schooner valley stables

All around splendid experience. Perfect for the first time horseback rider. Went with my sister & 12 yr old niece, who have ridden a couple times before. Six year old niece's first time. After up on her own horse, she changed her mind about riding alone. The saddle was changed & she rode with Mama :) ALL of the employees were sooo eager to help and did not take matching riders with horses lightly. Luke was our guide and enjoyed his company. He went above and beyond when he helped me look for my glasses, which I lost on the trail (Yes! He did find them :) $30 an hour? Worth every penny.

You get a little history on the area along with an enjoyable ride. All the guides I have ridden with we're a lot of fun! It's nice to find a place like this that let's you walk, trot and canter. Beautiful scenery! I'll be back again.

I've been on a lot of trail rides and have no love for the usual barn that requires you to walk nose-to-tail for the whole time. It's okay if you just want a horse and nature fix, but it is not actually riding. As a relatively experienced rider, I appreciate that Schooner Valley actually allows trotting and cantering and that their horses have some character. These are still trail horses, and there's still not much steering or work involved for the rider, but the speed makes it much more fun. Add that to the friendly, fun guides (especially the owner), and it's a place I enjoy coming back to. I've gone out to Schooner Valley with people who have no riding experience, and they have been fine on these rides. The horses are sensible and know the trails well, which minimizes a lot of potential problems. However, I've got to say that what I love about this place is also what concerns me most. If I were running the stable, I would be hesitant to let novice riders go on the running ride. Of course, they probably can't trust if a visitor says they're experienced either. (Going on one nose-to-tail walking ride doesn't count as experience.) I'll therefore say this: know your limits; if you don't have much experience, just do the walk-trot ride for your first visit. I also have some safety concerns in that, like other reviewers, I've also seen smoking and drinking around the barn and on the trails. I have no problem with these things in general, but they don't belong around horses and, when coupled by the youth of a lot of the guides, doesn't make for the best decision making.Basically, I really love this place, and I want it to be around for a long time. I don't want it shut down by a lawsuit or a barn fire! If they'd be a little more strict about safety, this would be the perfect trail riding location.

I have never rode a horse.. I was placed at the end of a line with a female horse that was white with brown spots. There was only one guide at the front of the line. The guides at the barn warned about horse flies, and how they land on the back side of the horse, and to slap the flies so you keep them from biting the horses. We took off up a small incline, and immediately my horse stopped and acted up, I looked to see if there was a horse fly on her, but couldn't see any. The rest of the team rode ahead out of sight, and I was left with a horse that was bucking, twisting around in circles on a narrow trail, and I could not get the horse to do anything. She was out of control, and I pulled back on the reigns to get her to stop, but she wouldn't take off either back to the barn or follow the group. The guide yelled back to kick the horse, which I did, but she wouldn't have anything to do with going anywhere. She got more and more irritated and out of control, and I got off the horse and tumbled down a slope with sticker bushes, so was bruised/had stickers and scratches all over. The horse immediately took off down to the barn to feed. My husband told the guide at the front---hey there goes my wifes horse, and she isn't on it!! So she finally meandered back to see if I was ok. I honestly was the one who talked him into going riding, and have never been so scared in all my life. She walked me part way back to the barn, and I was met by a guy who was riding my horse. While they were very attentive and concerned, I was offered another horse or my money back. There were several people at the barn who could have rode the rear of the pack, but being at the end, I could not hear the guide, and obviously she could not hear me screaming for help. There should have been a additional guide at the end of the pack where I was, because there was maybe 6 in our party, but she did not watch to see that I was having difficulty with my horse. One of the people back at the barn say they put 3 year olds on this horse, and don't have a problem with her, and that she must have been getting bit by horse flies on her legs, which would cause her to act that way and not go anywhere but in circles semi bucking. Extremely scary experience, and I would definitely not recommend this.

Compared to other riding stables we have visited, the folks at Schooner Valley couldn't seem to get their act together, with the ride starting 45 minutes later than scheduled. Although the terrain is interesting, the ride at the nearby state park is more scenic.It was also disconcerting to watch the folks who run the stable smoking in the barn.