ride with roudy and telluride horseback adventures

We went to Ouray and Telluride the week after Christmas. We wanted to do something fun. Checked into snowmobiling and it would have cost us a small fortune for 2 hours. We stopped in a store where they did the ice climbing and asked about something to do. They mentioned "Roudy" and a sleigh ride. We gave him a call. It was the most fun we have ever had. He kept us laughing the entire time. On the ride, we were given a moose hide to cover up with. A great man!!! After our nearly 2 hour ride around his pastures, we went back to the barn and sat down with him and listened to his stories. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, young or old. He gave us a signed poster and a CD of a movie he was in. This was exactly what I wanted, a ride in a two horse open sleigh. It was perfect. Thanks ROUDY and Patty for a great memory!

Everything is wrong w/Roudy unless you too are an insensitive, mysoginistic, narcissist. I have never been treated so mean in all my travels around the world. I actually cried the first 30 minutes of the ride after his inapporpriate comments. Additionally we had to listen to him self promote the entire ride. We have been riding in Colorado for the last 5 years and this is the first time we have been disappointed. He needs to go back to kindergarten to learn basic manners!

There's nothing wrong w/ Roudy unless you are the sensitive east coast type :) (somewhat ironically, he does have a masters degree in English). Realize, though, this is the West, rural Colorado, ranch country. Don't expect to be coddled. Do expect to hear a lot of ranch wisdom and interesting stories!My 10 yr old daughter and I had a great time. Roudy is the real-deal. Highly recommend.

Roudy and his girls did a wonderful job with a group of different riding abilities. This is a traditional trail ride, however the scenery that you see is incredible! You can't go wrong. The horses are well cared for and very good with beginner riders. Roudy is a hoot and has a ton of stories from the area! Great little adventure! (Make sure you allow plenty of time to get there, it is off the beaten path!)

We had a great ride with Roudy and his staff. It was a group of 5 of us and though we weren't ready for Roudy's entertainment, it came across as funny and well entertaining.We took the hour ride for $50 and each gave them a $10 tip. Totally worth it. I rode Clyde a huge beautiful horse who took this 6'5 guy for an awesome ride.Let me address Roudy and children as it relates to the reviews here. I can see how some people would find him rude especially as children are involved but I didn't think he ever crossed the line. I have a 2.5 year old and if he were older, I would take him here.He does have a sense that he is the authority on horse riding and trails in telluride and name dropped some CEOs of major companies. He may be telling the truth but I really didn't care.In conclusion, go here! If you have children and are very straight laced perhaps it may be better to go somewhere else if you are easily offended.

Roudy taught me to ride when I was a kid, and it was a pleasure to come back 20 years later to ride with him again. Our morning group ride was an absolute pleasure - Roudy and his ranch hand were super friendly, experienced, and kept up great banter with us as we rode through his beautiful property. We stopped halfway through in a sunny field for a perfect photo opp, and then back to the barn. Roudy is such a charismatic, authentic, warm, and friendly guy - riding with him lit up our entire week. Cheers!

Roudy was verbally abusing his employees when we arrived, but really crossed the line when he humiliated my seven year old son in front of the entire group of riders because he was nervous about getting on the horse. Roudy first yelled at my son for not being tough enough, and then yelled at his employees for not screening the guests more thoroughly. My son and I decided to not ride with this lunatic, and waited at the parking lot for my ten year old daughter and my husband who continued on the ride. When they returned, they said Roudy was insulting and rude throughout the entire ride. At the end of the trip, Roudy was rude to me, and was arrogant enough to autograph a poster that he insisted my daughter take with her. She left it in the rental car as trash. Although we enjoyed everything else in Telluride and will return to visit often, we will never return to Roudy's. He is truly awful. When tourists say that he is a local legend, it is because he has told them that. In contrast, if you ask the locals around Telluride, you will find out the truth- that he is an embittered lunatic who is unable to get along in society, follow rules, or be helpful at all. In medicine, we call that type of personality sociopathic, completely lacking empathy or remorse.

We have ridden with Roudy twice, and it's always a treat. We'll return on every trip to Telluride. Roudy is a marketing genius and a genuine character: He's a local legend. Don't miss meeting him. He has a great track record of safety because he is so careful about taking care of his horses and his clients. If you want to have a wonderful ride on high quality horses and view some of the most stunning vistas in the US, this is a great choice. If you want a concierge who will pamper you and agree with everything you say, then stay home. We rode with the same young lady two years in a row, and she loves working with him. We loved riding with him!

If you are thin skinned, don't believe in child discipline or are staunch supporters of unions and entitlement programs, then stop reading this review right now. Roudy will eagerly offend you in ways you've never heard of and be exceptionally proud of himself when you leave an emotional mess. On the other hand, if you came to Telluride to enjoy just a little bit of the old west and see the San Juans in all their glory then book a ride with Roudy. He is as real as it gets and doesn't give a hill of beans about what you think of him. He has a staff of about 8 wranglers who are all pretty girls from 16ish to 28ish and he berates them like nobody's business if they are not doing exactly what they are supposed to do. However, the loyalty these girls show him is beyond compare because if you can work for this guy then you will learn life lessons that most young kids aren't afforded these days.Be on-time, come dressed in the appropriate clothes and be honest about your riding ability and weight and you will have a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE.Coming to Telluride says something about you as a person. Riding with Roudy will only add to that.

We wanted to horseback ride but when Roudy found out my husband was 225+ pounds (don't tell anyone but he is up to 260! Yikes!), he said he wouldn't do that to his horses. Then he called back later and came up with a fabulous idea: go for a sleigh ride at dusk. First we were offered to use the Outhouse. This was a first for me! The ranch buildings felt like they were from 1900 or earlier. His jingly draft horses with gorgeous tack were happy to do their job of pulling us around gorgeous mountain terrain in a wooden, roomy sleigh. We stayed warm underneath Elk skins while having some beverages provided for us. Alpenglow was all around us. My 10 year old niece sat up front with Roudy while he told us endless personal and local history. Roudy IS rowdy. This guy has been around the block. When the ride was over, he had set up hot chocolate and a hot fire in the pot belly stove...all ready for us. Loved the experience.

I've known this guy for over 20 years. He KNOWS HORSES. He does not suffer fools lightly. If you have an attitude, go somewhere else. But! if you want hear some of the funniest crazy non-stop stories, have a beautiful trail ride and learn what it is to be a free spirit then this is the place for you. Yep, he talks non-stop; and he is erudite, witty, and colorful. He may be omniscient. Come to think of it he told me he was. So, he must be. As for protecting your kiddy's ears from profanity and crudity, what they will hear from Roudy is probably tamer than what they hear on TV on on the schoolyard, so just smile and go with the flow. This will be the experience of a lifetime and an event to tell your grandchildren about. And you will have one hell of a good time! Just ask my wife. After her hat fell off the third time, which he managed to pick up without getting off the horse (amazing!) he kept it and wouldn't give it back and told her if she wanted it back he was going to staple it to her head. They made up; he gave it back; it didn't fall off again and they both had a good laugh over it. We had a beautiful trail ride and learned the meaning of life.;-)Highly recommended. Not for elitist, intellectual, pompous, over-educated, type-A hedge fund managerial types, but for the rest of us. Have a good time! As for taking a photograph with the sun three-quartered and to your back, Roudy's right. I'm a photographer, I know.

I found out about Ride with Roudy through the Telluride Chamber of Commerce. Because we visited Telluride in November, we had to go to Ride with Roudy's winter location, which is over an hour from Telluride. Talking on the phone with Roudy was not pleasant - he talked too much and made crude jokes - but i attributed this to poor sales skills. We got to his Norwood ranch early, and my wife asked him to pose with her for a picture while I positioned myself properly to take the picture. Rowdy proceeded to tell us that we didn't know how to take a picture and that we needed to be at 3/4 angle with the sun almost at our backs - he ordered his ranch hand to then take the picture. My wife said the picture would not come out well because of the sun's location and asked the ranch hand to retake the picture from a different angle. Well, that set off a firestorm. Roudy yelled at us that we weren't people to come and tell him what to do on his ranch, and that he had more important things to do, like shoeing his horses, than to deal with people like us. We asked the ranch hand if he was just joking because we couldn't believe the shouting and insults we were hearing. She told us that "Roudy doesn't like to be told what to do." He barked at his ranch hand to get us to sign the release, and he yelled at us to go in to the office. So I told him we weren't going to ride with him. And we left. I have contacted the Telluride Chamber of Commerce and asked them to remove this business from their website.

We called to ride with Roudy but his message said "RIFLE SEASON" so we were referred to his friends at Many Ponies Ranch.....it was a great trail ride with them...catch you next time Roudy

The two wranglers who accompanied our 9-person trail ride were great --- and pointed out the huge elk herd in the distance and later the bear which they thought had been the cause of the elks moving. Pointed out other nature things as well --- so nice to have a "nature trail ride". My daughter loved her horse (pony?) Butterball.

Beautiful ride through the mountains on beautiful gentle horses. Great help by the staff and Roudy was his usual witty self!