Lee’s Riding Stable

This past Saturday we went on a one hour trail ride at 10 am. It was $ 45 per person. They had us sign waivers and then they fitted us with helmets and set us up with our horses. There was less than one minute of instruction on how to control the horse which made me rather uneasy as a beginner. We set out on a very slow ride on a trail that was quite flat and boring. Our guide talked with my friend who was in front the entire time, but I couldn’t hear her and neither could my friend who was behind me. She was clearly friendly, but the knowledge she was sharing could not be heard. My horse kept stopping and going off the trail to eat the flowers and the bushes, which made me feel out of control. It was hard to hear our guide’s instructions to help me out of the situation. Overall the experience was fine, there are not many options in the area. The horses were clean and clearly well cared for. For the most part I would say they are well trained. After it was over we fed the baby horse apples from the apple trees lining the road. Final note: the only bathroom is a port-​o-​potty!

Daughter and I still love it here… it’s been almost a year now that she has been riding with Heather Johnson. Great people and wonderful horses! Low key but you can compete if you like and they offer trail & pony rides as well. Compassionate horse people that you can trust.

My sister, mom and I signed up for an hour trail ride. They were very disorganized when we arrived. They did not warn us when we called to make a reservation that they only take cash or check. It took them a long time to get the horses together and by the time we got started we were 20 minutes late yet we ended after only 40 minutes when we were supposed to get an hour. It was the most boring trail I have ever been on and most of it was walking down the road to the trail itself. The tour guide was not that great and not very personable. It was definitely not worth the $ 40 a person and I would not go back. We would have liked to go at a slightly faster pace like a trot but the tour guide had us walk very slowly the whole time. However, the horses were beautiful, well cared for and the setting was very nice.

I was in the area and called on a whim to see if I could stop by and watch the horses. I don’t ride. There was a very nice young man who was changing the shoes on one of the horses and he told me all about what he was doing. He told me that I could walk through the stable to look at the horses. All of them were very calm, gentle and people-​friendly. As I was leaving, a stable manager called out «Come back again! Anytime!»

A few us rented a log cabin up in the countryside, just about 20 miles north of Litchfield. For the first few days we did virtually nothing except for eating and drinking. The only times we left the house were to buy more booze and groceries. By day four, all of us were having trouble waking up before noon and fitting into our clothes. So deeply relaxing. But, alas, we thought it was necessary to ease our way out of hermit mode by doing something «active» on our last day. We woke up too late to take advantage of kayaking, so we opted for horseback riding.
Lee’s Riding Stable is super scenic and is located near CT 8. Nicely run and great environment. The horses seem very well maintained — a nice departure from the sick horses we rode in Costa Rica. Sabrina seems to be the manager and was a nice guide. The trail ride was $ 35 for about 1 hour. On the plus side, it was a beautiful day and it was so great to get out into the woods with a beautiful horse. On the con side, we and others were misled by just how long the riding schedule was delayed. We were told it was going to be 15 – 30 mins before the next ride, but it ended up being an hour, and we think they knew that. We would have probably left had we known, which is why we think we were told it would be a much shorter wait. Other people who were also told 15 minutes decided to leave.
We would have liked more freedom to ride faster with our horses and this trail ride was definitely geared towards families looking for a fun little outing. But it was a nice little diversion to get us out of the house.
Definitely a nice way to enjoy the countryside on a beautiful day.