Experience the smooth-speed and agility of the exceptionally even-tempered gaited Missouri Foxtrot Horses while riding in the Missouri Ozarks - south of the glacier line in the heart of Missouri's cattle country. Relax and experience the pleasures of country living and ride over endless trails in the Meramec River Valley.

Your starting point is a small family farm set on the spring-fed Meramec River in East Central Missouri. The surrounding countryside is home to wild turkey, white-tailed deer and many other native Missouri animals. Great Blue Herons nest in the sycamores. Bass and trout flourish in the Meramec River and nearby streams. Your ride begins at your cabin door! Explore rivers, caves, forests and farmlands.

This is a stationary or center-based ride; you return every night for accommodation at the ranch in either a bedroom at the farmhouse or the cabin. Check in time is 3 PM and Check out time is 11 AM.

There is 1 private double occupancy bedroom in the main ranch house. It has a Queen size bed and its own private bath and shower. No TV, but you are welcome to watch TV in "the Great Room."

There is a 2-bedroom cabin for the guests separate from the house, built from cedar logs hauled in by a team of Perchron draft horses, constructed and decorated with a cowboy theme, your surroundings will transform you to out west! The cabin can accommodate 7 riders at the max, one group for the entirety or two groups can each take a bedroom; one room has 1 Queen size bed and the other room has 2 double beds). Finally, there is an optional futon in the living room for a single. The cabin is equipped with a full kitchen and stove, refrigerator, microwave oven, dishes, tableware, pans & cooking utensils and cable TV.

This trip includes some wine with dinner and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Day 1: In the afternoon you arrive at the 500-acre family-operated cattle and horse ranch. Meet your hosts and settle into your secluded log cabin or room. Take time to admire the view of the sparkling lake from the porch of your cabin. Your dinner is served from an authentic chuck wagon while nearby musicians play Bluegrass music around the campfire. The evening ends with an old-fashioned hayride, behind a team of coal black Percheron draft horses, into the sunset. The following days will offer a variety of riding excursions into the Meramec countryside. Several days will include a short morning transfer for horses and riders, giving you a wide range of trails to explore.

Day 2: The morning ride introduces you to the gait of the foxtrot horse so that you will enjoy a smooth ride across the ranch, returning for a cowboy lunch at the house. After lunch it is back on the trail to explore rock bluffs decorated with drawings by the Osage Indians.

Day 3: Ride across country and over a ridge to a neighboring homestead that raises buffalo and other animals. Our host Fran will give you a tour of her farm, after which you will enjoy your lunch on the front porch of her log house while watching buffalo graze nearby. A fast-paced foxtrot ride returns you in time for dinner.

Day 4: Time to Cowboy Up! You can help saddle and load your horse before heading to Blue Springs Ranch. From Blue Springs Ranch you can see some of the most spectacular lookouts over the Meramec River. Your ride today will cover miles along river frontage and through farms, ranches and hardwood forests. You climb the landscape for impressive views from bluffs over looking the river. You will enjoy a saddle bag lunch overlooking the Meramec River. This is a challenging all day ride that you will not want to miss.

Day 5: …it is time to saddle and load up to head deeper into Ozark country for today’s ride. We will be unloading our horses at the Brazil Campground to ride the Berryman Trail. You will be riding switch backs and thru thick stands of pine forest. You’ll enjoy your saddle bag lunch overlooking the forest.

Day 6: Transfer horses and riders to a completely different area: Dry Fork Creek. Ride on the Lenauer Farm, settled by German immigrants in the late 1800s. This unique farm still has huge stands of virgin timber though you will ride under huge stands of oak and maple and through pastures of cattle along Dry Fork Creek. Let you horse gait back to the woods to a natural rock bridge, complete with a cave and spring-fed pool of water. This is where you will have lunch today. Afterwards, a short ride takes you back to the ranch for the evening. Relax, fish, or reflect on the great day you've had.

Day 7: Departure after breakfast.

Other Info
Meeting: Bourbon
Airport: St Louis Lambert
Transfer: drive in / rental car

Summers are generally humid. Average daily temperatures range from 78 to 80 degrees across the state. A typical July day may be around 66 degrees just before sunrise and may reach 85 to 90 degrees by mid-afternoon. There are periods of almost constantly changing weather and periods when the weather is settled and stable. Best time to ride is in the Fall.

Winters vary from year to year and geographically. Winters are fairly brisk and stimulating, seldom severe and may feature short spells of extreme cold or unusual warmth. Temperatures vary from north to south. The average daily temperature in January varies from 25o in the northwest to 34o in the southeast Missouri “boot heel.” (All temperatures listed in degrees Fahrenheit.)

Summers are generally warm and humid. Average daily temperature ranges from 78o to 80o across the state. A typical July day may be around 66o just before sunrise and may reach 85o 90o by mid afternoon.

The average annual precipitation is 36 inches in northwest Missouri, where winters are fairly dry and the greatest percentage of annual precipitation comes during the summer. In southeast Missouri, average annual precipitation is 47 inches, most of which falls in spring and autumn. About 46 percent of the annual precipitation in the northwest occurs during the May August crop growing months, compared with 34 percent in the southeast.

The ranch has all sizes of riding helmets available and strongly encourages riders under 16 and novice riders to wear one. Bring your own if you prefer!

Missouri Foxtrot Ride

Rates include:

Packages and Options

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