Tired of hearing, "Daddy, I want a horse!"?

Out for a ride in the shadow
of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Give your little city slickers a taste of the equestrian life without the huge investment. It's just a furlong or two from D.C. to horse country and a Western-style trail ride across thousands of acres of bucolic Virginia meadows and foothills, with the misty Blue Ridge Mountains looming as a backdrop.

The Marriott Ranch offers 90-minute rides for less than $30 a person on a 4,200-acre ranch. For riders age 10 and older, rides depart three times a day, Tuesday through Sunday. Younger kids can take a pony ride, a great introduction for beginners.

For those age 16 and up, there's a schedule of special rides: moonlight, river, mountain, and overnight rides — even a cattle drive! The working farm has more than 1,500 head of horses, along with a mock western town visited via a five-minute hay-wagon ride.

The ranch can also arrange fly-fishing lessons with all gear provided, as well as off-road Jeep trips.

Go Guide: Fauquier County Horse Country Who can go: Ages 10 and up. Activities: Horseback riding, fly fishing, off-road Jeep tours, hiking. Distance from D.C.: 1 hour. Getting there: From the beltway, take I-66 west to exit 27. Right on Route 647 for four miles; right on Route 635 for nine miles; right on Route 726 for 1.5 miles. Contact: Marriott Ranch Trail Rides at (540) 364-2627, or visit www.marriottranch.com. Reference: Capital Horse Country by Jackie C. Burke (Howell Press, 800-868-4512). Extra treats: Do your cowpokes need a place to bed down? The Inn at Fairfield Farm on Marriott Ranch will more than suffice, with fine dining and accommodations in a manor house or cottage, (877) 324-7344. You'll be treated right: The ranch was owned by none other than J. Willard Marriott Sr., founder of Marriott International.

Move on to Prince William Forest Park

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D.C. Adventures By foot, bike, canoe, or raft, get out and about around the nation's capital! Family-Focused Trips Bike New River Gorge Hike Shenandoah Raft Middle New River Bike Potomac Valley More Family Trips. . .

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