Travel is good for the soul, they say. And when travel involves horses? Well, that’s good for everything. If you’re dreaming of a riding vacation where you can relax into the peace of rolling ranch land peppered with oaks and pines and sprinkled with wildflowers, the song of rivers and the call of hawks, the creak of the saddle and the footfalls of your good ranch horse, the V6 Ranch is calling.
Located in Parkfield, “the Cowboy Side of California,” the V6 Ranch is owned and operated by the Varian family. A world away (but just four hours from L.A. or San Francisco), this 20,000-acre working cattle ranch is balm for the modern soul and medicine for horse lovers of all ages and abilities.
Founding a Ranch
In 1958, Jack Varian had just earned a degree in animal husbandry and married his sweetheart Zera, whom he called Zee. She grew up with horses in Southern California, and they were ready to start their life together as cattle ranchers.
Their first ranch was on hardscrabble, unforgiving land. After working it for three years, by some miracle a man wanted to buy it and Jack and Zee happily sold.
Two years later, they found a ranch of about 8,000 acres in the tiny town of Parkfield, nestled in the Cholame Valley in Central California. This land was completely different from their first ranch. Rich with life, water, and beauty, they soon understood why the indigenous Tachi Yokut inhabitants had named the area Cholame (“the beautiful one”).
Jack and Zee called the place the V6 Ranch after their family of six, which included their kids Katherine, Lillian, John and Gregory. They acquired more acres over the years as they raised their family on the ranch. Then a funny thing happened.
“As all of us kids finished college and were looking to start our new lives, we all realized we wanted to come back to Parkfield,” says son John Varian.
The problem? Even though the ranch was now 20,000 acres, with the cattle operation running about 1,000 head per year, it provided income to only support Jack and Zee. The rest of the kids would need to find a different way to make a living if they wanted to live on the V6.
Welcome to Parkfield, Pop. 18
By the 1980s, the little town of Parkfield was pretty much gone. There were still a few homes and residents but no public buildings. The old bar had burned down in the 1970s. There was a one-room schoolhouse and a community hall, but the rest of the buildings were abandoned.
“I had some construction experience from doing side jobs in college, so Dad and I started rebuilding Parkfield in 1989,” says John. “We decided we needed a restaurant first, so we started by building the Parkfield Cafe. At first, it didn’t have an indoor kitchen, so we began cooking outside on the pit for guests.”
The restaurant was finished as a log cabin—“the only thing we knew how to build”—and the Parkfield Cafe started to become a destination for barbeque and hearty meals. Once the restaurant took hold, the family decided to build a lodge so people could stay overnight.
In 1991, they built the Parkfield Lodge, using lots of reclaimed and repurposed material. It has 10 unique rooms and a gathering room with a rock fireplace.
“Then we kept going and repurposed the old buildings in Parkfield,” says John. “Now the old town provides comfortable lodging for our guests.”
The original 1920s Shell Water Tower is a two-story suite. The local post office, which was dragged to its location in 1906 by a team of horses, is a two-bedroom suite. The spacious Cowboy Cabin, built by John and his ranch crew, offers privacy and rustic luxury.
Bring on the Cattle Drives
One night in 1991, Jack and Zee went to town to see the movie City Slickers.
“As the family story goes, they watched as city folk ventured out to a cattle ranch for a vacation,” John says. “Driving home, they agreed. This was the next step for the V6.”
The idea: Take what they’d started in Parkfield with the cafe and lodge and begin to expand what they offered. Why not offer the ranching work and the experiences they had every day and share it with people?
John’s wife Barb created a brochure about their new cattle drives and started spreading the word.
“People came and had a great time, and it just went from there,” says John. “Then we continued to expand on what people wanted with different rides and experiences. We also knew that people with their own horses would love to come ride out on our working cattle ranch, so we built the Horse Camp to accommodate that.”
Saddle Up
“As a working cattle ranch, we have a lot of work to do and a lot of ranch land to cover,” John explains. “We love being able to share the work we’d be doing anyway with people from all over the world.”
Today, the V6 offers a range of ways to experience ranch life during the needs of each season. All V6 Ranch experiences are open to riders aged 7 and older and all skill levels. The ranch hands and wranglers at the V6 are family or friends from local ranches, so you’re in good hands. On many of the rides, you can bring your own horse.
Here’s what awaits you at the V6:
Dude Ranch Weekends: Two and a half days of riding out on the ranch, hearty meals, a massage, lodging in one of the fun Parkfield town buildings, and a chance to unplug and unwind. These are great for families and riders who may be newer to horses.
Cowboy Academy: Five-day working ranch experience where riders can improve their horsemanship and working knowledge of cattle and ranch skills, from gathering and sorting cattle to roping, ranch obstacles courses, and beautiful trail rides.
Cowboy Academy 102: Five-day, corral-based ride focused on honing roping and cattle-sorting skills, including breakaway roping live cattle in the corral, roping a mechanical steer, learning how to read a cow, alley sorting, and more.
Wrangler Ride: With coaching from the V6 Ranch crew, explore the trails and learn a wide variety of ranch skills such as gathering, sorting, roping and negotiating ranch obstacles.
Cattle Drives: For more than 30 years, the Varian family has invited guests four times a year to help gather and move cattle throughout the vast lands of the V6 Ranch. On each day of the four-day drive, riders will spend about six hours in the saddle gathering and moving cattle and then sleep under the stars.
Pack Trip: New for 2024, join the Varian family to ride and camp out for four days on the most remote and beautiful parts of the V6.
Meet the Horses
In addition to the variety of riding and experiences, another thing that’s special about the V6 is that there is no nose-to-tail trail riding.
“Our horses are ranch horses, not dude horses, because you can’t gather cattle nose to tail,” John explains. “You’ve got to spread out and be able to direct your horse wherever you need to go, and the same when you’re in the arena sorting or at a branding.”
The horses that the guests ride are the same horses that the Varian crew uses when no guests are at the ranch. The horses are experienced, savvy and can navigate the hills, rivers, and draws of the V6 with confidence.
With Quarter Horses, Paints, and Half-Arabians in their herd, it’s the horses’ cow sense, ranch work experience and intelligence, not their specific breed, that makes them great partners.
Interesting to note is that Jack Varian’s cousin was Sheila Varian, the renowned Arabian breeder, trainer, and horsewoman. In 1961, she changed history when she became the first woman to win the Reined Cow Horse Open Championship at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, and she did so on her Arabian mare, Ronteza.
Sheila came out to the V6 quite often and brought her rock-solid Arabian ranch horses to sort, brand, and gather cattle in the roughest places on the ranch. Today, the V6 has a few Half-Arabians from Sheila’s breeding program.
Getting to the V6 Ranch
“As I like to say, Parkfield is in the middle of nowhere, but it’s four hours from everything,” says John. The V6 is reachable by several airports: San Luis Obispo (SBP; 65 miles), Fresno (FAT; 110 miles), and San Jose (SJC; 175 miles). It’s also a half-day’s drive from Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Another Place and Time
If the whisper of a simpler time and the distant echo of hoofbeats is calling to you, take a trip to the V6 Ranch. Every member of the Varian family will welcome you to relax and enjoy, and the ranch horses will eagerly join you as you discover “the beautiful one.”
For more information on visiting V6 Ranch in Parkfield, Calif., visit v6ranch.com. If a ride you’re interested in is booked, add yourself to the waitlist. Last-minute cancellations often open up.
This article about the V6 Ranch appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!
