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