Liz D.
Yelp
Do not book horseback here
I hoped for the best but should have trusted my gut and the reviews. Absolutely terrible customer service it's one of those places where you feel like the wranglers treat you like you're a dumb dumb.
I scheduled a private ride three weeks in advance of my trip to Jackson hole. A private ride for three people was over $1000. This was for two hour experience. I mentioned that my sister and I were avid riders and knew what we were doing, and that my brother was somewhat of a beginner. None of this was taken into account. We were asked to be ready to go promptly 25 minutes before our scheduled ride. This was stated in a number of email communications, including payment requirements, confirmations and waivers. We arrived to the beautiful ranch at 12 o'clock for our 12:30 ride. We checked in the fee was processed. I was told gratuities were included, and that was it. There was no mention of anything else there were helmets on the wall, but no one asked if I wanted one.
We left the office, went outside and there were about 24 people waiting. A Wrangler shouted across the pasture, asking if we were here for a private ride and I said yes, she said wait underneath the tree.
As it approached 1230 they were still putting groups together on Horses one by one. There was no communication around this. I just watched the process and assumed that's what was going on. They asked another private ride of four people to step forward, and after that another group ride which took painfully long as they got each person onto their horse.
During this entire process, not a single person came over to us and explained anything that was happening. At this point, I cannot get my money back and we had already scheduled our day around this so I just stayed quiet and sucked it up.
We did not get on our horse until 1:15 PM did not begin our ride until 1:30... 90 minutes later. I basically had to cancel our afternoon plans.
The wrangler who took us out was very sweet, but that's about it. My horse had a very uncomfortable gait going down the mountain, and I mentioned it to our guide. She told me that the horse was an Amish cart horse and actually validated my response that he was uncomfortable to ride . I'm thinking to myself why on earth would they put someone on this kind of a horse for a two hour ride! As I shared, I am an avid rider and this was painfully uncomfortable.
My brother who is a beginner was on a horse that liked to go into the trees. That was a whole other situation that was unsafe and could have been avoided.
I received an email asking for feedback. I gave them my honest feedback and suggested that they let people know in advance if they're going to have an influx of Group rides I know I could've certainly shown up early or even later. I expressed my disappointment, especially given the fact that there was so much communication prior to the experience. I did not expect to wait 90 minutes. The response was something like they need to take their group rides out first to space things apart, basically invalidating everything I shared.
The ride itself was absolutely beautiful breathtaking with regard to the mountains and the views . That's what you're paying for and if you're good with that, and don't mind feeling like a number and waiting around then go for it!
I would highly suggest taking a drive a little bit further maybe another 15 minutes outside of Jackson towards Teton Village and go to the snake River Ranch! We had a wonderful experience there. It's not in the mountains but equally as gorgeous and the wranglers (guides)are so lovely, personable and interested!