What to wear on a ranch experience holiday: tips from a traveller

Heading on a horse riding ranch experience holiday? Lucky you – it will feature high up on many a horsey bucket list! I was lucky enough to spend a week in Wyoming on a ranch experience for Horse & Hound last year – and as soon as I found out I was going on a ranch holiday, one my first questions was what to wear.

Here’s essentials you’ll need to pack for the riding parts of your ranch holiday. I’ve included some specific suggestions of items I was grateful I took with me, plus some things I wish I’d had before I went.

What to wear on a horse riding ranch holiday

You could, of course, go in your everyday riding gear that you wear at home, but for ultimate comfort and the real cowboy experience, here are some things you’ll want to consider packing for the riding parts. Think, too, about what time of year and where in the States you’re travelling – there is a lot of variety here.

• Hat
• Boots
• Legwear
• Shirts
• Layers
• Other handy accessories

Hat

The most important thing you’ll need to wear on a horseback safari is a correctly fitted riding hat. To ensure that you’re covered by your insurance you’ll need one that’s up to standard – and most ranches recommend you wear one.

However, having a cowboy hat is part of the experience and if you decide you want to wear one for riding, find one with a stampede string so that it doesn’t fly off the moment you pick up the pace. While a real cowboy might be able to spin around and swoop the hat from the floor without getting off, chances are you’ll need to dismount to retrieve a lost hat.

You might also want a cowboy hat for visiting the rodeo or relaxing on the ranch. Check out these Stetson cowboy hats (available on Amazon), which are the most famous brand when it comes to cowboy headwear.

Boots

You don’t have to wear cowboy boots – your favourite pair of riding boots will be absolutely fine – but if you‘re looking to blend in with real western riders then a pair of cowboy boots is a must. Ariat have a very wide range of western boots (which you can view here) that are available in half sizes and are designed for comfort and performance rather than just look.

Legwear

Real cowboys wear jeans – in fact, I didn’t see a cowboy in anything other than jeans, boots, shirt and hat in the whole time I was there. If you’d like to ride in jeans, Wranglers are a good choice as they’re designed with cowboys in mind and they don’t have the double-sewn inside leg seam, which makes them more comfortable in the saddle.

If you’d prefer to wear breeches, I would suggest considering a pair of the best denim breeches – this was my compromise between wannabe cowgirl and home comforts.

Shirts

All cowboys wear shirts and I found myself to be cooler in a shirt (with the sun kept off my skin) than in a T-shirt. Even when we were riding out in 33°C, I never really felt uncomfortable so I would definitely recommend getting your hands on a couple.

I found that holding the reins in one hand meant that the pressure was in a slightly different place that my hands were used to, so I did get a small blister on the first day that I didn’t wear my gloves. The time of year you’re going will have an effect of what type of gloves you take – in the summer you’ll want something light (check out our guide to the best summer riding gloves), but you’ll be better with something more standard in weight for spring and autumn.

Cap

There will likely be breaks for lunch and other refreshments and if you’ve been wearing a proper riding hat you’ll want to give your head a moment to breathe. If you’re like me, you’ll want to hide your hat hair, so a cap that can attach to your saddle is the perfect solution.

Riding hat camera

You can, of course, take a phone or digital camera with you to document your trip – and you’ll only need one hand on the reins, so this is very doable. But if you’d rather not be fiddling about and would like to record at speed, it would be worth checking out one of the best riding hat cameras. The Cambox V4 Pro is super-lightweight, discreet so won’t stand out in your photos, and it will attach to a cowboy hat, too.

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