Koko Crater Equestrian Center

Someone on their Facebook page said the following: «I regret to inform you that Emogene Yoshimura’s tenure at Koko Crater will come to an end on May 31, 2015. As of June 1, the stable will be run by a different concessionaire. Emogene will continue her business at a stable in Waimanalo (41 – 739 Mooiki Street, Waimanalo, 96 795), and Pieter Mathews will still be the instructor. Thank you all for your patronage & friendship. Aloha & Mahalo!
Just thought the public would like to know who’s moving where… I tried to find out if trial rides are still offered but I am not sure. Comment below if you know. Mahalo.

NO NO NO AND NO! I repeat, the trail ride is not what you think you’re getting! I volunteered here for 3+ YEARS and 8 hours EVERY Saturday. The volunteers are supposed to get free lessons, but in my 3 years there, I can count on one hand how many lessons I got. In the beginning, I didn’t notice, because I was there for the horses, but I also wanted to learn to ride! I had been coming here for years before. I feel so sorry for the horses, mainly Hiapatha, Vinnie and Apache. I did anything and everything here. From cleaning to mucking to leading trail rides. The horses are not well trained (this is not their fault), and the just basically go on one trail ride after another on the same horses. The guides are required to walk the full hour (which is mostly not even a full hour), and «lead» from the ground. I lead trail rides for hours on end, and I was never offered a break. I always felt like everyone there acted like they knew more about horses and I wasn’t welcome, but I was always to go-​to girl.
For one semester, I acted as an intern to Emogene, and I did not learn anything. I mucked stalls and rarely saw her. She might give an introduction or two and lead one trail ride WHILE RIDING A HORSE while the rest of the volunteers had to walk. The trail ride is basically up the hill, to the pasture above and around then through the parking lot. I have been bit by the poor horses because I was told to feed them and put them back, only to bring them back and saddle them 5 minutes later! The barn is in shambles and needs a good clean. Pete, the instructor could never remember my name (despite me being there for so long), and I always felt so bad for the people riding that I refused to accept tips. There also was another «instructor» (Megan) who only rode herself but to my knowledge, did not have any certification and always texted while she was supposed to be supervising for safety. The last straw for me, was when I called Emogene for a job. I figured I had been volunteering there for so long, I might as well work there. She offered me a cleaning job which I declined, seeing as it was bad hours, and I chose to accept her offer as an assistant for the «horse camp». Within the first week I came home and my mother asked to see my W-​2 form for my payment. I called Emogene to ask about it and she told me «we weren’t paying you for this, it was volunteer», when I insisted, I was uninvited and told «well we don’t need you then». She pays under the table and is very rude after all I had given to them.
I apologize for my long review, but I thought someone might need to know! I had good times there, and I was mainly there to be around horses. My whole time there though, I never learned past a trot. Hopefully the stables will change hands and be better. You are better off going to Kualoa and spending the money on a beautiful ride with well trained horses (Koko Crater’s horses have thrown people off countless times) and kind and accommodating staff.

Purchased the groupon on for an hour trail ride for 2. After multiple attempts to contact them through the phone number provided, I received one message back and when attempting to phone back no answer.
I let a month go by and called this past Monday: no response. Called on Tuesday and someone picked up the phone. She informed me that due to a recent move trail rides were not being honored and I could either call groupon for a refund or take an hour lesson with Peter instead. I texted Peter and attempted to arrange a lesson for Saturday. Cancelled on me four days prior due to something coming up and I responded «What date/​time works for you?»
NO RESPONSE. I am attempting to accommodate your schedule, which is completely inappropriate from a consumer’s position and then you have the audacity to not even respond.
I will make sure to never recommend this place to anyone and thank goodness their Groupon has expired as I would write a review warning other grouponers about this business’s complete carelessness.

We bought a groupon for an hour trail ride for 4 of us for our daughter’s 23^rd birthday. We’re all beginners and only had a window of 5 days when we could redeem our voucher, so we called several times to try and get answers to our questions. Several times, Emogene (not sure if the spelling) said she’d call us back, but never did. My husband had to keep following up.
When we finally confirmed our appointment and arrived for our ride, not much time was given for instruction for us newbies. And when my daughter had trouble with her horses, Emogene said, «it’s your fault the horse isn’t listening» which wasn’t very encouraging or fun.
And I agree with the other reviewer that the helmets were unsanitary (not cleaned after previous ride group) and the horses we were assigned had just come back from another group ride.

After reading all of the terrible reviews, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about our ride that my boyfriend booked through groupon. However, this turned out to be a great experience. I’ve never ridden a horse before, but our guide Janine did a wonderful job at teaching me. She did mention a few stories of people falling off, but that’s something that can’t really be controlled by the guides so that didn’t affect my rating. My boyfriend and I had very timid horses, so I felt very comfortable right away and we didn’t have any issues. The trail takes you around their property, which doesn’t have great views but I still enjoyed it. If you’re not a beginner, you might not enjoy it as much but I had a great time so I’d highly recommend this place.

looking forward to our lesson booked tomorrow

I learned to ride horses at this stables back in 2004. I was stationed there so perhaps I went during off season, I don’t remember. I never did trail rides but actually learned here. Perhaps that’s why my experience was different.

«Koko Crater is a nice barn. I did a trail ride there and it really had a lot of fun. I don’t have any real experience with horses, so it didn’t bother me that the trail was suited to beginners. The location was quaint and relaxing and I found the staff to very personable and attentive. We had a great day at the stables!»

First off, I’m just going to say how are these people still even in business? We called dozens of times to make and appointment using our living social voucher. No one EVER answered the phones. We left a voicemail every time stating «please book us for this time and date if it was available». Never once did we receive a call back. I want to say we bought the voucher back in November. We ended up just asking for a refund since people are clearly incapable of running a business that deals with communicating with their customers.

This was one of the worst horse back riding experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve been riding horses for most of my life and my daughter surprised me with a gift cert for a 1 hour ride. We NEVER left the riding arena!!!
Our appointment was at noon and we finally got on the horse about 1:30 after we had to saddle up our own horse. The poor horses were all hungry and anytime you walked by a blade of grass they would stop to eat.
I would stay far away from this stable.

Our family of five came for what was advertised as an hour-​long horse ride. We were told to come twenty minutes before our 1pm appointment, so we did. However, they appeared to be understaffed, overbooked, and didn’t have enough horses available. As a result, we had to wait 50 min from our arrival (1:30) before the owner came around to get us started.
Even then, it took us at least 20 min to get all the horses for our group and then put on the saddles. I felt sorry for the owner, who was an older lady, that she didn’t have any staff help. But we reserved this weeks ago and they should have been ready for our group.
When we were all finally on our horses, the owner tried to explain what to do, but it was difficult to hear her and the instructions were confusing. We practiced in a ring for about 15 min, which was a good thing for our mostly-​beginner group.
Then we rode to a larger field to take pictures, but instead of going straight to the trail the owner told us stories of the history of horseback riding and the area. It was nice, but we didn’t want a history lecture, we wanted to ride. We spent 20 min in this field listening to her stories.
Finally we started the trail – only it’s not a real trail. It’s a little path that goes around the field and has tons of branches that we had to dodge while riding. The entire trail lasted less than 5 minutes, and that’s who our horses stopping every 10 feet. We went around once, took some more pictures, and then we were done.
Because we had to wait so long to get started, we ended up missing an event we planned for later.
Cons:
–Not enough actual riding time
–Unstructured and unorganized
–The owner/​guide gave confusing, hard to hear instructions.
–The horses were restless and some of them just came from the previous group without any food or water.
–The trail is short and hazardous, especially for beginner riders on difficult horses.
–The owner told us that a certain horse we were given was prone to kick other horses/​riders.
–The mandatory helmets were unsanitary.
Pros:
–The owner was sweet, but she spent most of the time chatting with us, and not really giving us the opportunity to ride.
My husband and I have been to Gunstock Ranch in Laie, and it was much better staffed, the horses are clearly better cared for, and they have a fantastic view on their trail (that actually takes about an hour!). Go there instead.

It was my first time riding a horse. Great experience! At first I was scared but the employee made sure not to be. I had the horse «Patch», who was so gentle and sweet. This was a well worth the trip and money!

My husband fell off the horse because of this stable’s incompetence!
Don’t waste your time or money on this place! Not only is this «trail» a joke, but it is more importantly NOT safe.
Upon arrival, my husband and I are greeted by the owner who is wearing protective body gear that looks like a bullet proof vest. She later tells us that the horses can kick you if your horse is too close or it can buck you off. If that’s the case, why is she the only one wearing this body armor?
The trail is led by the owner donned in a helmet and body gear. As the trail proceeds, she’s talking the whole time gesturing and pointing. The problem was, no one was able to hear her, as she was literally 50 – 70 feet away from the group most of time. We bought the this excursion from Groupon which had promised a 60 minute trail with ocean views. From start to finish it was 43 minutes long and there were definitely no ocean views. It was literally a trail of going around a medium sized stable twice. Yes, twice.
Along the trail, there were low hanging branches which made it dangerous to ride through because you’re too worried about dodging the trees. My husband was hit with a first branch in which his clothes got tangled on. By the time he untangled himself from that branch he hit a much bigger branch that totally knocked him off the horse. My husband sustained bruises and scratches on his face, chest, back and arms, and had neck pain. There was so much blood on his shirt we had to throw it away. My husband is young, very strong and athletic. If this were anyone else, this could’ve been very serious.
As a wife seeing this happen to her husband, it was terrifying. Remember what happened to Christopher Reeve?! I was mad that this stable was so incompetent, as to not even trim their damn trees! And remember what the owner was wearing? Body gear. Had my husband been wearing the same gear, he wouldn’t have sustained all of those scratches and bruises on his back and chest. It just doesn’t seem right that the «expert» gets the gear, but not us beginner riders.
Other cons worth noting:
–The owner was rude and barked out instructions that didn’t even make sense. Scary for a first time horse rider.
— The helmets came in only one size, medium, and they were smellier than funk. These helmets were obviously not cleaned or sanitized after use.
–After riding these horses, you’re feeling a bit dirty. The owner offers a sink and soap for you to wash your hands. But no paper towels.
There was one pro of this whole place, and that was Gina who ever so graciously made me feel comfortable on my horse. She stayed with us the whole time by foot, helping our horses stay on track and giving us encouragement as some of us felt nervous being on a horse for the first time or just confused by what the owner was trying to instruct us. Thank you so much Gina and the helpers who helped us mount our houses and helped my husband after his fall. No thanks to the very rude and disconnected stable owner in body gear.

I’m not impressed with the place, no one seems to know anything. I had appointment at 1:00 and was told there were too many people and we needed to wait an hour. I guess they over book people a lot according to another staff member. There’s not even an office to talk to anyone about this or if there was no one. I wouldn’t recommend this place!
I will say the trail guide Jessica was very nice and gave us a great trail ride to try to make up for it but I’m still wouldn’t come back

First things, first: To get here, enter «Koko Crater Botanical Gardens» into GPS. When you’re in the gravel, DON’T PARK at the gardens, but rather, continue down the lane to the stables. You will see signs for it over to your left as you enter the parking lot for the gardens.
We got a group of 4 trail ride off of Groupon that came out to ~$ 34 a person. A little pricey now that I know what I was paying for. This was one of my blind adventures where I didn’t check Unilocal prior to coming… oops…I should know better.
It took us a while to get a concrete date and time. We called and booked and were later told that we could no longer come on the day and time that we had originally planned. So, we rescheduled. Suddenly, we were allowed to book again for the original date and time that we wanted. Wtf? Glad it worked out, but seriously, get your crap together…
That was my first reason to be frustrated. My second was that wearing a helmet was required. Boo. I’ve ridden enough in my life to not need to wear a helmet, plus I signed a waiver relieving them of any legal repercussions should I get injured… if I don’t want to wear a helmet, that’s my own stupid decision, yeah? No. Still gotta wear a helmet.
We got started pretty late after our appointment time… no biggie, not like I had any other plans during the day. If I had, though… that would’ve been a whole ‘nother story… anyways…
We got paired up with horses. I had Muffin. The poor thing was breathing so heavy, she was so hot and tired. She stumbled several times on the trail and the guide walking with us just slapped her butt and told her to walk faster. I probably should’ve dismounted and led her at that point… hindsight is 20÷20…
The trail was a dinky little cut out of a few intersecting trails on Koko Crater Stables’ property. There weren’t really any good views. At one point, we all lined up in the show/​dressage practice ring and got a picture. Both of our guides were sweet — I feel bad for not having had any extra cash to tip them — but overall I just wasn’t thrilled. I’m a little concerned as to how hard these horses are ridden… the horses we got had literally just gotten back from a riding lesson group. I think they should have switched them out — most of them on our trail ride seemed restless, hungry, or like mine, were stumbling and struggling to move another inch. I feel bad for the horses.
On our way out, two girls said they were there for their noon trail ride. Our guide said she had no ride scheduled for noon but that she had one for 1 pm. She couldn’t find the girls’ names on that schedule though and told them they would have to leave. They seemed pretty ticked off — rightfully so, I would have been, too. I would like to give the Stables the benefit of the doubt, but considering our scheduling fiasco, I don’t put it past them to have screwed up those two girls’ riding day/​time.

Just too, too bad. I love animals and love horses. I felt bad for them. I saw that some other person on this review had Christmas as their horse. I liked her a lot, but the woman who was getting her out of the stable and getting her ready was very mean and kept hitting her on the face. I went up to Christmas’ face to pet her and my sister came up to me and pointed to a sign: Christmas Bites! I think I can understand why.
Gorgeous place, but they are there to make money out of the horses. The trail ride was lead by someone on foot, as referred to by someone else on this review. One trainer was nice enough. But, I would like to dissuade people before purchasing Groupons and deals. This place is good in the sense that it just happened to be in Hawaii. The place itself sucks and don’t really like the way they are treating the animals.

This review is for the riding lessons, which are EXCELLENT!
After far too many episodes of Horseland on Netflix, my horse-​crazy 7 year old was obsessed with learning to ride. I looked into a few options and called around.
Koko Crater was the first to return my call (almost immediately on a Saturday night) and the owner was friendly, organized and able to get us into a lesson the next day. Given the response and the distance, which was closer to our house than lessons in Waimanalo, we signed up (despite the fact they were more expensive).
The instructor Pete is a gifted teacher. He’s got an easygoing way about him that makes a ring full of young girls pay attention, despite each being at different ability levels. He knows his stuff, always has encouraging words and confident instruction, and is equally kind to people AND the animals.
After only a couple lessons, my daughter was riding independently and gets better every week. And unlike all the other lessons I’ve put her in over the years, my daughter is as interested as ever and looks forward to coming each time.
It’s definitely the priciest activity we’ve ever done, but I couldn’t imagine a better learning experience or opportunity. I highly recommend them!

Emogene the equestrian Manager was informative and welcoming… Kristen our trainer trail ride guide was also friendly, no pretense, amiable and experienced… Amy accompanied Kristen was also friendly and took photos of our ride. If you are looking for an ocean trail ride this is not it. It is a simple but enjoyable trail ride on stable grounds that are rustic old Hawaii… nothing fancy… straight talking gals… not for prissy touristy uppity types…
Right next to the botanical garden area… park out front and walk up the dirt gravel driveway… the horses were friendly and the gals take the time to place you on the horse best suited for you… just let them know… if you’re the whiney high maintenance person this is not for you.

I bought a living social deal for here. I thought the price is good and I’ve never ridden a horse.
I’ve never been on a horse before and I got the biggest one. Herbie was taller than me. He was also very hungry. He kept eating grass every chance he got.
You get up there and whoa, this is pretty high. It’s an english saddle so you don’t get that thing in front to grab onto that I remember from watching TV as a kid. Kristen has only been here a month, and she was great giving instructions to all of us on what to do.
Would I do it again, probably not. It’s a lot harder than it looks.

what: a beautiful and conveniently-​located equestrian center offering lessons, trail rides and horsemanship skills.
something good: my family and i decided to go horseback riding for the first time to celebrate a belated christmas present for my sister and an early birthday present for my mom~ my mom made the reservations and said that they didn’t have reservations for two months! but, she also said they were accommodating, it’s just that they didn’t have a lot of slots open. i think this trail ride is very good for people who have zero experience. it was the first time for all of us, so we were a bit nervous~!! they give you a five minute explanation on how to handle the horses and then you go around the trail together! we were probably on the horses for 45-​minutes and our tour guide melanie, even stopped and took pictures of all of us on our horses. i thought that was a great touch, because we had been hoping to get a family picture together on the horses! :)
something not so good: i know this place is busy, but i really think that they could work a little bit on their customer service. there were times when i felt that the staff could have been warmer towards us… also, it’s a stable so don’t expect a luxurious bathroom area ;)
something to try: i definitely recommend the horseback riding!