Missouri Foxtrot Ride in the Ozarks Missouri USA 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. Guest Ranch Family Vacation Ride with Gaited Horses Riding with fishing options Suitable for riders over 210 lbs Center-based ride Meeting: Bourbon Airport:   St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) Transfer: -- Trip Brochure (PDF)

Packages and Options

Click here for updated current rates.

 

Transfer and Other Charges:

Extra days possible -- please inquire.
Sold Out Dates (as of 5/16/2023): all dates sold out except July 16 to 22

Sample Itinerary- subject to changes
Below is a sample itinerary only. Upon your arrival your hosts will help you design a riding holiday that is right for you. You have many trail riding options, roping, horse-drawn hayrides or sleigh rides in the winter. In addition to riding there is hiking, bird watching or swimming in the nearby river.

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.



Non-riding Activities
When you aren't riding, you can choose to just sit back and relax in the hot tub or a rocking chair on the front porch with a beverage, or keep active and go fishing, hiking or bird watching. Nearby in the summer, the cool and refreshing waters of the Upper Meramec River provide great swimming holes and cool serenity amongst the scenic background of gravel bars, sand bars, and towering bluffs. Canoeing, Kayaking or Rafting down the Meramec River is easily available.
If you like star gazing or moonlight activities by campfire, we offer a BBQ grill and fire pit, and wood to make a marshmallow roasting fire nightly!
We can also arrange stagecoach rides, a tour of our cattle pastures and a tour of a local historic cemetery dating back to 1869.
Onondaga Cave in Leasburg Missouri is also just a 20 minute drive from the ranch.

                                            Bourbon area

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average High Temperature (°F)	42	45	58	69	76	85	88	87	79	68	57	45
Average Low Temperature (°F)	23	25	37	47	55	65	67	66	58	47	37	28
Average High Temperature (°C)	5	7	15	20	24	29	31	30	26	20	14	7
Average Low Temperature (°C)	-5	-4	3	8	13	18	20	19	15	9	3	-2
Average Precipitation (days of rain)	5	5	8	8	8	6	6	5	5	5	6	5

Source: NOAA


Seasons
Summers are generally humid. Average daily temperatures range from 78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit across the state. A typical July day may be around 66 degrees Fahrenheit just before sunrise and may reach 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-afternoon.  There are periods of almost constantly changing weather and periods when the weather is settled and stable.  
The 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 25 degrees Fahrenheit in the northwest to 34 degrees Fahrenheit in the southeast Missouri “boot heel

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 and August, during 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!

This list is only a guideline for you

Travel documents and Voucher

Flight tickets

Passport

Visa (check with your consulate)

RIDING GEAR

Comfortable Riding Apparel

Full or Half Chaps (optional)

Riding Boots or Shoes

Approved Riding Helmet (Strongly Suggested for Riders Under 16 yrs)

Riding gloves

Hat

Rain Slicker

PERSONAL CLOTHING

Jacket or sweater for cool evenings

Warm Weather Tops

Comfortable T-Shirts/Shirts

Jeans

Shorts

Underwear and socks

Pyjama

Bag for dirty clothes

Light Jacket

Heavy Jacket

Trekking boots/ comfortable shoes

Swimsuit (optional)

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO BRING

Personal Toiletries

Insect protection

Personal medications

Sore cream (for the emergency)

Sewing kit

Handkerchiefs

Camera and enough extra films and batteries

Belt pack

Address book and pen (for pictures postcards!)

Sun glasses with strap

Sun tan lotion and lip balm

Saddle Mounted Water Bottle

 

Average ratings from 26 tour feedbacks (see details below) (5) Excellent (4) Very Good (3) Good (2) Satisfactory (1) Not Satisfactory Accommodations: Meals: Host/Guide: Name Date bernadette gerber 10/20/2017 elizabeth crissy 10/7/2016 mits mats 10/22/2014 helen gurry 3/21/2014 cynthia (tracey) bray 10/23/2013 kerri barendse 6/18/2013 michael fenster 7/3/2010 melanie leinbach 7/3/2010 linda fath 6/16/2010 cheryl whiteley 11/5/2009 sharyn klimko 11/2/2009 marilyn long 10/5/2009 deborah sofia 10/5/2009 susan wester 5/24/2009 mary ann mclaughlin 10/7/2008 jennifer mcclain 9/26/2008 debra schroeder 5/27/2008 karen grueneberg 5/10/2008 allyson sweat 10/3/2007 stephen morishige 3/15/2007 berneice brownell 3/14/2007 susan finkelstein 11/11/2005 greg p. szelung 9/29/2003 laura leahy 10/3/2002 jimmie and sue jablonski 7/10/2001 darlene bigham 6/28/2001

Accommodations
This is a stationary ride, so all nights are spent at the same location.

Description
Our Cabin-Bunkhouse was built in 2005 from cedar logs hauled in by our own team of Percheron draft horses and constructed and decorated with a cowboy theme. Your surroundings will transform you to out west! There is a 6 person hot tub/spa pool to relax in when not riding. On cool evenings gather around the stone hearth, by the fireplace, made from local river rocks. Enjoy the view of our large lake from your porch, a very romantic setting for special occasions. If you want more excitement than just relaxing in the evenings in the quiet, calm of the ranch, you can always head into the nearby towns for movie theaters, music halls (bluegrass and western country music), and local watering-hole pubs. If you want to enjoy some other points of interest, during, before or after you ranch stay, the town of Cuba (12 mi) and Rolla (30 mi) have antique shops with quirky vintage items and there is a winery in the region as well! The Onondaga Cave is 25 minute drive form the ranch - guests favorite!!  Meramec Spring Park is beautiful in the spring and has a trout hatchery! Wi-Fi is available and laundry facilities are at the guests disposal.



Lodge
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.

Cabin
There is a 2-bedroom cabin. 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. The bathroom is shared in the cabin.

Room Occupancy
There is no single supplement fee if you are wiling to share.



Meals
Meals are not included in your package.

There are many local restaurants in Bourbon near the ranch which your hosts can recommend for you or else you can bring groceries on your own and make meals in the kitchen of the cabin! Bourbon has a nice grocery & deli open till 9:00pm. Guests are welcome to bring their own alcohol if they wish.

Dietary Restrictions
We can cater to guests with special dietary restrictions with prior notice.

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

Tack:		Western, Synthetic Gaited Leather
Horses:		Missouri Fox Trotter, Tennessee Walker, Quarter
Pace:		4 to 6 hrs daily according to riding level. No posting required. Walk, foxtrotting, some canters, foxtrot mostly at 6-8 miles per hour. Very smooth and comfortable gait for all riding levels. | Walk | Trot | Canter | Gallop |
Level:		(2.5 to 4 out of 5)    Low Intermediate+
Age:		Min 8	Max 90
Weight:		Max 250 lbs
Riders:		Min 1	Max 8

Riding Level
Your mount will be selected with your own riding abilities in mind. Rides are adjusted to each individual's riding abilities for the riders, as well as the horses! "Fox Trotting at its Finest," is what we like to call the special gaited horse rides we offer on our beautiful and healthy Missouri Foxtrotting Horses - they are smooth, quick, sure-footed and kind, able to handle the hilly and rocky 'outlaw trails' in style.

Horses
At the ranch we have a very special relationship with our herd of 30+ Foxtrotters, Tennessee Walkers, Quarter Horses and Draft Horses. We have bred, raised and trained them to provide guests with the finest riding opportunities. In addition, the "Big Girls," our Percheron draft horses, can be used for pulling the hayride wagon in the summer and sleigh rides in the winter.

Passports

Valid passport required by all nationals referred to in the chart ; validity varies - for most countries the passport must be valid for at least six months from the date on which the holder enters the USA. If not, the holder will be admitted until the expiration date on the passport; check with the embassy (see Contact Addresses).

Passport Note

(a) For nationals included in the Visa Waiver Program (see below), passports must be valid for at least 90 days from date of entry.

(b) All travellers entering the USA under the Visa Waiver Program require individual machine-readable passports. Children included on a parent's passport also now require their own machine-readable passport. Travellers not in possession of machine-readable passports will require a valid USA entry visa.

(c) Passports issued on or after 26 October 2005 will need to have a biometric identifier in order for the holder to travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Machine-readable passports issued between 26 October 2005 and 25 October 2006 require a digital photograph printed on the data page or an integrated chip with information from the data page. Machine-readable passports issued on or after 26 October 2006 will require an integrated chip with information from the data page (e-passport).



The US has announced new measures that require all travellers to provide details online 72 hours prior to travel.

ESTA: The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) came into force on 12 January 2009. It is a fully automated, electronic system for screening passengers before they begin travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. ESTA applications must be submitted at least 72 hours before travel to the USA. Some websites may charge you for the service but you can apply online for free at www.dhs.gov. The granting of an ESTA does not guarantee entry to the USA.

 

New Requirements for Travellers: As of 23 January 2007 all persons, including US citizens, travelling by air between the USA and Canada, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport, or other approved document, when entering or re-entering the USA. Similar requirements for those travelling by land or sea will be introduced on 1 June 2009.

For further details about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, visit the website of the US Department of State: (website: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html).

Visas

Not required by nationals referred to in the chart above for stays of up to 90 days except:

1. nationals of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovak Republic, who do require a visa.

Visa Note

(a) Landed Immigrants of Canada and British residents of Bermuda who are citizens of, and have valid passports from, Commonwealth countries or Ireland are not eligible to enter the USA without a visa. (b) All passengers using US airports for transit purposes are required to obtain a transit visa. This does not affect qualified travellers travelling visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. (d) To qualify for visa-free travel under the Visa Waiver Program, nationals must travel on a valid passport, for holiday, transit or business purposes only and for a stay not exceeding 90 days. (e) Passengers must have the full address and ZIP code of where they are staying in the USA to be able to fully complete the I-94W form. Note: Airlines are also required to collect passenger details, including the address of their first night's accommodation in the USA, before they board the aircraft. (f) 2. Holders of UK passports with the endorsement British Subject, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Protected Person, British Overseas Citizen or British National (Overseas) Citizen do not qualify for the Visa Waiver Program. A passport which states holder has right of abode or indefinite leave to remain in the UK does not qualify for visa free travel. (g) A visa does not expire with the expiry of the holder’s passport. An unexpired, endorsed visa in an expired passport may be presented for entry into the USA, as long as the visa itself has not been cancelled, is undamaged, is less than 10 years old and is presented with a valid non-expired passport, provided that both passports are for the same nationality. (h) Nationals of countries not referred to in the chart above are advised to contact the embassy to check visa requirements (see Contact Addresses).

Types of Visa and Cost

Tourist, Business, Transit and Student: US$131.

Validity

Visas may be used for travel to the USA until the date it expires. Some visas are valid for multiple entries. The length of stay in the USA is determined by US immigration officials at the time of entry but is generally six months; there is, however, no set time.

Applications to:

Embassy or consulate (see Contact Addresses).

Working Days Required

Usually five after interview. Some cases may take up to 12 weeks – check with embassy/consulate.

Passport Required?
British	Yes
Australian	Yes
Canadian	Yes
USA	N/A
Other EU	Yes
Visa Required?
British	No/2
Australian	No
Canadian	No
USA	N/A
Other EU	1
Return Ticket Required?
British	Yes
Australian	Yes
Canadian	No
USA	N/A
Other EU	Yes