Riverview Ranch
& Resort

Horse Rides
Mini Horse Rides
Petting Zoo

 

Slow, Safe, and Controlled Lead Line Rides One Rider At A Time

Private Event

Get Tickets
Unicorn, Wrangler Roger, and Small-Rider

Our Horses are Trained to be Calm Around Little Humans

All horses, including ours, are large, strong, and prone to react as any prey animal might. We work hard here at Riverview Ranch to keep our horses well socialized with humans and other animals to help them overcome their natural instincts to run when they hear sharp noises or see something unexpected. Our horses are well bred, healthy, and strong, but they are gentle giants. They are aging gracefully and most of their youthful exuberance has grown out of their systems. We feel comfortable bringing groups of people into the pasture with them because we know each horse very well.
All our rides are slow, controlled, and safe lead line rides. We allow kids to lead Bullseye (with no rider). We allow older kids to lead a full size horse (with no rider) if parents are comfortable with it. Parents are allowed to lead a full size horse with their child riding as long as everyone, including the horse, is comfortable with it. This makes for great family photos.

Help Us Keep You Safe


Keep your toes out from under the horses' hooves. Wear shoes that will protect your toes. Horses weigh over a thousand pounds, and their hooves are hard. This is something to keep in mind any time you are around any horse. Wranglers here at Riverview Ranch will remind you to keep alert for horses hooves as they step forward, backward, and sideways. Most of our guests are unfamiliar with the way horses move so this is something we watch for all the time.

Come with a healthy respect for the back end of a horse. We ask that visitors avoid walking behind a horse. Our horses are trained to allow people and other animals to walk behind and under them. They are very calm and respectful of small animals and humans. But it is a bad habit to walk behind any horse you do not know well. So this rule is to instill good habits in our guests and visitors that will keep them safe around all horses.

Day Visit: What To Expect

Check in - Family and Car

Arrival

Sniff & Greet

Text Wrangler Roger at 608-331-0000 with your eta. When you arrive the dogs will be very excited to sniff and greet you. Please stay near your car until a wrangler comes out to welcome you.

Cat Under Tire

Please, please, please, watch for small animals as you move your car. Especially backing up.

Liability Waiver, Helmets, Safety Brief

Boring, But Important Stuff

We require everyone who comes for the Horse Riding and Petting Zoo to sign a liability waiver. If you won’t sign, please don’t come onto the property. We also require anyone riding a horse or mini-horse to wear a helmet. We have helmets and we will get the right size for you as you fill out the liability waiver.

Wrangler Roger will go over some important safety instructions, give a short history of the ranch and answer any questions.

Mini Pigs Love Tummy Rubs

Petting Zoo

Meet all the critters at your pace

Wrangler Roger will take your family/group to visit the Horses, Goat, Mini Horse, Mini Pigs, Chickens, Ducks, Dogs, Cat, Turtle, and Guinea Pigs. You dictate how much time we spend on the zoo. Younger kids tend to spend more time with the smaller animals. While we visit the zoo Wrangler Sabina will saddle a horse or mini horse.

We can skip the zoo entirely if you prefer and go right to the riding. We take our cues from you and your kids.

MiniHorse-Rider

Ride A Horse

Or A Mini Horse

Kids and Adults under 200 lbs may ride a horse on lead line. We do not allow free rein riding unless you are taking regular lessons.

While we do the rides we will have the mini horse or goat available for the rest of the family to enjoy. You can brush Bullseye’s mane and tail or you can lead Bullseye just like Wrangler Roger leads the big horse. 

More Details below.


How's Your
Yee Haw?

Check in - Family and Car

Happy TRails

Thank You For Coming

After an hour we will end the riding. We recommend visitors wash their hands after petting the zoo.

We ask that you please watch for small animals around your car as you drive away, especially backing up.

One hour is enough time for everyone, even in a large family, to have a turn riding.

We appreciate your business and hope to see you again some time. Please leave a review on Tripadvisor (Day Visitors) or Google (Overnight Guests)  if you have time.

what our Guests and Visitors say

Resort Guests: Please leave a review on Google below.

Boating and Ranch Day Visitors: Please leave a review on Tripadvisor.

Riverview Resort
5.0
Based on 50 reviews
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Beth Shaffer-McCarthy
21:38 23 Jan 25
Ranger Roger and Sabina were so hospitable and our kids were delighted with all the animals! It was magical to share their farm life.
Lona Rizkallah
22:22 05 Jan 25
We had a wonderful experience at the Ranch! Our children really.enjoyed the animal encounters and horseback riding. The hosts were lovely to work with and we would love to return some day!
Debra Dimke
16:51 24 Nov 24
Roger and Sabina are great hosts. They made our animal experience wonderfully fun for our grandchildren. Definitely make their ranch a visit when you are in Galena.
Arnold Pula
18:49 04 Jul 24
I went with my family for horse riding. We came all the way from Chicago and were impressed. We saw all the beautiful animals and took some amazing pics with cowboy hats. The owner is friendly and made us laugh alot!
Rene Powlick
01:32 01 Apr 24
Recently visited for our daughter’s birthday and had the most amazing experience. Wrangler Roger and Sabina were very attentive and patient with our crazy kiddos who were just filled with so much excitement. Thanks to the most amazing experience and with their kind words of encouragement our girls kept asking to go back for another riding lesson. We definitely plan on visiting again was a 10/10 experience
Alexis Romero
20:44 29 Mar 24
This was an amazing experience for us! Wrangler Roger was accommodating and got us an appointment with less than 24 hours notice. There were six people in our party, three of them being kids 4, 7, and 16. All three of them enjoyed interacting with the animals and each getting a turn to ride a horse. It was private so it was just us being guided by Wrangler Roger who taught us a lot about different animals on the farm and each child got a turn to hold the animals. The animals were friendly and it was nice to be able to pet them. We also got to interact with their dogs who were so sweet and it was like they were doing the tour with us, we even got to hold and snuggle their dog Simba. We also got to put the kids names on the wall with their height and the date which I thought was a sweet touch for future ventures to Galena. Thank you again for everything Wrangler Roger we definitely will be recommending this to others and hope this review sends a lot of good business your way!
Liz Pappalardo
22:41 20 Oct 23
Our family of 6 had a great time. Wrangler Roger and Sabina were so welcoming and accommodating. Seeing our kids ride the horse and hanging out with all their animals was a great getaway. We were welcomed immediately by Wrangler Roger and his lovely dogs. Kids faces lit right up and are excited to be there. It is right on the Mississippi River and saw some beautiful sunsets as well as a wonderful star-filled sky, which was a first for our kids. The rooms were comfortable and it was nice to have our own kitchen so we didn't have to eat out every meal. Just about a 10 min drive to downtown Galena made it easy to explore the beautiful Main Street and just down the road from Chestnut Mountain where we rode the alpine slide and soaring eagle biplane. Our kids already want to plan our next trip there. Highly recommend staying here!

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Horse Rides & Petting Zoo

Children two years and younger get in free. While the Wrangler is leading the horse with each rider the rest of the group will be watching, taking photos and petting our dogs, goats and other critters in the pasture. Feel free to walk alongside the horse to encourage riders or to take pictures. We take everything very slowly. Kids who are not riding may run around in open pastures and yell at the top of their lungs as long as they are responsive to safety instructions.

We can re-create amazing photos but it will take time to set up. Here are some examples: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4   

Get Tickets

Unicorn Rides

Unicorn, Wrangler Roger, and Small-Rider

If your child is into unicorns you have come to the right place. We have a deal with the trolls who live down the road. They supply us with pixie dust, for a small fee of course, that can turn a horse into a magical unicorn for about one hour. The trolls get the pixie dust from the fairies.  Our unicorns can fly, but riding a unicorn in flight is considered to be very adventurous. So we do not allow children to ride a unicorn in flight except in cases of extreme imagination.

Equine Liability Act Poster