Horseback riding on HMC?

[Toad]

Anyone gone horseback riding on HMC? Where do they do this? I hope not on the same beach everyone relaxes on!!!! How long was the ride? How much was it? Thanks

[the2ofus]

Toad, the HAL website excursions heading has a detailed description, including the cost, which I believe is $69. It is in an area separate from the beach area. I will be sailing on the Westerdam on 12/12 and will report on the HMC horseback riding when I return.

I am a novice, having never even been on a horse, except once on a farm horse when I was about 5 years old. My experience will be vastly different from that of someone who is a skilled rider. Maybe someone else will also report so you get a balanced review.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I would definitely like to hear more about the horseback riding. I have rodes horses but it has been well over 30 years so I would say I am not experienced at all.

[Whiskeyman]

I have ridin horses in the past, not alot mind you, and I too was wondering about this for me and the wife,
It's not so much the riding that bothers me but the getting on and off....You can stop laughing now...Thank You :o
Looking forward to hearing about it!!!

[Toad]

I hear you re: the off and on! Even tho my husband and I are in our 40's- 50's when we went a few years ago in Isla d Margarite we were both pretty stiff on the return! He had NEVER ridden before and explained this to our hosts, who managed to find him a horse that was beyond DOCILE! It is a good thing that I was riding behind him and that my horse, named Dumbo , would bite his in the behind every few feet just to keep him going! I therefore think that the cruise line expects inexperienced as well as experienced riders. I really would love to hear about the HMC excursion and to get some opinions from others who may have experience the ride or at least heard something about it. Thanks again. Toad.... who is waiting to turn into a princess again in FEBRUARY!

[CaptData]

I'm 50ish. I am interested as I booked this. I, too have only been on a carnival ride horse (pony) when I was a small child. I have the 11:00 time booked which will get me on the first tender.

[iowacruiser]

I think it's safe to assume that the stable on HMC has no Smarty Jones or Seattle Slews.
Most of these type of riding outfits have older, well broke, and someone lazy plodders in the stable (which is best anyway).
The excursion description indicates there will be some surf riding, based on the type of saddle they describe.
My wife and the other woman in our foursome are planning to take this excursion when we visit there on the Jan 2nd Oosterdam sailing. I'll report back when we return.

[Fit Heart]

Weather permitting, I will be on HMC on Sunday, December 5, and I have booked a cabana and the horseback riding excursion. I'm anxious to see how it goes. I'm a fairly experienced rider, but have never ridden on the beach or in the water. The excursion is for riders of any level of riding ability which is good. It sounds like a great experience. I'll keep you all posted.

[sail7seas]

:eek: I have this horrid image of these horses "soiling" that beautiful beach and water's edge. I must admit it is making me just a bit sick!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

I also hope that they don't let the horses take over the beach area and ruin it.

[Whiskeyman]

I'm thinkin Big Pooper scooper, I'm sure there not going to let the "Stuff" lie around the beach and ruin it. I'm sure that it'll be someones job to take care of the"Stuff"... And they say I get all the fun jobs......

[Orcrone]

I'm thinkin Big Pooper scooper, I'm sure there not going to let the "Stuff" lie around the beach and ruin it. I'm sure that it'll be someones job to take care of the"Stuff"... And they say I get all the fun jobs......Brings a different image when someone says they "follow the horses".:eek:

[the2ofus]

From one of the pictures on the HAL website, I get the idea that there may be some kind of platform or step arrangement that will make mount and dismount easier. I sure hope so, otherwise I may win the prize for the least graceful rider ever seen.

I definitely get the idea that the horseback riding activities take place in an area at some distance from the bathing beach.

[Toad]

Sure hope that someone gives this a shot before February so i can get a full report ...."Straight from the horse's mouth!"

[MandyGirl]

When visiting HMC on Nov 21, my husband and I walked to the far end of the beach (where the rocks are and debris that I guess is still not cleaned up from the hurricane - so that was interesting to see). While on our walk, we stopped to watch the horses as they loaded up for their "swim" and also visited with the gentleman working there while the riders were in the ocean.

After you pass the last three cabanas and pass the white sign that says something like "no more chairs past this point", you continue walking. It is about half the distance from the last cabana to the end of the beach where the rocks start. You can see the tops of the stables to the right, the roped off path leading to the beach, and a little platform to help guests climb aboard the horses. And yes, your nose lets you know when you get a little closer, but it wasn't bad at all. We certainly could not smell them from our clamshell - which was in the last group of clamshells by the last three cabanas. Also, there was no evidence on the beach of horses - so they are definitely cleaned-up after.

We understood from our discussion and observation that the ride on land was first, and then they switch to a different horse (or change to the blue saddle) for the swim part. The workers rode bareback. We took a picture of this since we had never seen horses in the ocean before (I know... I'm weird). I am currently uploading our pics (scanning in watercamera pics) and have uploaded this picture to our homepage should anyone be interested in what we saw that morning (homepage found in profile, click on cruises page, go near bottom, you can click on the picture to enlarge it). We noticed that the horses never got any deeper than about where they are at in the picture, and a guide or two was always around. We watched the water part for about five minutes while the horses went towards the rocky end of the beach and back a couple times - but they really didn't go all that far from our perception. One lady reiterated multiple times that she didn't know how to swim, but watching from the beach, I do not believe you have to know how to swim unless you fall off, and even then you have an idea of how deep the water is based on the horse's height. However, passengers were wearing a yellow ring around their waist (floatation device).

The gentleman shared with us that they and the horses come from Jamaica. They have two ranches there with several hundred horses (Montego Bay and Ocho Rios). They were flown to a nearby island in October, and then transported by barge that took about 6-7 hours. The horse handlers live on HMC to care for the horses as opposed to the people that live on a different nearby island (and we enjoyed visiting with one of them who was working the sailboats).

Hopefully this helps give a little insight from an observer's perspective based on one experience seeing them on Nov 21. :)

[spcl4cs_gal]

Thanks for this update on the horses at HMC. I have booked that excursion for March but haven't been on a horse in years so it will be interesting.

Loved your pictures with the dolphins in Nassau...think I might book that one as well. :)

[MandyGirl]

spcl4cs_gal - The dolphins were great! I did the "swim" versus the "encounter". HAL did not provide the swim in Nassau (only the encounter) so I booked directly. Curt was booked as an observer for $20, so he was able to take over 100 pics. We still bought a couple as well. I'm still in the process of uploading pics from the water camera (St John and the Baths)... but the website on my webpage is what I booked Nassau dolphins through.

BTW - if things go right, we hope to catch a Dave Matthews concert in Toronto this year (waiting on the schedule to come out!). :) Only been as far as the Falls area so looking forward to seeing Toronto!

[karbar]

We just returned from a B2B on the Zuiderdam and did the Horseback Riding on HMC.
Everybody meets at the excursion booth in the shopping area. they take you by open air bus to the
riding site. It is about a 5 minute ride there. It is just down the beach from where the last cabana stands.
The horses are from Jamaica and are in tip top shape. You'll start your ride in the ring so everybody can get used to the hoses.
Then you take off for a short ride to 60 feet above sea level for a nice view of the island..Take you camera!
Now for the best part, you will return back to the ring and they will remove the saddles and put the blue pads on and lead you
to the beach. You will have time for a quick drink(sodas provided by them) and then put on a swim belt.
They will have stairs to get up on the horses on the beach and if you have enough people in your group they make two trips.
The guides are wonderful and will be glad to take pictures. We did give them tips as the deserved it!
Then it's off cantering in the water up to your waist. It's 30 degrees outside and I feel the warmth of the HMC sun as I am writing this !
Believe me it doesn't matter if you have allot of experience on absolutely none this excursion is for everyone.
We did walk back. After all the good food onboard I felt this was the right thing to do!
Enjoy

:)

[Toad]

Mandy Girl:
Thanks for all of your information! It certainly makes the experience a lot clearer!

[spcl4cs_gal]

spcl4cs_gal - The dolphins were great! I did the "swim" versus the "encounter". HAL did not provide the swim in Nassau (only the encounter) so I booked directly. Curt was booked as an observer for $20, so he was able to take over 100 pics. We still bought a couple as well. I'm still in the process of uploading pics from the water camera (St John and the Baths)... but the website on my webpage is what I booked Nassau dolphins through.

BTW - if things go right, we hope to catch a Dave Matthews concert in Toronto this year (waiting on the schedule to come out!). :) Only been as far as the Falls area so looking forward to seeing Toronto!

Thanks again for this information. I notice that booking direct will cost a bit more than HAL's excursion so it's something to think about.

Have a great time in TO! Hopefully Dave will be here in the summer so you will have nice weather. :)

[MandyGirl]

Yes - it can be confusing - HAL offered the encounter versus the swim for our week - but they are both to the same Blue Lagoon on the same ferry.
We did the swim ($165) and the encounter when booked directly is $85.
http://www.dolphinencounters.com/program.html (http://www.dolphinencounters.com/program.html)
HAL offered only the encounter and not the swim during our week, and I definitely wanted the swim. The platforms for the encounter are right where the ferry drops you off, and the platforms for the swim are behind the building on the other side. I was the only cruise passenger on my platform for the swim.
I think that HAL offers something with dolphins for Tortola, but we had other plans for that day (catamaran day sail to the Baths and other BVI) so we saved the dolphins for Nassau.:)

[bkreader]

Karbar - At last we hear from someone who's actually done it! Thanks for sharing your experience. Were you sore the next day? - Jane (wondering if we go riding one day, will I be able to walk around in Nassau the next?) :D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

karbar, Thanks for telling us about it. I also want to know if you were sore the next day. We will be at HMC our very first day and don't want to feel terrible the whole week. I have not been on a horse in about 35 years but would love to do this.

[karbar]

I was just sore the next morning...(inner thighs!)
I had not been riding in two years.

Guess the spa could help out with that :)

[super_grover]

I would recomend some stretching if you arent normally a supple kind of person. The inner thighs are the area with the highest potential for soreness from riding. Make sure to stretch them out the morning of and hit the hot tub a few yours after. Preferably with a drink in hand ;)

[Toad]

Karbar:
Great review. How long was the whole experience? Can you ride bareback if you prefer?

[karbar]

Toad...
'bout 1 1/2 hours...due to rules & regs. I don't think you could with the tour...
I don't know if you could do anything on a private basis or not, might be worth a try as these horses are in great shape.
Have fun ! :p

[Toad]

Can't wait! Thanks.

[AnneBrand]

Thank you so much for the GREAT review! I was a little hesitant at first when I booked this excursion (my daughter is the one who talked me into it) but now I am so excited. I am starting to pack for my 1/4 cruise and get organized and was wondering do you have to wear closed toe shoes or can you just wear walking sandals? I wasn't really planning on bringing my tennis shoes if I didn't need to.

Thanks for the info and thanks again for the review.

Anne

[steelcity5044]

I think the informaton under the excursion says you need jeans and tennis shoes, no shorts and sandals. And to wear your bathing suit underneath. Do you wear your clothes and shoes into the ocean, or strip down to your suit for water part?

[karbar]

strip down & ride in! :)

[TLA]

We were at HMC last Friday and walked past the horses as they were getting ready to enter the water. As we walked by, one horse did indeed "go" on the beach (at water's edge) so I would recommend not swimming near where the horses go in. Fish poop I can handle, horse not so much.

[Mark1513]

No memtion of a helmet. What about riding boots? No mention indicates the high probability "follow the leader" horses. There is no mention in the description of the type of horse.

[stefhef]

Do they have a minimum age requirement for the horseback excursion?