Weekend
Arrive Friday afternoon, leave Sunday after lunch. Two nights.
$640 per guest
- Two rides and two morning sits
- All meals from Friday supper to Sunday lunch
- A wall tent for every two guests
Sit still.
Ride far.
Weekends and weekday stretches of horses, quiet mornings, and high country at the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon's Wallowa Mountains. One party at a time, June through October.
A ranch that runs at a walk.
Zen Cowboy is a working horse ranch in Wallowa County, in the far northeast corner of Oregon, where the valley floor runs straight up into granite. We host one small group at a time and keep the days simple: sit in the morning, ride in the middle, rest in the afternoon, eat around the fire.
You leave with sore legs and a quieter head. People tell us the second one lasts longer.
How a day goes
Sit
Forty minutes on the porch while first light finds the Eagle Cap peaks. Nobody talks until coffee.
Breakfast
Cast iron, eggs from the neighbors, and the day's plan on a chalkboard.
Groundwork
Before anyone rides, you learn to read a horse. Mostly it is breathing slowly and paying attention, which is the whole point.
Ride
Two to four hours at a walk, up through larch and fir toward the wilderness boundary. Lunch goes in the saddlebags.
Rest
Nap in the wall tent, read by the creek, or sit with the horses. Nothing is scheduled.
Supper
Cooked over the fire. Then a short sit, and the stars come out over the valley.
Two ways to come
Every stay is private to your party. Book a weekend to reset, or the weekdays to actually slow down. Sunday nights the ranch rests.
Weekdays
Arrive Monday afternoon, leave Friday morning. Four nights.
$1,120 per guest
- Four rides, including a full day to an alpine lake
- All meals from Monday supper to Friday breakfast
- A wall tent for every two guests
June through October
June is green and loud with creeks. July and August are warm days and cold nights. September is the quiet month. October turns the larches gold and brings the first snow to the peaks.
See every open weekend and weekday stretchGetting here
The ranch sits about fifteen minutes past Joseph, Oregon, at 4,300 feet. The closest airport is Lewiston, Idaho, about two hours away. From Boise it is four and a half hours, and from Portland about five and a half, the last hour along the Wallowa River.
Cell service ends at the ranch gate. There is Wi-Fi in the cookhouse if you need it, and most people stop asking for the password by the second day.
Questions
Do I need to know how to ride?
No. Most guests have never ridden. Every stay starts on the ground, and the horses are old, patient ranch horses picked for exactly this.
Is this a religious retreat?
No. The sitting is plain quiet time with a little guidance on posture and breath. Skip it and sleep in if you like.
Where do we sleep?
Canvas wall tents on wooden platforms, each with a woodstove, a real bed, and wool blankets. There is a bathhouse with hot showers.
Who can come?
One party per stay, up to 6 guests aged 12 and up. Riders need to be under 240 pounds, for the horses' sake.
What should I bring?
Boots with a heel, long pants, layers for cold nights (it can frost in July), a sun hat, and a water bottle. We lend helmets, rain slickers, and saddlebags.
How does booking work?
Pick open dates and send a request. Your dates are held right away and nothing is charged. The ranch emails you within two days to confirm and arrange the rest.
What about wildfire smoke?
Late summer sometimes brings smoke. If the air is unsafe for riding, the ranch moves your stay to other open dates this season or next.