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Home / Reviews / Horseback Riding on Lanai

Horseback Riding on Lanai

John P.

December 2, 2007 By John P.

John P on HorsebackWhile vacationing in Lanai one of the activities I chose to partake in was horseback riding. Although I stayed at the Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay, the sister property, Four Seasons Lodge at Koele, offers a full featured equestrian center called The Stables at Koele.

The Stables (tel. 808/565-4424) offer various rides, including group rides which they describe as “a slow, gentle walk”, starting at $65 for a 1 1/2-hour trip. The good news is that it was “slow”. The bad news is that it was not “gentle”.

In all fairness, I did sign up with a group for the “easy” ride, so keep that in mind as I describe the experience.

Saddling Up For a Horseback RideWhen it came to horseback riding, I was the most experienced rider in the group. And I’ve only really ridden a few times at my cousin’s ranches. In fact only one other person had ever ridden a horse. So we really did have a fresh group of riders.

Horseback Riding Up HillWe started out from the stables on our 1.5 hour trek after only about 1 minute’s instruction and absolutely no practice riding. I guess it wasn’t a big deal, but I kind of thought that given the number of completely inexperienced riders they might have wanted to take a spin around the ranch before heading out into the hills.

Anyway, these horses were obviously so “trained” that instruction hardly seemed necessary. Indeed, my own horse – Dusty – was indignant when I tried to make him do anything other than follow the horse in front of him. Clearly we had not bonded.

Lanai’s Boring LandscapeAlthough the horses were very tame, the terrain was not. Almost the entire ride consisted of going up and down hills – most of which were very boring looking. And anyone with even a little experience knows this means a lot of shifting around in the saddle. When combined with walking this is a long, sore-inducing method of transport.

So the bottom line group consensus was this:

  • The first 30 minutes of the ride was fairly amusing. Plenty of grinning, joking and pleasantries.
  • The next 30 minutes of the ride was a bit more somber and quite, and involved slightly more aggressive terrain.
  • The last half hour was like a guest that has overstayed his welcome. You keep watching the clock and praying for it to end.

In this case, the ride would have been enhanced by one of two methods:

  1. Give more instruction and practice at the beginning, and at some points in the ride speed up to at least a slightly faster ride.
  2. Shorten the entire event by 1/3. Don’t worry, people will still feel like they got their money’s worth.

Horseback Riding Single FileA few last details… Long pants and shoes are required; safety helmets are provided. Bring a jacket: The weather is chilly and rain is frequent. Children must be at least 9 years old and 4 feet tall, and riders cannot weigh more than 250 pounds.

All in all, I could take or leave this activity. It’s not a big enough reason to contribute towards actually making a trip to Lanai, but if you have some time to kill and can’t think of anything better to do, it’s certainly an option.

Finally, here is a little video clip from the ride. This was a part basically in the middle where we were riding through a path cut through a fairly dense group of trees. It was extremely quite and remote and I would say my favorite part of the journey.

Incidentally, this was filmed with my Sanyo Xacti waterproof camcorder. Seems like it does a pretty good job even when not submerged.

Related

Filed Under: Reviews, The Man's Videos, Travel Tagged With: Four Seasons Resort, Hawaii, Horse, Horses, Lanai, Sanyo, The Man's Videos, Vacation, VPC-E1, Xacti

About John P.

John P. is a former CEO, former TV Show Host, and the Founder and Wizard behind Texas Metal Works. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Feel free to send shoutouts, insults, and praise. Or Money. Money is good.

Comments

  1. Alice says

    January 23, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Thanks for sharing your experience! I enjoyed the humor and the video was great. I remember when I first started to ride as a kid, and how the thrill and excitement lasted well into adulthood. I did a lot of trail riding, and even though I was an experienced rider, after a day on a tough trail I understand how you must have felt. :-) It’s been quite a few years since I’ve ridden, and your post brought back some nice memories. Thanks!

  2. TheDane says

    December 3, 2007 at 7:37 am

    I have never tried horseback riding, I would probbly flatten that little horsey…

    Another note… Under recent related posts I have noticed a lot of them are double entries like this:

    Review: Maui Coast Hotel in Kihei, Maui – December 3rd, 2007
    Review: Maui Coast Hotel in Kihei, Maui – December 3rd, 2007
    How to Make a Four Seasons’ Mai Tai – December 3rd, 2007
    Review: Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay – November 29th, 2007
    Review: Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay – November 29th, 2007
    First Class to Hawaii on American Airlines – November 28th, 2007

    Kim:)

  3. Derek Wong says

    December 3, 2007 at 12:50 am

    I’ve not ridden very much, but I’ve never been one for the activity. Probably because I have poor form and get sore. I’d heard that it was a good activity to do in Hawaii. It’s nice to have an honest review of it if the thought ever does cross my mind!

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