Anyone use Rancho El Charro

[lkohawaii]

Anyone use Rancho El Charro. I have children who want to ride the horses. Anything you can share will be appreciated.

[bzy1]

Pamela is the owner of Rancho el Charro. She's been here for at least 20 years from California. She's been a horse person from way back and is known to have some of the best horses in Vallarta, in fact when Conan the Barbarian series was filmed here, they used her (she was a wrangler) and her horses in the show.

 

She has about 20+ horses, many large so they can accommodate people up to 250 or so pounds, and she has many super gentle smaller horses for children.

R. el C. is in Playa Grande, right on the river, so you just get saddled up (correctly may I add) and off you go with the guide.

 

They do pick-ups and drop offs, and I highly recommend her ranch/horses. They have a "cruise special" ride on the website.

[lkohawaii]

Thanks....anyone know which ride is better Rancho El Charro or Randi's. I might be having a problem fitting in Randi's on my Maztlan day and am thinking of going with Rancho El Charro. I'm not talking about the people. I've heard they're both wonderful....I'm talking about the experience itself I guess. If I understand right one is in the "jungle" and the other is more like on the beach.

[pumpkin123]

I rode at Rancho El Charro when I was in Puerto Vallarta 2 years ago. I would guess the drive is around 30 minutes from the Port area. The horses were well cared for. The saddles were made of carved wood, which I have only experienced in Mexico.

 

We saddled up, got our photos taken by a photographer (who sold us the photos upon our return) and followed our guide. Our guide looked like a real Mexican cowboy and spoke very little English. The ride took us down dirt paths and criss-crossed the river. There were places where the horses could trot or canter. Near the end of the ride, the horses ran up a hill where we stopped at a restaurant for a break. You will need cash here if you want to buy something.

 

My 9 and 11 year old kids were fine and had a good time. The younger one did not want to run and she was able to hold her horse back from the pack. I would caution you to wear long pants and bug spray. Some of us got quite bitten up on exposed legs.

[pvpam]

I too can vouch for Rancho Charro and it's owner and operator Pamela Aguirre. Her staff is wonderful and the horses are very well cared for. She says she has "happy and healthy horses" and she is right!

[Cruisekrazy63]

I would highly recommend El Charro, we went on a ride through them and had a wonderful time and Pamela was very sweet!