Looking for specific information on New York Dude Ranches -- Rocking Horse; Pinegrove; Roseland. Looking for which one is more accomodating for a 3yr old. Not sure if she will participate in programs, or if she will stay with us thruout the day. Next criteria is cleanliness, followed by food quality. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Rocking Horse is a wonderful Dude Ranch but it was years ago that we were there.
It changed quite a bit and became much more family/children friendly.
The best thing for me was that the horses were great ( I had a retired racer ) and the trails were great, we just took off!
We went to restaurants in nearby towns also so I have nothing to say about the food, the place itself was very clean and the staff were great. ( but it was years ago..but I am curious..why take a 3 yr old to a Dude Ranch unless she rides? )

Sorry, didn't make myself clear. I do want her to ride, most likely ponies at this age, so I am looking for a ranch that will not tell me she is too young. From some of the programs I've reviewed the 'cool programs' only start at age 4. If she's too young for a cool program which interacts with the ponies, mini horses, I want to be able to take her to the barn personally and have her ride under my guidance. Thanks for your information, I appreciate any insight.

Wow, Pinegrove!!! That takes me back! I went there with girl scouts when I was in junior high! (This was about 12 years ago I guess). It was fantastic....but to tell you the truth I really do not remember a whole lot besides horseback riding, snow tubing (really fun!) and going to a "mocktail" party, they have a little dance club type place on the property. The horseback riding was good, but I have no idea if they allow young children. Have you looked at any of their websites?

I know there were lots of families there, but not sure if there is a whole lot to do for a 3-year-old.

I wouldn't go to PineGrove again even if they gave me a weeklong vacation there for free! I took my daughters there in 2010 and it was the worst experience in my life. Sparing the details my experience focused on (1) safety - 3 safety incidents occurred in just the 1 week I was there, resulting in 2 injuries as well as putting my 10 year old on a horse on its 1st day back into service after a "day off" because of "disiplinary?" issues (dumping its rider) (2) Arrogance on the part of the "head wrangler" treating ranch guests in a very demeaning tone during his hourly lecture preceding the "riding test". (3) The 1 hr trail rides were more like 30 minute trail rides. 10 minutes to organize the group, 10 minutes for [every ride] pre-ride test INCLUDING head wrangler's demeaning lecture, 30 minute ride and 10 minute "cool down" for the horses before they got sent back out on the next hour.
It's cheap... but as they say, you get what you pay for. I have no experience with Rocking Horse. All I know is that they are MUCH more expensive. I also don't like what I hear about their trail rides being 15-20 guests with 4-5 wranglers. That just sounds too large for 1 group to me.

The term dude ranch now creates vision of stoners wondering how they are going to feed all those people and horses.

"Hey, dude, what's that thing with four legs?"