Horseback Riding - Phoenix, AZ Area

We will be traveling to Phoenix in November and am interested in a 3-4 hour
trail ride. There will be 6 in the party and we all have some riding
experience. I am looking for recommendations for outfits in the Phoenix
area.

Thanks.

Newby wrote:
We will be traveling to Phoenix in November and am interested in a 3-4 hour
trail ride. There will be 6 in the party and we all have some riding
experience. I am looking for recommendations for outfits in the Phoenix
area.


These guys are just a few minutes south of the airport and take riders
into South Mountain park, a large city park ... not sure if you have to
stay at this resort to ride with them or not ...
http://www.pointesouthmtn.com/onsite_horse.htm ... you start off at a
resort and wind your way past a golf course to reach the trails, to
give you an idea of what you're in for ...

These guys are about an hour east of the airport and do rides in the
Superstition Wilderness, a much more pristine area than the city park.
http://www.dondonnelly.com/ ... this is a very scenic wilderness area
and highly recommended for hiking or riding.

I'm sure there are others up north a bit (Scottsdale, Cave Creek, etc).

Bill

Bill wrote:



These guys are just a few minutes south of the airport and take riders
into South Mountain park, a large city park ... not sure if you have to
stay at this resort to ride with them or not ...
http://www.pointesouthmtn.com/onsite_horse.htm ... you start off at a
resort and wind your way past a golf course to reach the trails, to
give you an idea of what you're in for ...

These guys are about an hour east of the airport and do rides in the
Superstition Wilderness, a much more pristine area than the city park.
http://www.dondonnelly.com/ ... this is a very scenic wilderness area
and highly recommended for hiking or riding.


Trail rides can be a disappointment for experience riders. A few years ago I was
enticed to go to a family wedding in Colorado by the thought of riding in the
rockies. I imagined how much fun it would be to go galloping across a mountain
meadow. We went to the wedding and had a good time. Then we headed up to Estes
Park for a few days, got a room in a nice hotel and made reservations to go on
the "big ride" up to the top of the mountain. The scenery was fantasic, and I
had more than enough time to absorb it because we moved at a very slow walk all
the way up and all the way down. The trail was on government property and
government regulations prohibited any gait faster than a walk. No trotting, no
cantering, no galloping.

The 6 hour ride was almost 8 hours. Apparently they get they get novices on that
ride all the time. I don't know how they could possibly manage. I was riding 3-4
times per week at the time, and after 5 hours I had had enough. Halfway down the
mountain I was ready to get off and walk. The only thing that kept me going was
the thought of the jacuzzi on the deck back at the hotel. When we finally did
get back I got out of my stinky horse clothes, put on a bathing suit and headed
for the hot tub, only to find that it had been drained that afternoon.

In a few days I am taking off for a week in the north. I will be horseback
riding through a provincial park that has established riding trails where we can
go tearing through the forest trails with jumps.