Saddle up! Horseback riding in and around Calgary
Embrace your Stetson-wearing, ranch-living, line-dancing Western roots with horseback riding lessons or guided tours around Calgary. Come on, you know you want to! Choose from regular lessons, day trips, or week-long pack trips into the backcountry of the wild West, and don’t forget to pack your camera. Here are some nearby ranches where you can hop in the saddle. [Image credit: iStock.com/vm]
Griffin Valley Ranch
273029 Beaupre Ck Rd GD Stn Main, Cochrane, AB T4C 2E9A beautiful mixture of forests and grassy valleys, plus a Rocky Mountain backdrop just beyond the western horizon, Griffin Valley Ranch provides a quiet country escape only moments from Cochrane. They accommodate all ages and levels of riders with scenic guided rides, unguided free rides, wagon rides, and pony leads. Guided rides are perfect for beginners, while an unguided membership provides seasoned riders with the opportunity to explore on their own. Griffin Valley Ranch also hosts horse camps for kids aged 7 to 16, corporate retreats including camping and catered events, and other group parties throughout the summer months.
Sweet Talk Stables
240142 Range Road 275, Calgary, AB T2P 2G8Chestermere’s Sweet Talk Stables is the perfect place for kids and teens to learn to ride, and only minutes from Calgary’s city limits. Sweet Talk Stables offers lessons, camps, and clinics throughout the entire year, with both indoor and outdoor riding facilities. Just pick your style! English lessons teach classic riding with a lightweight saddle. Western lessons embody the movements of the typical working cowboy. Dressage lessons teach artistic dances sort of like an equine ballet. Hunter-jumper lessons teach riders English-style movements with obstacles such as jumps, twists and sharp turns.
Saddle Peak Trail Rides
PO Box 1463, Cochrane, AB T4C 1B4Explore the Don Getty Provincial Park with Saddle Peak Trail Rides. These trails begin northwest of Cochrane and take riders on day rides, or up to 5-day-long exploring expeditions. Saddle Peak accommodates riders of varying levels, down trails of all terrains: through the rolling foothills of the Rockies, along the quiet Ghost River, and into Banff National Park. Some packages include complementary crash-courses in riding before the group takes off on their horses. Beginners love the rustic ranch getaway including cowboy meals and quaint cabin accommodations; experienced riders usually opt for longer pack trips into the untamed Rockies.
Moose Mountain Adventures
PO Box 285, Bragg Creek, AB T0L 0K0Located just outside of Bragg Creek, Moose Mountain Horseback Adventures provides authentic Rocky Mountain trail rides, expeditions into Kananaskis Country, and relaxing ranch vacations at the M & M Ranch year-round – try out their sleigh rides once the snow falls. Beginners can earn their spurs with recreational riding lessons by the hour and full day, as well as horse training. M&M Ranch’s trails cover flatlands, steep terrain and rivers flowing through grassy pastures and forests. This ranch feels quieter and closer to nature than others in the area, giving visitors a unique Western experience in Alberta’s countryside.
Anchor D Guiding & Outfitting
Experienced riders saddle up in cowboy country at Anchor D: choose one of their day rides, overnight, weekend, or week-long trips. Expect rugged mountain trails through passes and valleys, and chasing rivers and waterfalls through the forest. Guests sleep under the stars in the Canadian Rockies, or rest in rustic paradise in their fully equipped cabins nestled on their property. Whether you choose to stay around the ranch, or adventure out along their favourite trails, Anchor D promises exceptional views and relaxing rides.
Homeplace Ranch
Site 2, Box 6, RR1, Priddis, AB T0L 1W0Head 30 minutes southwest from Calgary to explore Priddis, Alberta, with the help of an experienced cowboy who makes his home on the ranch. Year-round lessons and day rides are this rancher’s specialty, but rentals are available for experienced riders inspired to go it alone. Homeplace Ranch riders experience relaxing walks through the meadows and rolling foothills and picturesque views of the Canadian Rockies, stopping along their ride for coffee, snacks and photo breaks. Accommodations are available at the ranch’s historic lodge.
Shadowbrook Stables
Twonship Rd 283, Cochrane, AB T4C 1A1Looking to horseback ride near Calgary? ShadowBrook Equine offers lessons and horse training sessions to riders and horses of all levels and ages. Lessons are held at their stables in Cochrane. After a few lessons, riders can travel away from the stables into the surrounding Crown land: endless meadows and rolling hills to practice both Western and English riding. ShadowBrook Equine also offers boarding for city-dwellers who need a safe place to let their horse roam.
Horsin Around
20920 Hwy 22X E, Rocky View County, AB T1X 0J2Horsin Around houses ponies, horses and a full petting zoo just a few minute drive southeast of Calgary. Summer camps and weekend lessons, as well as event services and year-round lessons promise to get your kids excited about animals as they learn the basics of Western-style riding. Horsin Around is the perfect location for kids’ birthday parties because of their attention to safety, instruction for horse and pony handling, horse shows, and on-property bouncy castle. Wagon rides to Calgary’s corn maze can also be scheduled.
Eagle Feather Riding
242221 Range Rd 42, Calgary, AB T3Z 2J1Eagle Feather Riding School is all about connection: positive connections between teachers and students; positive connections between students and their horses. Lessons for both children and adults are taught bareback, so riders learn how to feel and balance their horses’ movements. Regular lessons are scheduled September through June; special events and camps fill July and August. Eagle Feather Riding is located in the quiet meadows just west of Calgary’s city limits.
Rocky Hills Ranch
434011 32nd Street W, Okotoks, AB T1S 1A1Learn to ride in Okotoks before heading out on a pack-trip in the Rockies. Weekly year-round lessons at Rocky Hills Ranch promise to have you Rocky Mountain-ready by the time your horseback adventure trots around. Western lessons for all levels of riders are available, from walks to trots and lopes around the track. Rocky Hills’ facilities include both indoor and outdoor tracks and boarding, as well as 80 acres of prairie grass fields complete with notorious mountain views. Children’s horse camps give your kids the opportunity to learn how to care for their very own horse for a week.
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