Bronx Equestrian Center

STAY AWAY!!! Dangerous!!!
I still can’t get over the horrible experience me and my friend just had this afternoon with a Hispanic guy called Pablo who was supposed to be our guide
I have ridden horses a few times in the past, but for my girl friend it was her first and last time.
After getting there an old guy with white hair accepted us telling us to wait 30 mints before we can start. Of course we paid right away then this Hispanic guy name PABLO who can barely speak English started yelling at my friend to get on the horse. He didn’t ask us about previous experience or preferences and said nothing about safety. That’s was shady
My friend got really scared and asked to leave he told her no refunds! I calmed her down and we went on the ride.
Pablo kept riding his horse really fast in front of us yelling at us and making fun of us because we got scared. At one point my horse saw a dog and got crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I was scared to death Pablo didn’t stop didn’t do anything as my horrified friend was being pulled behind him. I got of the horse he left me behind, took my friend who was begging him to stop he said he can’t and that I will catch up. They left me behind, walking 2 miles alone. And my poor friend was being dragged by this PSYCHOPATH I have no other way to describe this poor short guy. He made fun of us and I feel like this place is not even legit it’s dangerous r and I’m gonna complaint to Bbb .
Horrible and dangerous stay away if you care about your safety not to mention little kids.

I waited a while before writing this review.
While the price was great and the experience was one my girls will never forget, this business has a few issues that are so bad I have to knock off three stars.
When we first arrived (a party of five) the woman in charge was on the telephone and did not even acknowledge us. After a while my 8 year old wanted to buy a water so walked towards the vending machines in the waiting area right outside the dressing rooms. While putting money in the vending machine she came out and very oboxiously «asked» «Can I HELP you!!!» She did not have time for us when we came but she was able to get away from the telephone when a kid and her dad dared go use the vending machine.
It took an hour for us to be taken care of. Not like there were many people there. But that call must have been really important.
The only other issue I had was that the horses were very agitated. After waiting an hour I knew why– the flies were biting nice chunks out of my legs. When they finally brought the horses they were clearly in distress from being bitten. I don’t know much about horses and whether or not this is normal in a barn/​stable. But it certainly made it unpleasant. We had Off in the car and that did not keep the biting flies away.
Anyway, if they got their management some management/​people skills training and ensured that customers were made to feel welcome we would probably be a regular fixture at their place. While we will probably go back, it will end up being a once a year thing instead of once a month. Unless they have so much business that they don’t care.

We had a great visit on a weekday afternoon. I took my two young sons to the Center for pony rides. As we’d heard, the $ 5 pony ride entails three times around the paddock. But then an extremely nice man, Michael, took us for a peak in the stables which was a whole new world for my big-​city kids. He showed the boys how to clean the horse’s hooves, introduced us to the farrier who give the horses their pedicures and new shoes, and let his own horse, who went let out on his own, did a fancy theatrical routine. This was all mind boggling for my children who were so excited. We were treated very well and plan to return soon. The stables are very accessible in the summertime via the Bx12 bus.

I had a great time there. Just one thing. If you sign up for the trail riding which is 35 bucks, it doesn’t come with any instructions. So just look up how to control a horse before heading out there. But don’t worry these are trained horses and they always follow the guide horse. Four star because of lack of instruction.

My bf suprised me with horse back riding here. I haven’t been on a horse in years which made me excited and nervous. I was a very good riding as a kid. My love for horses is very strong. I liked the horse they gave me for the trial at first but I realized that the horse isn’t as well trianed. I first thought it was me for not having riding in a few years but I realized the horse listened to me only when she felt like it and that’s very dangerous especially when you are riding in a group. The people working there really didn’t prep us much what so ever. This made me want to get a refresher course maybe somewhere else so I can understand maybe why the horse snapped her neck every single time I signaled her to run as if she was trying to bite my foot to tell me to leave her alone. She would run sometimes and other times I would fall behind from the trial. I felt like she was old or tired. She would constintly feed while we were riding. Pull her head up made her stop. Other then thag I had a great time riding reguardless I adjusted to the situation of my horse. I would ride here again but I would deff ask for a better horse next time.

We had a great experience… went on Memorial Day not too busy. The tour was small my husband, 9 year old daughter, myself and two other women. The tour guide was friendly and the staff was also very friendly and informative. The horses looked well kept not like the city horse and carriage horses. Will definitely go back

Filthy!!! The horses are kept in their saddles from morning until night. When not on a trail, they are put into their 5×6 cinder block cubicle with their face staring into the cinder block wall. After the horses return from a ride, they aren’t unsaddled and hosed down, they are sent back out for the next group. These poor horses are filthy, old, missing teeth, etc. the saddles are worn out, the tack is filthy. someone is going to get seriously hurt on these horses. These people obviously don’t care about these horses only looking to make a buck. This place should be closed down and these horses should be placed where there is at least grass!!! Very sad and depressing for these animals. True horse people should NEVER patronize this place.

I visited the Equestrian Center last weekend. I arrived in the morning around 10 AM, so the place wasn’t too terribly busy yet, but the weather was beautiful and they were expecting large groups later in the day. Definitely recommend calling ahead or arriving before noon.
Staff is friendly, and Susie in the office was amazing. I was kindly asked to wait for maybe 20 minutes for more people to show up and horses to be saddled. The barn was clean and well managed, and the horses seemed very healthy and well-​cared-​for. If you don’t know what you’re doing on a horse – ASK. They’re not going to tell you much – mostly they give you the reins and tell you how to steer and stop – but that’s really what you need to know. Please remember that you’re on and around a 1000-​lb animal, and animals are unpredictable. It is going to move. It might even move fast. The tour group I went out with had never been on horses before in their lives, and they were terrified.
I rode Ghost, who was a bit feisty but a very good, sure-​footed ride for my first time back in the saddle in a few years. All the horses in my group were nice animals for beginners. The ride was a good length, a true hour, and the guide kept an eye on us to make sure no one fell behind. One of the girls got very uncomfortable about handling her horse when we started out, so he attached a lead rope and kept her close behind him the whole time so she felt more at ease.
This center is a no-​nonsense environment but a great place to ride. If you’re looking to be coddled by a people-​pleasing staff and put on a sleepy, gentle pony, this is not the place. The staff caters first to their horses and second to people who can handle themselves in the barn – as they should.

Kool place, nice people, price was good, I loved the long trails and helpers were good getting me familiar with the horse. Ive been here on few occassion over last 7 – 8 years.

Had a great experience. Never thought I would go horse back riding in the city. It was a fair price. It was more than I expected.

Went to go horseback riding for one hour at $ 30. Fair price but not the best experience. Staff wasn’t kind or helpful. Tour guide was texting the entire time and even used the F word when telling us to kick the horses to get them to go forward more. The trail was decent but I would not recommend to a friend.

My husband and I brought our kids here today to ride the ponies. The kids really enjoyed it and the prices were great — but I have to say that I was APPALLED by the way the gentleman that runs it was talking to his employees. He was screaming and cursing at them, calling them bad names and totally demeaning them in front of parents and kids. I felt SO uncomfortable the entire time I was there and felt so bad for the employees. No matter what the situation — no one should ever be spoken to like that and most of all this man needs to show some respect for the customers that are there listening to this. I refuse to ever come back here and will make sure to let all my friends in the area with kids know that this place is a disgrace!

$ 30 for a one hour trail ride. A different/​novel experience in the city.
This is a really great place to come for beginners — as in, someone who’s never been on a horse before. On the day I came (July 4^th weekend), there were 5 people on my ride — a couple, two friends, and me.
I rode a bit when I was younger, and of course my horse was slow. Some horses are leaders and some are followers (literally! they stay in the same order on the rides), and I got the worst follower. –_​– When I come again, I will bring a friend and specifically ask for a faster-​paced tour.
The trail is nice — wooded, but not so much that it’s scary. Might want to wear bug spray though.
My explanation of four stars:
You don’t get anything resembling a «lesson.» They just put you on the horse, hand you the reins, and say, «don’t drop these.» They don’t explain how to make the horse go faster or slower, or what happens when your horse completely stops on the trail to start eating trees. Also, my guide kept rushing us, and seemed annoyed at the last people in the group for not keeping up. (But the horses were stopping, and no one told the poor girls what to do about that.)
Those two details would have docked BEC down to 3 stars. However, it’s accessible horseback riding in NYC, and that’s worth an extra star. This really is a city where you can have it all! Coming up here and making a stop before heading to City Island /​Orchard Beach is a different way to spend your day in NYC, and I do plan to return. So back to 4 stars it is.
TIPS:
— Accessible by the 6 train — take it to Pelham Bay Park, the end of the line
— Then you take the BX12 or BX29 bus toward City Island or Orchard Beach. Your stop is the first one, so pull the cord as soon as the bus starts moving (or else you’ll miss the stop, like me, and have to walk half a mile back up the street!)
— They are open and riding pretty much every single day. But call in advance just in case.
— You have to sign a waiver to ride
— $ 30 is cash only, and try to bring exact change in case they don’t have $ 10s
— You can wear what you want (the workers won’t stop you), but pants and close-​toed shoes are best. A girl on my ride lost a flip flop. And rubbing thighs on a saddle isn’t the best way to spend a Saturday.

I rented a horse from this place for this past weekend (May 10^th) for my Aunts 45^th Cowboy/​Girl Western Theme Birthday. I didn’t think it was possible to rent a horse, but the price was good and the arrangements were made easily with Michael (i believe he is the person in charge)
On Saturday, the horse was rented for 7pm, Mark who was the person who brought the horse on a trailer from the BX to Westchester was a great guy… he had me take charge and let him know how I wanted to do the entrance with my aunt ON the horse for her party and to surprise the guests. It went well, all the guests were surprised, they loved it. It was a party of a little over 60 ppl and ALL of the guests including myself got to get on the horse for pictures. My uncle even made a performance and sang for my aunt while riding the horse lol it was great!
The only reason I am giving 4 stars and not five was because there is nothing that grinds my gears than someone speaking to me in a tone thats not asked of. I called the center Saturday just to confirm as any customer would do just to make sure everything is set and ready to go for later on at 7pm and whomever I spoke to not sure if it was Michael or not was so nasty on the phone, and had a very smart mouth. All i called for was a simple request, to just confirm.
Otherwise, it was definitely a great experience I would definitely not mind renting a horse from here again because it was definitely a smooth process once the horse got there.
Thanks Mark, you were GREAT!

Holy FUCK this place is horrific. I deserved the punishment because I DID read all of the nasty Unilocal reviews yet STILL went. Why? Because it was the closest and cheapest place to ride horses around NYC.
And THAT my friend, is exactly why the customer service is so bad. They have the market cornered to the point where they just do not give a flying fuck about you.
$ 30 per hour to ride the trail. but what they do not mention on their web site is:
You wait about 45 minutes for the «5 people minimum» before your trail guide takes you out. So if you and a friend come, you have to wait ages until 3 more people show up. They want to earn as much as possible for each «tour».
The older white haired PRICK (wears glasses) who clearly runs the place will waste no time intimidating you and your friend (s) from the moment you arrive at this mirage/​charade.
He will TELL you to leave your back pack (I have a puny back pack) in the car, leave your keys with him, put your cell phone away, no pictures, etc. Then if you ask «how long will it be before we get to ride?» he will snap at you «you haven’t been waiting THAT long!». In short, he is a grumpy DICK.
No smiles, no welcomes, no tips or instructions, they just take your CASH («cash only!!») and treat you like the stranger that you are.
They hire Mexicans to do all of their dirty work (clean stables, brush and feed horses, saddle them up, and even guide you through the «trail».
The white haired prick will announce/​snap «SINGLE FILE PEOPLE!!»
and even though you THINK you will get to ride next to or even near your friend/​date, you won’t.
You slink along, snails pace, single file, behind the Spanish speaking trail guide who spends most of his time TEXTING on his cell phone instead of smiling, helping etc.
One of the riders was busy SMOKING on her horse, which gave us all a unpleasant wiff of her cancer stick. I asked her «you’re smoking out here?» and she turned her pudgy self around, in her broken English and yelled «yo got a problem wit dat???» and threw her cig onto the dried leaves on the ground.
The trail guide (also Spanish speaking) said «it’s ok, it’s ok» and we all looked on in horror (forest fire much?)
Note: Out of the 7 people, 3 were Spanish speaking (one being the tour guide) and they all yelled back and forth at each other during the ride, and ignored us.
The trail has SOME lovely scenery but the golf courses on the right and the high rise buildings, high speed trains and the sound of the highway are slightly distracting. I tried to reach a happy place and enjoy the fresh air, in between the smokers cigs and just enjoy.
It was boring and too long– the fact you HAVE to walk single file behind the miserable trail guide kind of makes you feel like you’re a soldier going to war.
The staff at the stable is just as rude as all of the other reviews said they were.
If you don’t believe me, go have a look yourself. They do NOT give a SHIT about their customers.
Bathroom is disgusting by the way, bring hand sanitizer and if you want to take pictures, don’t like Donahue see you!
Such a pity, this place COULD be Heaven but they make it HELL.
They should let the riders ride side by side so they can chat to each other, smile at each other and enjoy this together. But they isolate you and make you feel like it’s a tedious task that annoys the piss out of them.
Also, you have to cross a VERY busy street– and they guide does not get off and stop traffic– you’re pretty much on your own crossing over this one stretch of what appears to be a highway. Holy fuck that was scary!
Even the Horses seems bored as hell. They also seemed really hungry; as they were grazing on every bush they could on the trail.
Best part was the free roaming pet Turkey. He was chasing the horses around in their corrals. He ROCKED. The pet Cat who was busy licking his balls when we arrived was still at it when we left, so at least HE is tidy.

My first time riding a horse. We went with a large group. Good time overall, but the staff was EXTREMELY rude. not much patience for nervous people.
Rushed us to get on the horse, talked disrespectful and kept reminding us that they have people to help after us.
Overall for my 1^st time it was good. The horses were mild and the trail was easy.
Just wish our money was spent in a place that had better customer service.

I went to the Bronx Equestrian Center yesterday with 2 friends.
We used public transit to get there: took the 6 train to the Pelham Bay Park stop (the end of the line). Then we took the Bx29 bus towards City Island. Our bus driver was less than helpful so we missed the stop the first time around (it’s the very first stop on and you probably have to request the stop if the driver doesn’t know where the horse barn is). But once you get off at the correct stop, the barn is just across the main street.
Once we got there, we had to wait for a few minutes for someone who works there, but once they found us it was a very quick setup. They didn’t give any instructions or tips, which I would have liked to hear a little of, being a novice rider… But we were on our way quickly, which was nice.
The ride itself was lovely. Lush forest and some wetland looking areas. The horses were pretty well behaved overall. We got BamBam, Sugar, and Mavis (or Davis?). Mine kept stopping to try to eat, but responded pretty well to me pulling the reins. It wasn’t a big problem. The only other downside was that the trail was really dusty in a few places, but that happens… the dust didn’t last too long.
Overall, a nice trail ride at a good price ($ 30 cash per person for a 1 hour trail ride, then we each tipped our guide $ 5). And it’s an outdoorsy activity that’s accessible through public transit! A big plus for me.

Not sure why there is bad reviews. It really a lovely place. My guide was Susie. Susie was very sweet guide and super awesome cowgirl 80’s chick (Well that what she kinda remind me of what she was wearing.), I can’t wait to go back again! The park is so big and beautiful. Enjoy the ride! You really should go here (Best to go early.) I sure will come again when I got the time, I want to have some western lessons with Miss Susie! :)

Went on a 2 hour lesson trail ride with 2 different guides who each had their own way of riding Western (to each their own, I suppose). Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a ride — mostly walks on park trails with some trots here and there — I was really looking to canter but in hindsight, there probably wasn’t enough trail space to do so.
I understand some horse people can come off as inadvertently rude and stand off-​ish, but was expecting a little more hospitality from a place that runs a business. One of my guides, Martyne, actually turned out to be pleasantly forthcoming about his horse knowledge once we were out on trail. Orville, the other guide, was a bit short tempered and heavy handed with words if you’re used to that type of personality.
Didn’t go inside, but stables smelled worst than most horse places I’ve been too but that might be due to having a stable in such close proximity to a city. Feel bad for the horses who have to live out near roads/​cars rather than out in the wide open country. Also, It may just be me, but didn’t understand why the head collars were left on during the rides and why they weren’t taken off those horses that were in turn out.
I’ve come to the conclusion that if you are in pursuit of good riding, then you need to push up north or simply travel out to open country. There’s just not enough space in NYC for quality horseback riding!

I really wanted to like this place (and I realize that’s a ‘yelp’ cliché). I went with my 8 year old in a group of 5 kids/​5 adults for a birthday ride organized by another parent. The kids only barely made the minimum height requirement (apparently 54″) but the horses are absolutely NOT suitable for young, inexperienced riders. I’m giving the place one extra star because I believe that none of us should have been there in the first place. I am an experienced rider, and I found my horse to be VERY skittish and difficult to handle. At one point, as we passed a parking lot and a car drove past, my horse, and the horse in front, reared up and seemed to be ready to bolt — a less experienced rider would have fallen, for sure. My friend (also an experienced rider) and I managed to control them, but they seemed ready to freak out at any second.
The stable hands were very careful to ask who had riding experience, because I think they know that there are some horses who are NOT ok for young riders. However, the children were seriously alarmed by seeing their parents on skittish horses. Also, one of the children’s horses needed to be on the leading rein, since it began to canter at any opportunity and the kid lost their helmet as they were desperately holding on. In addition, there is a point in the trail where the whole trek group must cross a road — which is the exit from the Hutchinson River Parkway. Our kids are only just learning to cross the road themselves, let alone on horseback. My kid was terrified the whole time.
I found the premises to be ok, but the condition and temperament of the horses is for adults only. I began to wonder if these were ex-​carraige horses from Central Park, or something. Be aware before you ride, that’s all.