Brought my daughters' Girl Scout troops back to Rawhide Ranch this weekend (last time, they were 7-9 yrs old; this time, 9-11) after great memories from coming here 2 years ago, and overall, we had a really good time - riding, vaulting (like gymnastics on a big, patient draft horse), animal care (feeding and cleaning up after the ponies, goats and sheep), animal science and horse science classes, making leather keychains, archery, campfire, games, etc.
On a positive note, the staff is super friendly (especially, Deanne, who was SO cheerful and amazing!), the property is really charming, and the programs are generally very good, but I have to say that the overall experience wasn't as good as when we came 2 years ago. Why?
1. Not enough riding - last time, the girls got to ride 2x (Sat. & Sun.), vault 2x (Sat. and Sun) and ride or vault again during the horse show on Sunday. This time, was just 1 riding lesson and one vaulting session on Sat. - that's it (they said it was 1-1/2 hrs now, instead of two 45 min sessions before, but we liked it better before.
2. Adults no longer get to ride - that was such a cool feature! The price for 2 chaperones/group is now 1/2 price, but I missed not being able to ride.
3. They eliminated the "horse show" at the end on Sunday. Parents got to show up; kids got to perform, and ribbons were awarded. This was one of our highlights of the weekend. Now it ended w/ lunch, which seemed very anti-climactic.
4. For a place that caters to Girl Scout troops, there were a lot of "old fashioned" signs around the property that said things like "all my heroes are cowboys," "no women in the bar," "no ladies after 10 pm" "gentlemen only in the lobby," etc. I'm honestly not easily offended, but the mere quantity of these signs rubbed me the wrong way the first time, and bugged me even more this time. They're really not so cute; I think it's time to update them, especially considering your clientele.
5. Food wasn't as good this time; wasn't terrible, and definitely catered to the kids, who were generally content w/ it (liked that at least there was a "salad bar," with some fruit and veggie options), but for example, the fried chicken 2 yrs ago was SO much better than the frozen variety pizza and burgers which were served this year. Also, would appreciate losing the non eco-friendly Styrofoam. Why not have everyone bring reusable water bottles?
6. There were 3 sessions of "animal care" - but all involved only feeding and cleaning up poop, no grooming, which is one of their favorite things to do (after riding).
Overall, the girls had fun, and I would still definitely recommend it if your kids like horses and are looking for camp and/or lessons, but we would have liked it even more w/ issues listed above addressed. Like they say at Rawhide Ranch, Yee-haw!