Quicksilver Ranch

Such a cute little place to walk around. The area is peaceful, and the mini horses are so relaxed. There was one baby when we visited and it was so cute! My 8 month old daughter loved them! She kept trying to get their attention. Must visit when in the area, and free! :)

I love mini horses… so much so that, for my birthday, my fiancé and I took a day trip just to see them.
We left our place by 11am and what would have normally taken a 2 hour drive to the mini horse ranch, unfortunately took close to 4 hours because of a fire along the 101. The fire caused a shutdown of the 101 and everyone, including us, had to be diverted off of the freeway and onto the back roads around the fire. Luckily with my amazing fiancé by my side, we made the most of our long detour conversating and goofing around with each other – I love him :)
We pulled up to the ranch around 2:45pm and parked our car inside – free admission and free parking. By this time we knew the ranch closed at 3pm so I was hoping to see some mini horses before we were asked to leave.
The ranch did not disappoint. I squealed with delight upon first seeing 4 mini horses close up. I’m pretty sure I scared them with my excitement lol. There were 2 other groups of people on the premises; 1 group was busy taking pictures by the front sign and the other group was busy talking to an employee. After our many photo ops with the mini horses, my fiancé and I walked through the ‘barn’ where I was hoping to see more mini horses. However the stalls were empty and all we heard and saw were employees talking amongst each other. We continued walking towards the main front fields to watch 4 other mini horses.
We stayed well past 3pm and noticed that the front main gate that was open, when we arrived, had closed. However we weren’t approached or asked to leave so we continued our visit with the mini horses. When it was time for us to leave, I admit I was sad to say good-​bye to the adorable mini horses, but I was happy that in spite of the long drive and thus the shortened amount of time with them, I finally got to see these super cute animals.
I’d definitely come back again and again and again and again :)

What a pretty little place to stop for a half an hour or so with children. The kids loved it, the adults loved it. The barn was immaculately clean. The horses were friendly. Overall, great experience.

I don’t remember how I found out about this place years ago, but I’m really glad I did! It’s about a 10 minute drive from Solvang. Just something fun to do and it’s free, if you’re in the Santa Barbara area. I took my niece and nephews and they absolutely loved it!!! They have mini horses. We saw a baby one recently and it was so cute!!! You can walk around and enjoy watching them. We were there less than 30 minutes. It’s like a self guided tour. Highly recommended if you have younger children.

If you are in Solvang or in the area with kids, take them to this Ranch! My daughter is a year and 9 months old and she LOVED the horsies. These miniature horses were so cute I was as happy as my daughter looking at them! They came so close we could touch them :) we had a great time here!

This is a must for the Berger tour of Solvang. They have pint-​size horsies, it’s free, and you are bound to see adorable cuties that you’ll want to have for your very own so that you can rub their fuzzy belly.
At any given time, there are 10 cars visiting and there’s unmarked spaces for 20 or so. Just come on in, and you are free to do your «thang» without many rules or order.
The mini’s are kept in separate large pens for various reasons. Feel free to wander from one to the next. My favs are the babies, who are the size of a medium dog. I seek them out ALWAYS.
Do yourself and the kiddos a favor, stop and adore.

My daughter loves ponies so we figured we should check the place out. Great to know they were opened during New Year’s day so off we went. Place was almost deserted. There were a few minis grazing around and my daughter and I took several pictures. We noticed that the ponies look sad (that’s how my daughter described them). There was one group that was just standing and not moving around. She loved the white one the most. I guess you would not expect much from the place because its free. There was no one to talk about the horses. Great place for a quick visit and snap pictures.

About 2 miles outside of downtown Solvang, Quicksilver Ranch is a cute little place to take the kiddos. The ranch has about 15 – 20 different miniature horses that are out in the open field. Several of them will come to the gate to be pet.
There is no formal guided tour here. It’s FREE. Just park your car and walk around the property. Horses are cute and friendly.

Loved visiting these little guys. Ranch is very clean and you can tell the horses are well taken care of. My only complaint is that I wanted to be able to pet them.

I for one cannot resist short legs little animals so when I planned a trip up north to Solvang it was obvious that I HAD to stop by this place. This ranch is filled with adorable mini-​horses – TALK ABOUT CUTENESS OVERLOAD! The ranch did not open to the public due to it was a holiday, but lucky for me that we were still able to see the mini horses from the side of the road. We literally just parked on the side of the road and walked over to the fence and there they were just on the other side of the fences relaxing under some cool shade and munching. If you ever visiting Solvang, I would recommend to take a quick stop by the ranch it is literally only down the street from the main Solving attractions/​shops.

Stop by and see the darling mini horses. Beautiful ranch and well loved ponies! Oh and it’s free :-)

hi-​ya!
The ranch has mini-horses…or mini-​ponies which-​ever, but man the place is so well kept and clean. The horses are fun to watch and are playful (and they are for sale).
The stables and practically everywhere was spotless considering it was a where animals lived. Parking was easy – just drive in and plenty of areas to watch the horses do their thing.
Only 1 bathroom available in the main building so… go before you go.

DWARF HORSES!!! Enough said.
There were more than I imagined! We saw about 15 dwarf horses in the three pens we visited. We got to pet the ones that came up close by the fence! I would have paid to get to snuggle up to one of them. But then again, I’m sure everyone else who made the trek there would too. I guess I’ll wait until I’m as famous as a Kardashian and then I’ll visit the farm to play with them like they did. Or I could just buy one for $ 2500 from them… Someday.

Very pleasant, well maintained & clean ranch with a few dozen miniature horses. Unfortunately we couldn’t pet them but they sure are cute.

Free. Fun stop on the road for the kids. They are MINI horses. Not ponies!
Just keep your hands to yourself lest one of the curious mini horses take a bite of your fingers. The day we stopped by, there were no ranch employees around. On our previous stops, we had a chance to pat and see up close and personal a mini horse if an employee is around to walk them and supervise.

It looks very nice. The mini horses were on their fields and ate grass when we got there.
However, we went there on a Sunday. And THEY ARE CLOSED ON SUNDAYS !!!
So mini horses on the fields eating grass is all we got…
But there is a nice new big playground /​jungle gym /​play area super close where we then went with our little one.

Mini horses!!! Free! Cute! What else do you need to say? Oh yeah — Awwwwwwwwwww!
Seriously — cute little itty bitty horses live here. They seemed fairly friendly.
I don’t understand what the comments by others regarding needing good tires is about — my civic had no issues and it’s not exactly an off roading vehicle. Think pavement for the most part.
Go here for cute horses. Don’t go here if you are a terrible person and don’t like mini horses.

This place is magical.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that I have loved horses since I was young, so seeing paddocks full of miniature horses inspired girlish excitement and nostalgia of summer days past reading horse books in the backyard.
This was our first stop on our weekend trip to Solvang. It was easy to find from the address, and the miniature horses that can clearly be seen from the road make it hard to miss. The gate is open during visiting hours, parking is easy along the gravel path, and the horses are adorable.
They have the mares and foals separated in their own paddock, and we were able to see some cute fuzzy-​haired foals with their mothers (who are not that much bigger than their offspring!). There are multiple different areas, so you can walk around and look at the many horses they have. It isn’t interactive, as the horses are fenced off and you should not feed them, but it is a great place to stop for half an hour and look at the tiny horses — especially if you or your children are animal-​lovers.
For those interested and who own enough acreage, the horses are also for sale… maybe one day!

Such an adorable ranch to take a visit to while you’re visiting the wonderful Danish city of Solvang located in the Santa Ynez Valley. It was such a nice, refreshing break from our wine tastings and dining to be able to do a quick walk, stretching our legs and being able to see their many miniature horses roaming in their large pastures. They come in an abundance of colors, which made it even more beautiful watching them both at rest and play. We were very fortunate to be able to take a lot of nice close-​up photos of them grazing and frolicking in the grass, and it was so sweet to be able to see a baby foal with it’s Mommy as well.
It would have been nice if they had offered some sort of interaction with a few of the horses, which we would have gladly paid for. Otherwise you are only allowed to observe them peacefully or purchase one to take home for your very own!
#61 /​100
Unilocal 100 Review Challenge 2014

After visiting Seein’ Spots Farm and seeing the mini donkeys, I was convinced we couldn’t possibly see anything else as fascinating or enjoyable. Boy, was I wrong!
About 3 miles away we spotted miniature horses ‘Grazing in the Grass’ (The Friends of Distinction hit song 69′) in a field. I turned the car around and drove in the Quicksilver Ranch. We parked and walked around the 4 or 5 fenced pastures and admired these cute, fascinating, laid back creatures.
They breed and sell the foals that are born on the farm. Despite the temptation to keep such a delightful creature in ones backyard, this is not permitted in California.
This is not a petting zoo, but that doesn’t take away form anything. Enjoy the beautiful landscape and the cuteness of the mini horses. It’s free! There is a donation box that’s hard to pass up.
Open at 10am and close at 3pm daily. What ever you do, don’t forget your camera!