Dixie Dude Ranch, Texas, United States

5Jill 5:00 PM Dec 29, 2019

Dixie Dude Ranch
During a touring holiday of Texas we spent 2 nights at the Dixie Dude Ranch, a family-run working ranch. Accommodation was in individual cabins. All meals were either in the ranch house or outside under the pergola. The holiday included supervised horserides. The horses are rescue animals which have been rehabilitated and are now in fabulous condition. My husband's horse was one-eyed but a lovely horse. There was entertainment of some sort on an evening including a champion stuntman. No TVs, no WiFi, no phone signal. A fabulous relaxing time. Wish we'd had longer. Ps I am a non rider but was looked after so well on the rides that I thoroughly enjoyed myself . Going back again some day .

4Natster396 5:00 PM Mar 17, 2012

Great experience: Lodging, Food, Scenery, and Horse Rides were all good.
Ok, just got back from our trip and wanted to write the review while my memories are fresh. Went during spring break (March 12 - 16) and suprisingly, the place did not seem crowded at all. I am sure the cabins/lodges were all sold out but it was very peaceful and quiet. The layout of the ranch was great and everyone tended to themselves and I actually didn't see people out unless it's time for horserides or after dinner in the play area. I will get to the play are in a minute. I will try to give as much information as I can remember in terms of how the cabins are layed out, how food is served, when horserides times are, etc. Bear with me, my review is long but it will tell you all you need to know about this place. I read all the reviews on Tripadvisor before coming and no one told me a lot of the info I am about to give. Oh, they are all mostly good so no fear. First, let's talk about the layout of the place. It is very nicely done in my opinion. I have a pic of a partial part of how it's layed out and you can see several cabins/lodges (buckaroo on the left, jingle/jangle, and rebel/yank are in the pic). You can actually call the office and ask them to fax you the layout. They will do that and you will have a much better sense of where your cabin is. They have updated their website and it is great! They show pics of the rooms and some cabins/lodges but if you get the layout you can see exactly where your cabin will be. There are five stand alone cabins and the rest are duplexes or connected rooms. I was in the Side Saddler (stand alone cabin) and I thought it was adorable. Everyone says it's rustic and yes, it is but it was great to me. The decor was cool, the light was made of two handheld lanterns and the foot bed had cowhide strung across. The floors were not carpet but tile or something like that and it was all throughout the cabin. It had a nice stand up shower and roomier than I expected. It had three sides if you can imagine how that looks. Water pressure in this cabin was great, but I did hear from another guests that her pressure was not hard enough. I guess I lucked out with this cabin. The rooms were spacious and they had an air conditioner on the window (one in the living room and one in the bedroom). The air was cold and worked great so no fear of being hot in the summer. Now for the food! Wow. Great and all homemade. The way they serve dinner is family style as I'm sure you have read but to be detailed, they put out food in bowls and plates and you just eat like you are at home and then pass the food along to your neighbors. They will fill it up once it runs out or low so yes, you can eat as much as you need. You will sit with other guest and there are four tables in all. They will assign you to a table each day. Sometimes they move you but I had the same table all the days I was there. You will eat three times a day and there is no showing up late! Its starts right on the time and ends like 25 min or 30 min or so later. Everyone seem to be done in half an hour and they cleaned up promptly. They will ring he bells three time. One half an hour before start time, then at start time, and then the third bell means you're late. Breakf is at 8. Lunch 12:30. Dinner - 6pm. I don't think they will change this in the future but those were the times when I was there. Now for the food - delicious! Something so simple can be so good. They made brocoli, mac and cheese, and ham for dinner and I tell ya..that brocoli was perfect - not too hard or too soft and the flavor was great! The ham was sweet and moist and thick! Not them cheap thin slices .. the whole thick ham. Sometimes you will eat outside in the patio area as we did for dinner and lunch. Dinner, they had barbecue chicken and all the fixins. Then lunch one day, they had hot dogs and all the fixins and deserts of course. These are simple food but the other day we had a fufilling lunch with meat pasta and squash, etc. So it rotates on the variety of food. I only stayed two days so I'm sure the third day they would serve more then just hot dogs for lunch. Horserides and times: The times for the horserides will be given to you during breakfast and lunch. So for your morning ride, the owner, Clay will walk around each table during breakfast and will ask you if you want to ride and if so, how many horses. Then he will give you a time to ride. Same during lunch, so you will get a time for the afternoon ride. You will meet at the corral for rides which is directly behind the main lodge and outdoor patio area. Again, get a fax layout and you will know all things ahead of time! Rides are nose to tail and slow so it is safe for anyone who has not ever ridden a horse. My seven year old rode by herself and she did awesome! Never rode before either. The trails vary and that was the best thing for me!! I did not want to go on the same trail each day and we didn't. I went on four rides and they took us on four different trails ! That was so great. You'll get a different view each time and yes, you will see high rolling hills and great skyline. I had four different horses too. LOL. Some people like one horse and asks to stick with that horse and sometimes, it's possible. Just ask the wranglers ahead of time when you are in line to ride. I had Bob, Nikko, Sassie and Cash. Bob is not cooperative. He is stubborn and is slow. Nikko was ok but slow. Sassie was not too slow but she is one of the only two mare and I was told to keep her at a distance from the other males. Uh .. I was scared to make the horses mad so I didn't do anything unless I have to and so I just let her be and there were no altercations. Finally, Cash was a good one. He listened and is a strong tall horse. My mom liked Hammer and for a good double rider horse, they will probably give you Ruthie. My hubby and daughter rode her several times. OH, the wrangers .. you will get at least two on the trail .. one leading and one behind to watch over. Sometimes you'll get three wranglers. Maybe it depends on the trails. Sorry SO long but had to say it all .. OH one more thing. The "play" area .. this consists of a campfire, areas for horseshoe, volleyball, swings and houses for the kiddos, and a pool with a small jacuzzi (adults only in that one). This area was spacious and you have lots of things to do after dinner. In the main house, there is a game room where kids can pull out games to play and a table to play cards, etc. There is also a jukebos inside. Several couches for people who want to hook up on their ipad or laptops. Outside the main lodge is a table tennis and tetherball. There is also a basketball court nearby but bring your own ball. Their ball is about to tear at the seams. It worked a bit but it was kinda neat cause it made you feel like you were living in the old days where things were old but worked. OH and nightly entertainment .. it varies but we had a longhorn for the kids to ride and hayride for the two nights we were there. Longhorn was great and yes, the kids get on the back and get a ride for a minute or so. I read of music groups and trick roping but we didn't have that on our days. The evening entertainment will also be announced during dinner. Lastly, as for tips, a gratuity fee of 10% will be added to your bill (suggested) and I guess you can tell them to take it out if you do not agree but when does this happen? Never probably. The tip amount goes in a pool and is distributed to ALL the staff (cooks, cleaning, wranglers, reservations, etc). So you may want to wait till you check out to tip .. since I did see some people tip the wranglers and housekeeping cash. But if you think 10 % is low and you want to tip more then knock yourself out and give cash to the people or more when you check out. I'm sure they will appreciate that. Now, I am done!! If you have any questions, feel free to email me and I will get back with you. Email me for photos if you want because i posted a bunch and tripadvisor sent me an error message and took all my pics out and so too much work to post them again.