Horseback riding question please :)

[RellaKay]

Please don't flame me for asking this because I am sure there are other posts about it but I am at work and I don't have time to go through 57 pages to find information. Now, with that being said, I am looking for any information on horseback riding in St. Matin. Any help would be appreciated. I have tried to pull it up on the web but for some reason I can't access it. They probably have it blocked here at work. Anyway, if any one could help me I would really appreciate it. I am looking for where, how much, do they go to the beach (and in the water), any restrictions like weight and height, is it worth the money (we are on a tight budget) those sort of things.

Like I said, I am sorry to ask this again and if I had more time, I would try to go through all of the pages and I did do a search, but didn't come up with anything. Maybe it was the way I worded it.

 

Thanks and have a great day!

 

Cindy

[gtaylor]

A simple 'Search This Forum' returned 95 posts for 'horseback'.

 

 

That said, see the Bayside Riding Club and Lucky Stables websites.

 

I have done neither, but would recommend Bayside because of their location.

 

gary

[Adeena62]

We used Bayside on April 18th. It was $70 pp for a private, one hour ride. It is cheaper if you go with a group. Our guides name was Michael. He was wonderful. One of his dogs came along for the ride, as you will see in our pictures ;-) We walked along LeGallion beach and took our horses in the water. He took photos of it for us. I thought it was well worth it. It was neat. Not a lot of people can say they have swam with horses:)

Also, when we were done, we took about a four minute walk back to LeGallion Beach and swam for a while. Then walked another 10 or so to Orient Beach to catch a taxi back to the docks. The ranch is at a great location. WELL worth the money.

 

You can check out our vacation pictures online. Just click on the link and

use the following;

 

username: Koresko

password: cruise

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/members/

 

The first album is St. Martin. Just click on 'photos' and you can view them

[melsdt]

Hi Adeena62,

Thanks for the information and for sharing your photos. What a beautiful couple you two are!! I was looking to book Bayside for our June 8th sailing. How far in advance did you book them?

[Adeena62]

Hi Adeena62,

Thanks for the information and for sharing your photos. What a beautiful couple you two are!! I was looking to book Bayside for our June 8th sailing. How far in advance did you book them?

Aww, thanks! That's very nice of you to say.:)

 

I called the first part of March, so about a month and a half ahead of time. You can call anytime now. They will ask that you check in with them a half hour before your scheduled ride, and it took about a 20 minute drive from the docks to get to the ranch if I remember correctly. This time of year the island time is the same as the ships time, so that makes it easy to set up a time.

[melsdt]

Ok great. I was thinking of booking a sunset ride, since we will be there from noon to 9pm. I am excited now! Did you have to put it on a credit card in advance or anything?

[Adeena62]

Ok great. I was thinking of booking a sunset ride, since we will be there from noon to 9pm. I am excited now! Did you have to put it on a credit card in advance or anything?

 

Yes, they ask for your credit card number over the phone to hold your reservation. However, they don't charge you untill you show up, and you can opt to pay for your ride with cash at thet time if you wish. There is a small service charge if you want to pay by credit card when you get there. Instead of our cost being $140, it was $145 which was fine with us. Putting it on the card saved us from carrying around all that extra cash.

[lmerr1955]

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. My husband and I will be going to St Maarten at the end of May and have booked with Bayside (back in December). We are going to do the 2hr ride in the afternoon, we sail at 5:30pm and I have been looking for someone who has been there current.

 

I am so excited and now having seen your pics I know that we will have a wonderful time (I love to ride anyway!) and I like the idea that we might be able to swim alittle bit afterwards. We are doing a group ride, so I guess it will depend on how many are along, but from what I have seen on the boards over the past few months, riding doesn't seem to be a big draw. We snorkel all the time when we are in the Caribbean and I almost always ride somewhere!!

 

Thanks again, it really made my night!!

 

Lynne

[Adeena62]

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. My husband and I will be going to St Maarten at the end of May and have booked with Bayside (back in December). We are going to do the 2hr ride in the afternoon, we sail at 5:30pm and I have been looking for someone who has been there current.

 

I am so excited and now having seen your pics I know that we will have a wonderful time (I love to ride anyway!) and I like the idea that we might be able to swim alittle bit afterwards. We are doing a group ride, so I guess it will depend on how many are along, but from what I have seen on the boards over the past few months, riding doesn't seem to be a big draw. We snorkel all the time when we are in the Caribbean and I almost always ride somewhere!!

 

Thanks again, it really made my night!!

 

Lynne

 

You're welcome. :) Yeah, I was surprised. We got there at 10:30 and we were the only ones there. When we returned from our ride, there was just three others getting ready for another ride. I have heard people on the boards say they booked spots for a group ride, and were the only ones there. They got a private ride at a group rate. I'm surprised more people don't go horseback riding. However, I understand that the cruise sponsored excursions use a different stable. Maybe it's very popular there. I'm glad to have found Bayside though. They were great. You will love it.

[macnian]

You're welcome. :) Yeah, I was surprised. We got there at 10:30 and we were the only ones there. When we returned from our ride, there was just three others getting ready for another ride. I have heard people on the boards say they booked spots for a group ride, and were the only ones there. They got a private ride at a group rate. I'm surprised more people don't go horseback riding. However, I understand that the cruise sponsored excursions use a different stable. Maybe it's very popular there. I'm glad to have found Bayside though. They were great. You will love it.

 

 

Adeena,

 

Would you recommend the 1 hour ride or the 2 hour ride at Bayside Riding Club? Also, we are planning on going to Orient Beach afterwards. You said you could walk there from Bayside? Also, where in Orient Beach do you recommend going?

Thanks for all the help.

[JC Butterfly]

We used Bayside on April 18th. It was $70 pp for a private, one hour ride. It is cheaper if you go with a group. Our guides name was Michael. He was wonderful. One of his dogs came along for the ride, as you will see in our pictures ;-) We walked along LeGallion beach and took our horses in the water. He took photos of it for us. I thought it was well worth it. It was neat. Not a lot of people can say they have swam with horses:)

Also, when we were done, we took about a four minute walk back to LeGallion Beach and swam for a while. Then walked another 10 or so to Orient Beach to catch a taxi back to the docks. The ranch is at a great location. WELL worth the money.

 

You can check out our vacation pictures online. Just click on the link and

use the following;

 

username: Koresko

password: cruise

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/members/

 

The first album is St. Martin. Just click on 'photos' and you can view them

 

Thanks for sharing your photos, those were great!

 

So, it sounds like the walk to Orient Beach afterwards was about 15 minutes away? Was it fairly clear where to go? Paved roads or off road?

 

Also, did you notice the Butterfly Farm at all? I thought that was supposed to be close by.

 

And, do you recall what the taxi fare was to get there? Did you just pay one way from each location? (since you left from Orient Beach)