Troubadour Equine

I thought this would be the perfect place for my daughter to ride ponies since not many places around this area offer pony rides at equine centers for toddlers, however, it was a complete bust. I text messaged Sarah this morning (at her request via her website and facebook since she said it’s easier to get a hold of her through text and email because she doesn’t always get a chance to answer her phone and her voicemail box is full/​not set up) and got a response back that she would be able to accommodate my daughter today. We scheduled it for «around noon». My daughter and I showed up at 11:50 AM and I called (and texted) her that we were there. Since Sarah’s place is gated, I didn’t feel comfortable opening the gate where three dogs hung out front and going up to the house to ring the doorbell. I didn’t hear anything back… I called and texted her again at around 12:10 PM and again, no response… We stood in front of her gate and sat in the car (because it was about 100 degrees outside) for a good hour before giving up and going home. It was definitely irritating to have driven all the way there and wait for an hour to absolutely no response (when she texted me 3 hrs prior to schedule this appointment) but what’s even more disheartening is that my toddler was SO EXCITED to ride a pony and left devastated because she wasn’t able to. I can overlook a lapse in time, schedule, what have you… but I can’t overlook the sadness on my daughter’s face due to someone’s lack of care, responsibility, and reliability… We probably would have been a regular customer considering my daughter’s love for ponies but unfortunately we will cross this place off our list and spread the word to our friends… unreliable appointments make for disappointed children… and that’s unacceptable for any business!

We originally started our horseback riding lessons through the Amazon local deal. Sarah was nice enough to let us do more than one transaction for Amazon local to help us with the cost of the riding lessons. After that, we have been returning to her for horseback lessons and have nothing but great experiences with her. Her prices are very fair and she gives great lessons. She is very knowledgeable and patient with the children. We have never had any issue of scheduling lessons with her. We come every week at the same time and if we cannot make it at that time she is very flexible to change it for us. Sometimes weather will prevent lessons but she is always willing to make the time up on a different day and if she can’t she does not charge for the lesson. You only pay for what you get with her and I love that about Troubadour Equine. My daughter rides the same horse every week which is awesome because to take lessons you need to trust her horse and in order to truster horse you cannot be switching from horse to horse every week. She has more than two horses for lessons at this time. We love Sarah and we love coming to her ranch!

I was very disappointed with this horseback-​riding lesson place. I bought a promotional deal through Amazon Local over 2 months ago for my kids and haven’t been able to use it because they have no «available» time slots for us. The woman Sarah told me that they designate only 2 horses for that deal so its difficult to accommodate all the people who purchased the promotional deal. I wish I could have read all the negative reviews of this place from other review sites before I bought the deal for this place. There must be many other stables with more than 2 horses available for lessons. Too bad I can’t have a refund on my purchase.