Baldwin Lake Stables

The staff were friendly, horses well taken care of and the ride was nice. Do this for a relaxing time, no trotting or any wild stuff. For those who had a ‘bad’ experience: horses are reactive animals and will react to things that happen, minor or not. They will buck for a large number of reasons if you dont pay attention and take control. We had no mishaps on our ride. Those who complain about the nature of horses should simply go to Disneyland. the carousel has a lot of horses for you to ride. These are living creatures. not robots. I would go back to this place again next time I go to Big Bear. Oscar was a great horse and our guide was friendly, experienced an relaxed.
I advise to bring cash for the discount and bring some tip for your guide.

This winter was my second visit with Baldwin Lake Stables. Previously, I booked a two-​hour ride with them in the fall of 2013 with my boyfriend, which we very much enjoyed! The guide was very friendly and took great photos for us.
This past December, I booked a one-​hour ride for myself, my brother and boyfriend. The three of us had Lois as our guide. We rode Pigeon, Brannigan and Brooks, all three beautiful horses with their very own personalities. In truth, Brooks did get spooked during the ride in the hills (by some other nearby horses who were galloping around in the distance and distracted him) and I ended up being thrown off his back despite following instructions to pull on his reins, but this is a risk ANYONE should be aware of before signing up to go horseback riding. I knew of the risk and so was prepared for it; as such, I wasn’t afraid to re-​mount the horse and continue the ride, which went perfectly well. My brother and boyfriend’s horses were spooked a bit as well, but Lois gave them instructions on how to calm the horses and no one else was thrown off. =) Lois was very attentive to the behavior of our horses and of our riders and I couldn’t have asked for a more confident and understanding guide. I will definitely continue coming back to Baldwin Lake Stables in the future when visiting Big Bear. Thank you, Lois, for such a fun, exhilarating experience!

HORRIBLE PLACE! Six of us went on a one hour ride. From the beginning, the manager lady yelled at a few of us for not keeping the horse in line. Not to mention we hadn’t even left the stable! The ride was okay, even though I could not hear a single thing the guide was saying. During the ride we could all tell that a few of the horses were a bit restless. At one point, my horse finally had it and bucked me off. The remaining six horses, plus the guide’s horse, all went crazy. I went flying and hurt my back so bad. Everyone else had to jump off their horse in order to avoid being bucked off and getting hurt. It was an extremely scary experience seeing all six horses with their front legs in the air while our two daughters tried their hardest to control them! Everyone, including the guide, and including me with my very hurt back, had to walk all the way back to the stables. The only thing worst than the bad experience we had out in the forest with the horses was the HORRIBLE show of concern from the manager. She was insensitive, rude, and condescending. One of her last comments to us was, «You guys went over by 20 minutes!» Wow, really?! Unbelievable!

BE WARE OF THIS PLACE! DO NOT RIDE HERE!!! One of our riders got bucked off and and all the horses started to go crazy! It was six of us and we all had to jump off the bucking horses. The lady (Manager) was rude and did not care. Our kids were so scared and crying and as soon all riders were off we had to walk back to the stables and out fifteen minutes. When we got back to stables the manager was so rude and only cared to charge us full ride when we were 20minutes short of the ride and did not care about our rider being thrown off.

My experience was great. All employees there were extremely nice, professional and happy. They made even the nervous people who never ridden before feel comfortable. They take all precausions to give you a safe ride.
My ride was relaxing and everything I expected. My horse was Beau and he was a sweetheart. Have been here once before a couple of years ago and my experience was just as good. I highly recomend going to this stable for a fun ride.

Great place for first time riders. My 12 year old had never rode before and they did a great job making her comfortable and setting her up. The ride was very scenic, but half the 1 hr ride was through the neighborhood. Only thing keeping them from a 5 star rating was the price. It’s a little expensive & they don’t disclose the guides only work for tips when making the reservation, so anticipate it being even more costly than you think.

I learned about Baldwin Lake Stables from the Saddleback Inn, in Lake Arrowhead. Was a little unsure because the drive was about an extra hour. However, it ended up being very worth the trip. Driving up the Rim of the World highway 18 into Big Bear Lake, is beautiful early in the morning. You can see the cloud cover over the hills, and the green of the forest above the clouds. The stables have horses that are well cared for, with trainers that know their horses. Most of the horses are donated and good enough tempered to be trail horses.
My experience was the Friday morning before Labor Day Weekend. The crowds had not yet come in, so I had a 2+ hour ride on Remington or «Remi». He is a half quarter half thoroughbred about 10 years old, and well tempered. The trainer Nancy was super friendly and a good trail guide. We went up along the Pacific Crest Trail. At the top, you get to stop and take pictures. I was disappointed to hear that there are not many publicly available horseback riding stables in the area anymore, so it was great to have a good experience at Baldwin. Thank you!

My GF and I had a great experience at these stables. In an effort to try new things while spending the weekend in Big Bear we decided to give horseback riding a try. She had ridden a horse before and I never had. Despite that the friendly staff made us both feel comfortable. I liked that they have a wooden platform for you to stand on and staff to help you off and on the horse. I rode ‘Maverick’ who was very docile and a great horse for a first time rider like myself.
Our ride was pretty tame. We signed-​up for an hour ride and probably half of that time was spent walking along some dirt residential roads which led to a couple of trails which our guide than took us down. I liked that we started and ended our ride on the smooth dirt roads as in the beginning it gave me a chance to get comfortable on Maverick and at the end of the ride it gave me a chance to relax on our way back to the stables. The trail portion of the ride was nice. Or guide Chris gave us instruction on how to ride up and down the hills although the Horses are obviously very used to taking this route and did most of the work. Half-​way through we stopped for a photo op out on the trail and Chris did a great job getting some shots of us sitting on our horses like the brave Cowboys we longed to be LOL.
I’ll be doing this again on future visits to the Big Bear area, Chris told us that their winter time, snow rides are pretty cool so we’ll be checking one of those out for sure!

Just a note about the lack of customer service…
I purchased two one hour horsebike rides back in 2013. Unfortunatley, it was in February and there was too much snow for my son and I to travel there. I was given a voucher, which was much appreciated. However, my son lives here and Florida and we never got around to using the voucher and it expired.
That being said, I called today to ask if they would be willing to honor the value of $ 80 that I spent and apply it toward the services I never used.
The individual was cold and honestly bothered that I would ask to try out her business. When I asked to speak to the someone else she said No.
I would recommend seeking out other small business’ that strive for exceptional customer service.

Racist service. I really feel shame on these people. In California, there are still some racists In this horse riding place. SO SAD.

We had a magical sunset ride, our horses were well behaved and our guide Christina was outstanding. We highly recommend this experience! We will be back in the winter!

I had a wonderful experience at Baldwin Lake Stables. The staff is very friendly, and the ride was amazing! I will be back here for sure.

I went for a $ 50/​hour per person horse ride with my wife yesterday. They make you sign a waiver before the ride. I rode on Bouldine and wife sat on Tuffy/​toffy (make sure you don’t ride this horse). They barely explain you instructions for how to maneuver/​steer the horse with ropes. You are on your own and just have to follow the guide in front with her own horse.
There is no narration on the tour. Every now and then the horse on it own goes and starts eating the plants along the trail (looks like the horses are not well fed) and they yell at you to grab the ropes and pull him back hard and kick with your heels to continue.
10 mins into the tour when uphill climb in a rocky area came the trail got narrower. My wife’s horse just started eating plants and she was told by the lead guide to pull the ropes back which my wife did but apparently those guys didn’t tie the ropes around the horse properly it got loose and the horse jumped and ran. My WIFE FELL from the horse on her back and got dragged 5 – 6 meters cause her foot got stuck in the pedal. Then instead of checking on my wife the stupid lady guide was more worried for the horse that it would run away. I frantically drove my crying wife to ER at Bear valley community hospital. We did full body ex-​rays and checkup. She is hurt on her lower back and neck area and now is on medication. These people are soo insensitive and didn’t even call me how my wife is doing. The last words I heard from lady when I was leaving was just give her an aspirin and she will feel better. This is the negligence on behalf of the staff who didn’t tie up the ropes properly around that horse’s neck.

My partner and I are celebrating our 3 yr anniversary so we decided to getaway from the city life and go on a tranquil trip. We found this location where we found the horses very well taken care of and friendly faces. I highly recommend it and also to put in a reservation. At first when you look at the price, you think «wow, that’s pricey» but the tranquility gain from a trail is worth every penny.
I’m the «partner». My advice make a reservation and don’t try to fight it if they say they can’t fit your group in.
Before going on this ride I pictured myself riding the trails to the tombstone movie theme song, like a modern day Doc holiday. As we rode I mentioned this to the guide and asked if we can play it. She pulled out her phone and played the song. It was Epic and badass. I would come back

Our guide Nancy was very nice and helpful! She even offered to take pictures for us when we were in the forrest. We did the 2-​hr ride and enjoyed it very much. I’d like to come back in the summer for the sunset ride as she recommended!

I would give them a one star, but the staff was friendly and the horses were healthy. However, I thought that it was obnoxious that the entire two hour «Trailride» was nothing but walking — they said it was against the rules to even trot. Also, more than half the trail ride was actually just walking past residential houses and manufactured homes on a dirt road. The guide wasn’t too informative on the community or anything else and I thought that it was presumptuous that after we spent $ 110 a person for A two hour ride, that there were signs everywhere saying that «the guides only work for tips»
Maybe they should pay their guides!!! and warn people upfront that they should bring cash, otherwise you have to tip on your the credit card transaction before the tour.

I just booked a reservation for Saturday (it’s now Wednesday), that was awesome that they had something open. I thought for a minute we weren’t going to be able to go due to the weight limit which STARTS at 170. My boyfriend is 190 and around 5’8 and she said he was fine to ride. Making reservations on the phone were a breeze and directions were precise on when to show up.
Note: the prices on here aren’t 100% correct, the woman quoted me $ 200 for two people for two hours (this was with the cash discount), bummer since I thought it would be $ 160 but oh well.

This was my first time horseback riding so I was a little scared. However, these horses are very well trained so you don’t have to do much. The guide was very nice and friendly. We took the 1-​hour trail which I would recommend if you have never been horseback riding since your butt can get a little sore. I’d say this would be good for those who are beginners. It was a little pricey and they charge a little extra if you use a credit card which was a little annoying. The total for 2 people for the 1-​hour trail came out to be $ 90 ($ 5 extra per person since we paid with credit). Also, apparently the guides only get paid with tips so we tipped our guide $ 10. If that is indeed true I would say that’s pretty sad. If not, then that’s not cool either. Overall it was a great experience for me who has never been on a horse before.

I went there yesterday with my husband. We didn’t book our tour, but since it’s mid-​week, nothing was going on there.
My horsie’s name is Cinco.
We had an hour ride. The price rises to $ 50/​hour now, without cash discount it will be $ 55/​hour. It’s a bit pricy but worth it!

It was my first time riding a horse and I was so nervous. I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to stay safely on the horse! But by the time I was done with the trail, I wanted to keep riding!
I went on the «one hour» trail ride and felt that was enough time to be on a horse, but maybe I’ll try the,“2 hour” next time. We did stop in the middle of our trail to take pictures.
The guide who came along was very friendly and informative at all times. Whenever my horse «Cinco» made weird noises, or stopped out of no where to poo, she would respond calmly that I didn’t need to worry. I would recommend this to everyone visiting Big Bear!