I have ridden horses for years so of course on my honeymoon I thought it would be awesome to ride down to the beach! I was a little concerned when we first arrived at the ranch (definitely a ranch...not a posh stable for pampered show horses) but after going over our safety information with the guide I was really looking forward to it. I had only ever ridden English (hunter/jumpers) and I've only ridden Western a handful of times but I found it easy to convert! My husband had never ridden before so I was a little concerned about him but he did great! The horses were not malnourished as I read in a previous review...as I said before, they're not as plump and muscled as a show horse but I certainly didn't see any ribs sticking out. Some of these horses are a little long in the tooth too so it's not unusual to see some bony hips and swaybacks!!! I will agree that this is probably not a great ride for someone apprehensive or easily scared of horses acting like horses. These are NOT bomb proof plugs...you DO need to know how to take control of your horse. The first thing I did when I got on Mr. Cool (awesome name by the way) was to go over some simple commands to make sure I knew what I was doing and also to get him in the mode of listening to my commands BEFORE we got on the trail. I read in some reviews that people were frustrated about their horse nipping or kicking at another horse or stopping to eat or being a jerk sometimes...guess what? That's what horses do! I owned my own horse a few years back and went to many shows and on many trail rides and I can tell you that that's a horse being a horse...they're not all perfect...they ALL have quirks. The horses DO like to roll too. One woman's horse rolled with her on it when we were all saddling up in the corral. She was fine though and was a trooper and got right back one but this caused another rider to hyperventilate and ask to get off immediately. She wound up accompanying us but only on the condition that the guide lead here the whole way.
I would recommend that you bring a change of clothes if possible and a towel, especially if you're considering swimming with the horses. The other thing I would recommend; WEAR LONG PANTS and running shoes or boots. I knew we would just be walking pretty much so I thought it would be good to wear shorts because of the heat. I incurred literally 100 mosquito bites (I went in October too...not even in the summer). They sell bug spray at the gift shop but it's EXPENSIVE and from what those who bought it said, it doesn't work at all anyway. Save yourself 3 days worth of itching and a ton of attractive bug bites on your legs and wear jeans. You'll be hotter but much happier in the end!!! Wear shoes and boots of course as it is VERY UNSAFE to ride in shoes that can flop right off your feet.
All in all we had a good time. The guide, Fernando, was awesome and the other guides were very helpful too. Be sure to bring a few singles to tip though (we made the mistake of coming up short in that department). The snack they serve when you get back, although a simple snack of beans, rice and a fried quesadilla, is DELICIOUS and really hits the spot:)
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