Rocking Horse Ranch

Reviews 3

BR

Brian Mirsky

We just spent a very full weekend at Rocking Horse Ranch (RHR) and I wanted to share our experience while everything was still fresh. I was GOING to rate them at "just under 5 star" but amazingly, the only 2 issues we noticed while there have both already been addressed by their truly remarkable staff. So, Ill start with my negatives from the weekend, so that if anyone reads about them from prior reviewers experiences, youll have updated info as of our trip (October 2016) Our first personal gripe was that they had a Girl Scout Halloween Dance Party that STARTED at around 11:00 PM. Were not one to deprive our girls of fun, but that is simply too late to START an activity. I happened to be having a conversation with a manager about a POSITIVE thing and mentioned this and they assured me it SHOULD have started at 10:00 aside from a scheduling issue, but also that people overwhelmingly REQUESTED this in the past. So, Ill blame insane parents, not RHR. The other issue was that the WiFi coverage is awful. They seem to have one access point total, so unless youre within 100 feet of the lobby, you get nothing. When I mentioned that to a manager, he said "Yep... were starting the new WiFi rollout Monday (tomorrow)" It has been a great concern, and over the next 6 months, they hope to cover a much wider swath of the property and increase speeds too. Now to the positives (everything else) - and Ill keep these brief if I can: The place itself: Clean (yes, even though its a horse ranch). Everything was clean and well-kept, including bathrooms, pool, etc. Its not a giant campus (like a Disney property) but its definitely spread out enough with a TON of activities. Staff: Flawless. Zero negative experiences and plenty of positives. The staff are all wearers of many hats. For example, DJ Mike is also the roving photographer, one of the scavenger hunt experts and officially "Activities Director" But the cleaning staff talk to you about your stay, everyone is just happy and friendly. And focused on you having a great time.. Rooms: Roomy and clean. Bunk beds were in ours, but the rooms definitely felt roomier than your average resort bedroom. (The TVs were fairly small though) Food: Simply amazing! Its better QUALITY than just about anywhere weve ever stayed and it is EVERYWHERE. Included with the price of the weekend was all the food you could need. Breakfast, lunch and dinner... and then throughout the day, they set up tables with cookies, muffins, jalapeno poppers, cheese & crackers, fruits & vegs, chips & dip... I had ribs for dinner one night, my wife a steak... all cooked perfectly... all 100% free of cost. GIANT dessert bar... also free. And breakfast is simply incredible. Not your typical hotel fare by any stretch. Activities: Just check their website for the weekend you are going, but the girls loved everything. Mountain tubing (snow or dry)... a nice size lake with paddle-boating and kayaks... pools with water slides... horseback riding... a ton of indoor stuff too (7 or 8 ping-pong tables, pool, a treadmill style climbing wall that moves as you climb... and almost all of it is 100% free. The only items they CHARGE for really are things like arts & crafts where there is a cost for the byproduct. So, you paint a piece of pottery, you pay for the pottery. But even that is reasonable ($5-9) and even the arcade... a room where most resorts make a fortune on you... all low key and affordable. Absolutely nothing bad to say!! We had an amazing weekend!!

DA

Dawn Pensack

Some friendly staff: Rob, Erin and Brandon at the barn were SUPER friendly and great!! However, the majority of the staff looked bored, like they couldnt be bothered. The girl working the fun barn never looked up once from her notebook and couldnt be bothered turning on the vacuum line in the playground or manning the rock wall treadmill, the lifeguards seriously need attitude adjustments and need to enforce the rules in the kiddie water park so all the kids could safely enjoy the water. The activities were scarce and not engaging and the food was sub par... On every ride I went on, there were people surrounding me who were panicking since they were literally given NO guidance on how to ride a horse. You are directed to a mounting block and told to hold the reins with one hand. Then, your horse typically heads for the water trough where you have to figure out what to do next. I will say, the horses were FANTASTIC.. well taken care of and generally happy. There are wranglers who are 250+ lbs who have never learned the basic posting trot and just pound their horses backs... I mean, if you cant master the sitting trot to make your horse comfortable, should you really be allowed in the saddle on one horse for that many hours a day?? I hope there is a chiropractor and massage therapist on staff for some of those willing, lovely horses... I was so disappointed. If you are a horse person, reconsider booking a trip here. The trails were pretty muddy and rocky and its just a basic loop. I did the advanced ride one day and felt terrible with the amount of cantering we did (totally excessive IMO)... the only trotting was the few steps in the transition... my poor horse was struggling making it up the hills and then I seriously wondered how many rides like this hed have in one day. It was also pretty comical how the "try out" for the advanced ride was just taking off down a path with ZERO trotting before hand... that was a little unsettling considering I would never ask my horse to do that without a proper warmup. How about asking us to ride for a few seconds in the ring before a ride to determine our level?? Im sure after about 15 seconds, youd be able to tell Im experienced. So, the second day I did the Intermediate ride and enjoyed it much more. I dont need to blast off thru mud and rocks to have fun. My family and I were excited to depart after lunch today. When we were checking out and asked how our stay was..."UM... OK" was a totally acceptable response. haha The customer service was pretty pathetic. We chose this place after three of my friends (who are all "horse people") recommended it... We were highly disappointed. I dont think one part of our stay met or exceeded our expectations.

AM

Amy Hemming

I find the reviews by couples and those who want gourmet food hysterical. THIS IS A FAMILY RESORT - why would couples come here? MAKES ZERO SENSE. The food is decent - not the best - certainly not the worst - their spaghetti sauce stinks and being in a location that serves many from the East Coast they should improve upon that. They do a good job and as far as portion sizes you could order 3 dinners if you were so inclined! No extra charge. The horseback riding used to be better - now go pretty much round and round in the woods - gets boring if you are there for a while. They should offer longer rides for advanced riders and take different trails, more interesting trails. It is getting monotonous circling the same trails over and over and over and over - trust me lots of people are complaining about this - when I first started going it was MUCH better - time to revamp the horseback riding - after all that is what many of us come for. Love the people at the barn but they definitely need to do something about the trails - or make the rides longer - something. The resort is beautiful and well maintained. The water-park is for kids 10 and younger in my opinion and my 13 year old was getting bored quickly last time we were there. This resort is definitely geared towards familys with young kids - teens might not be so happy here unless they are real riders and unless the resort updates the trails to make them more exciting. The teen club is not opened every night, which to my mind is ridiculous - they are the ones you need to make happy because if they do not want to go back - then the family is not going back. Period. No one wants to spend time with a sulky, annoyed teenager. They should make sure teens have activities to occupy them every single night. The food is plentiful and ok. They offer a lovely cheese, snacks and wine spread around 3:30 - 4 in the afternoon - the timing of this is silly. Many people finish eating lunch later and then familys have an early dinner seating - after 7pm there is no food to be found other than coffee cake which is always available. They should move the cheese and wine spread to 9pm when parents would enjoy sitting with a glass of wine and some cheese while the kids swim. The people that eat at 5:30 I am positive will enjoy a well thought out snack by 9pm much more than they would enjoy a 4 snack. This seems so obvious to me. I gave 3 stars because the horseback riding was so boring the last time we were there. If they make the rides more interesting and diversified again then it would warrant more stars.