Three Oaks Stables

My family and I visited St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island recently and we always try to do something extra fun or adventurous on vacation so clearly horseback riding on the beach was an obvious choice. I found a brochure for Three Oaks horseback riding at the St. Simons welcome center and the prices weren’t unreasonable based off of other locations offering horseback riding on the beach so we went with them.
Our experience was wonderful! Heather was our guide and she was very friendly and was a pleasure to talk with as we rode along the beach. Now I am very familiar with riding horses so I was given a sweet mare, named Spirit, to ride and I never had an issue with her. My brother had only ever ridden once and so he was placed with another mare, named Sushi, who is a slower moving horse but that’s what’s best for any beginner or inexperienced rider. And yes, my brother was placed at the end of the line but that’s because Sushi doesn’t like other horses behind her so this made perfect sense. Heather was very good about making sure we were both comfortable and everything was going ok for my brother and his horse since he was less experienced.
We paid for a 1.5 hour public tour but since it was only us that booked that particular day and time, it basically turned into a private tour with just us and our guide! Heather even stopped the ride at the perfect location on Driftwood Beach so she could take a few pics with my phone for us to remember this great experience! We really were very pleased with the service and overall experience! Despite what other reviews may say, I would recommend this company again.

We did a 5:30pm ride for one hour on April 7, 2015. I wished I had read reviews before we jumped into this adventure. Several bad experiences but one was the most terrifying of my life. First of all the video you watch upon check in seemed to be a waste because it sets up certain expectations of the guides that did not happen. My 5 year was put on a very tall horse, 5 back from the guide. The video said if she was unable to control her horse a guide rope would be attached. she didn’t know how to ride a horse so we thought great, we’re comfortable with that.
As we were mounting up the other guide placed us in a specific order. I know now it’s because the horses do not get along. After the guide got us all mounted she realized she forgot a rider whose party was at the head of the line but she put her on a horse that had to be positioned between myself and my daughter. We begin the ride and my horse is lagging behind the others a great deal. I can not see my daughter and daddy is in front of her so he can’t monitor her either. Our guide did not monitor how she was handling the horse either.
Sometime after my horse collapses on the beach and I’m placed on the guide horse from a private group ride, my daughters horse, Booker, begins to move up in the line and starts kicking the 2^nd horse in the line. These are full out two hind legs up in the air kicks to a teenage riders horse. Thankfully my terrified daughter is still on Booker and has not fallen off to be stomped on. Our guide was slow in reacting and the other guide was lagging behind with the sick horse. She seemed to be in charge and had more experience. She tried to pull the sick horse up to the Booker to get hold of him. Twice the guides got close enough to grab him and he dodged and bolted with my screaming child on his back. The guides third attempt got him and I reached up for my trembling baby with trembling arms. I hate to think what could of happened. I’ve made several attempts to contact the owner but my call is transfer to the booking line every time.
This is a dangerous unprofessional operation. I do not feel like a child should be placed on these horses which seem to be mistreated and unhappy. Another horse in our party was biting causing the horses to kick him. Our guide commented that he thought Booker was being retired and was surprised he was there. Safty should be the top priority when dealing with such large animals and it didn’t seem to be on the guides radar at all. Somebody is going to get seriously hurt if they haven’t already.

My experience was very different from the other review. I’m not an experience rider, and I had an enjoyable time. Heather was my guide, and she provided a wonderful experience for us.
We booked the first ride in the morning and were the only people there, so we paid the public price for a private ride. When we got there, we watched an instructional video on what to do, fairly basic. She asked our levels, and matched us to horses accordingly.
I got a horse that kept trying to munch on things, but Heather was really good to help me control her.
We rode on the beach and saw a couple of dolphins, and we even stopped to take pictures. It was a lovely way to spend the morning.
As far as price goes, it was less expensive than some other rides I’ve seen. The reviewer didn’t realize her card was going to be charged, but we knew ahead of time about the charge.
The horses were fairly used to the drill, and if you don’t mind horses that are mainly used to all day trail rides, you should be OK!

An accident waiting to happen.
I caution you when booking anything other than a carriage ride with this company. My family went on a beach trail ride, and from the very start, the experience was poorly organized, and potentially dangerous in numerous ways. I love horses and am sorry I have to give one star, but the lack of safety precautions could get someone hurt or killed.
We arrived fifteen minutes early as asked, and our trail ride leader was entertaining some poorly behaved children and their un-​engaged mothers. The kids kept darting in front of the horses and I kept waiting for someone to get kicked. The leader pointed toward some release forms for us to sign, which we read while she gave pony rides to these kids. (Strange, the mothers hadn’t signed off on their kids riding the horses.) We had an attorney in the family, but it was fairly typical equestrian sport release form jargon. We all elected to wear helmets, but again the leader was pre-​occupied and didn’t check any of us to make sure they were on securely. Thankfully I ride and I knew how to adjust the helmets and ensure that they fit my family safely and securely. On the form there was an area where you indicate your experience level, if you are pregnant, etc. The leader never looked at the forms, she just asked us who had experience, who did not. I want to point out that we were all old enough to drive and had no young children in our group.
When I booked the reservation, I was told a credit card would hold the reservation. I was not told this was a pre-​pay setup. So imagine my surprise when we were ready to pay before the ride began, and I was told that my card had already been charged. They charged it the day of the ride, hours before the ride began. Not cool. Oh, and disregard their webpage where they claim, «These rides offer the fun experience of riding a horse on the beach without the tourist price!» It IS the tourist price. I get private lessons at home for almost half of what they charge. It’s the only stable on the island, but c’est la vie, we were on vacation, and we wanted to ride horses on the beach.
The leader took the last kid off the horse as the horse was still walking. Huge no-​no. A horse should be completely stopped when riders are mounting and dismounting. After the mothers and kids left, we were quickly assigned horses. We were lined up with the most experienced riders in front, and the least experienced in back. I would think you would want the least experienced rider closest to the instructor. Nope. I was constantly checking on my family members in the back and giving tips and trying to be helpful, since our leader was out of earshot from them.
We weren’t told if the horses were neck-​rein trained or direct-​reined; we were just told to keep them from eating the bushes. The leader didn’t ensure that everyone’s stirrups were at the right length either. Some of our group was barely keeping their feet in the stirrups, and others were uncomfortably high. If I had known before the ride began, I would have adjusted them myself for my family. The instructor couldn’t even be bothered to adjust her own stirrups, so she just rode with her feet dangling along the entire way to the beach and back.
She told us, «If your saddle starts to slip to one side, just scoot it the other way». This was just ridiculous, to not make sure saddles are secure. This is also a good way to get seriously hurt.
The horses were fairly well behaved, except for one of them flattened his ears and started coming at my horse. Luckily, he was being ridden by the attorney, who has taken a few lessons herself. Between she and I, we steered the horses away from each other, but I shudder to imagine if that nonsense had happened with inexperienced riders. Oh, and guess who was riding this aggressive horse earlier? Those little kids whose mothers hadn’t signed the release form.
The scenery was beautiful and overall we had a good time. I wish I could have given this a higher rating, but when it comes to horses, safety is the TOP priority. I expected that arriving early as we were asked, and paying what we did, that more attention would have gone toward ensuring our safety, instead of hurrying up the dang tourists and throwing caution to the wind.
This is just an accident waiting to happen.