel of you or you and the horse are just not suited together. So it’s important to get acquainted with your horse before the ride. Maybe I should have been a cowgirl!
After the ride, I had the chance to feed some of the other horses barley and oats. They were only too happy to be fed.
my girlfriend’s back!
not hard to imagine this horse with wings and a horn. unicorn in the making!

******************

Eagle Ridge Ranch

Old Shotgun Road, Island Park, ID 83429, United States
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Filed Under: Adventure, Adventure Travel, Idaho, Montana, North America, outdoors, USA

About Jean Holy Smithereens

Jean is a lover of luxury travel and adventure, always looking for that "Holy Smithereens"-inducing moment on her travels. Follow the blog and other social media pages of Holy Smithereens to get the ultimate travel ideas for the luxurious adventurer!

Comments

  1. Legrand Leavitt says

    February 26, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    I love your blog! Especially because I help manage the Eagle Ridge Ranch horseback riding (a.k.a. Yellowstone Horses) where you rode. It is always fun to see the perspective of one of our guests. You took some great pics and have some really fun comments. I am wondering if you would be interested in sharing a link to your blog on our facebook page. If you would, the address for the facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/yellowstone.horseback.riding?ref=hl . Thanks so much, Tami.

    Reply
  2. Smither Reens says

    February 28, 2013 at 8:29 am

    Thank you, I had the most awesome time at your ranch I wish I can go back! I already posted this article on your page. Hope all your horses are doing fine and happy ! 🙂

    Reply

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