Mountain Trail Riding - Marble Mountain Ranch

Western Adventure Vacation

Horse Riding at Marble Mountain Ranch

Active and Engaging Mountain Riding

Extensive Private Trails

Ride with your family along over six miles of our private groomed mountain horse trails

Engaged Riding Experience

Enjoy engaging and active horse riding with climbing/descending trails, various landscapes, and along creeks and the Klamath River

Lessons to Prepare

Learn basic horsemanship skills through a variety of arena games to prepare you for the trail experience

Horseback trail riding vacations at Marble Mountain Ranch offer a unique set of riding challenges. The trail terrain sets the tenor of any trail ride and determines the qualitative nature of the rides. Our local Klamath National Forest is inherently rugged, remote, heavily forested and unequaled in beauty and variety. A mountain trail ride is by very nature going to include elevation changes in the course of the ride. Added to the uphill and downhill portions of a mountain trail ride are creek crossings, tight turns, trail tread variations, obstacles to ride over or around, dense foliage canopies, abundant wildlife, and solitude.

Many of our guests inquire about our trail riding vacations with a set of pre-formatted questions. Do we ride “nose to tail” on the trail? Can we gallop on the trail? Just as with the Cowboys riding western trails of old, when the trail landscape changes, we too change how we ride. We match the ride speed, the rider’s skill set, and the experience of the horse to suit the evolving challenges of each trail. Yes, we trot and we lope as trail conditions and guest riding skills allow. No, we do not gallop, we limit our ride speed to a lope or canter with the majority of the rides operating at a walk or trot through various mountain trail features. As we work through variable trail challenges at the appropriate gate, you will appreciate that most of our rides are in the single file. Riding multiple horses abreast on single track trails, through tight quarters or on steep grades is dangerous at a minimum.

Engaging Scenic Riding

Some of the answers to questions about our trail rides are evident just by viewing images and video of our trail riding experience. Because mountain trails are often moving through intimately tight quarters, the horses are by default in a single file formation until the trail reaches a more open section. However, single file formation does not mean that horsemanship is unnecessary. Additionally, single file riding formations allow us to manage the placement of varying horse personalities and to eliminate the race-track effects of horse competitions while riding abreast at faster gates.

Preparing For Horse Back Riding Vacations

Opportunities for novice horse riders and younger riders include round-pen and arena horse riding instruction. Arena riding is instructional in purpose and formatted in engaging games designed to simulate trail conditions found on our local trails. Our focus in the arena is to build horsemanship skills immediately applicable to mountain trail scenarios. We also assign our novice riders to easier trail sections and level ranch perimeter trail rides that are shorter and closer to our ranch base. Novice riders will find the Western Riding style to be user friendly, while experienced English riders will find the application of their existing horsemanship skills in a new setting to be rewarding. Our horse riding vacations are based on stock that is bred and trained by our staff and family so that we know intimately the personalities and traits of our horses. Here are some of the horses in the dude string that you will meet on your trail riding vacation.

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