When you get tired of herding your little ones to and fro, you can practice those skills during a special getaway on a ranch, with horses and cows that may actually prove to be more pliable than your own offspring. Rancho de los Caballeros is located northwest of Phoenix, a drive of approximately 1.5 hours. Open from October to May, the ranch is spread out over 20,000 acres, with 100 horses to explore the trails and a golf course to provide non-equine related activity. Relaxation is offered in the form of a labyrinth walk and a multitude of treatments offered by the spa. (more…)

copyright, The Resort at Paws Up

If your daughter is a fan of The Saddle Club,  or your son has held onto cowboy aspirations, or you never got over the fact that Santa didn’t bring the damn horse you asked for (we didn’t),  one of the luxury equestrian tours rounded up over at Forbestraveler.com might just be the trip of a lifetime for all of you.

With no skimping on the luxury aspect, these outfitters aren’t just offering just some good old trail-riding followed by a night in a so-so bunk. If you’re on the Aravalli Hill Ride offered by Ghenerao Safari Tours, for instance, you’ll be riding through villages, archaeological sites and farms of Rajasthan, India by day, while spending your evenings in palaces and small mansions that have been converted to historic “heritage” hotels. A bonus? The hotels’ aristocratic owners often live on site and will appear, as the Ghenerao Safari Tours website says, “to bore you with tales of their glorious family history.” (Um, we think something got lost in translation, but we get the drift…)

These top 10 luxury equestrian tours are all over the world, so if India isn’t on your current list of must-visits, how does France, Montana, Chile or China sound? Those are just examples: for the full article with all top ten, click here.

Okay, Cinco de Mayo has come and gone, but reasons to visit Mexico remain, not the least of which is Mexico Boutique Hotels’ promotion of family-friendly activities for the summer. We don’t see any special rates in place as yet, but the fact that they’re making the effort to promote their child-friendly activities is, to us, a good thing.

Never heard of Mexico Boutique Hotels? The organization is the Mexican version of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, somewhat, except all of the hotels are – you guessed it – in Mexico. The purpose is really to help smaller hotels band together to market themselves in ways they might otherwise be unable to afford, but the bonus for you is one place where you’ll find excellent service – a promise which is tested by the MBH’s surprise inspectors. (more…)