ranch vacations (6)

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Riding holidays in North America's West are often life changing. For Tony Daly, managing director of Ranch Rider, a week spent at Arizona’s Tanque Verde Resort Ranch fostered a switch of careers from accountant to tour operator. Still very much set in the West and offering over 60 handpicked ranches in North America, the riding holiday specialist recently celebrated 20 years on the trail.

Commented Daly, "When you ride out West, you have the chance to experience a completely different lifestyle a

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What Do You Do on a Dude Ranch?

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What Do You Do on a Dude Ranch?

When 180 horses’ hooves pounded the ground a few feet from me, manes flaring and breaths misting ghost-like, this city boy was transfixed.

It was the 5:30 morning roundup at the C Lazy U Ranch in Granby, Colorado, up in the snow-capped Rocky Mountains.

The whinnying echoed in the nearby corrals as we walked the short distance to the campfire and joined the handful of early risers around the big enamel coffee pot, watching the sun burn off the mist.

I’ve always wond
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Cowboy Dreams in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

It is said in Costa Rica that the best “all-terrain vehicle” for navigating the country is a horse. Costa Ricans love horses and their riding traditions – their equestrian roots coming from the Spanish who brought horses with them to Central America in the 16th century.

Guanacaste-cowboy-rides-off-into-the-sunset-in-Costa-Rica-300x209.jpg?width=300The northwestern province of Guanacaste is the heart and soul of Costa Rica’s equestrian life. Here, vast rolling plains, towering volcanoes and mountains, and a sunny, dry and hot climate of the dry tropical forest create perfect

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Although many visitors come to Buenos Aires for an urban vacation experience, often times they want to escape the hustle and bustle of the mega city and enjoy a more relaxed break at an estancia in the country. Argentina's estancias are very much a part of the country's history and the essence of the local culture. Surrounded with tradition, they shelter the past and present of both criollos and immigrants. At the very gay-friendly Puesto Viejo estancia and Polo Club near Buenos Aires, guests ca

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9008570082?profile=originalMontana is cowboy country, pardner, and cowboys -- and of course cowgirls -- wake up hungry. You, too, will rise and take a shine at breakfast to to these luscious buttermilk flapjacks.

The Resort at Paws Up serves food that will satisfy the Western outlaw in you. Occupying miles of untamed wilderness in Montana's Blackfoot Valley, Paws Up goes way beyond the usual dude ranch, offering modern, spacious lodgings and all sorts of traditional western adventures, like horseback riding and fishing

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Western Canada is blessed with some of the most incredible scenery on the planet, and every summer international visitors flock to Alberta and British Columbia in search of the crystal clear lakes, snow-capped mountains and glacial valleys that scream "Canada" from the postcard stands. photo
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Jasper and Banff National Parks are the recognized jewels in the Rocky Mountain crown: places where visitors can expect to see elk, bighorn sheep and black bears while hiking through colourful m
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