Jacob_theswede

Hi all friendly people out there! me and my family (wife, daughter 3yrs, son 2yrs) are going to TX in july for vacation we would like to go to a ranch to pet some animals and to ride horses. weŽll be stayin in Austin. Could anyone recommend a nice ranch around the Austin area? nothing luxury. Thanx very much

LDLee

Most ranches I know about are near Bandera. There are a couple near Austin, but I don't know much about them.

I am not sure a dude ranch is what you want. Most ranches are places to stay for a week. I don't know if they would let you drop by for the day. Also, the kids might be a little young.

While you are here, you should consider going to the Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels for a day.

P_M

I don't know about horseback riding, but if you want a place where your kids can pet animals then check out the Austin Zoo. It's not as big as the San Antonio Zoo, but I think young children will enjoy it. This web page provides an e-mail address for any questions.

www.austinzoo.org

I hope you enjoy your visit to Austin.

starrsville

Check out this link for some options in the Austin area -

http://critterplaces.com/directory/TX.html

laurieb_nyny

Hi Jacob -- there are alot of ranches in Bandera & we stayed at a terrific one -- Twin Elm. Three years ago, you could stay there & participate in all the ranch activities or arrive as day trippers.

However, in order to go horseback riding in Texas there is a minimum age which I believe is 6. Younger children would have to ride the pony around the corral (if the ranch has ponies).

Otherwise, if your kids were older, I would highly recommend this type of family vacation.

Kath

I looked at the Twin Elm Guest Ranch website and it looks really nice. If anyone else has stayed in a Bandera "dude" ranch ... please share you experiences!

ChristieP

LaurieB makes an excellent point, and as an experienced horsewoman, I totally agree with her. 2 and 3 year olds are too young to ride their own horse (other than a pony that is being led around) because they do not have the motor skills to hold the reins, nor to control the horse. I've taught riding lessons for many years, and I didn't start young riders until they were at least 5. The only way you could ride with such a young child that age would be to put them in front of you on the saddle, which is extremely dangerous and no reputable ranch would dare let you do it! I've known too many people whose first experience with horses was a bad one, so I'd recommend waiting a few more years to introduce your kids to the world of horses.

starrsville

This link I sent earlier has listing of pony rides/ petting zoos combos in the Austin area. As mentioned by recent posters, you do not want to take a 2 year old and a 3 year old to a dude ranch. Wait until they are older - and then spend more than a day there.