Horseback riding on the beach

[Anonymous]

Will Fabio be there??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a horsey person, I hate that this is a thing. It is a way to make money off people who don't know anything about horses, but it is terrible for the horses themselves.

Riding a horse on deep sand is horrific for the horse's legs. This is NOT the same as riding in a carefully manicured arena that uses shallow sand. Deep sand causes the horse's fetlocks to move in ways they wouldn't normally move, and forcing a horse to do this every day for hours is going to cause injuries. Especially if the horse is "ridden" by people who are inexperienced riders, and will be sawing at the horse's mouth and shifting their weight all over the place as they attempt to balance themselves. The horses used for these tourist trap money pits will be placid, older animals that are gentle enough to take daily the daily abuse of trudging through deep beach sand while carrying inexperienced riders, and it will break the horses down quickly. Nobody cares about the horses themselves: they will forced to keep going when they develop wind puffs and other injuries, and discarded when they finally succumb to the inevitable, more serious injury.

And all the while, the tourists are thinking about how "romantic" it is to be riding a horse on the beach.

I've seen various such horses/riders on various beaches, and I can always see the results on the horses' legs (which are NOT apparent to people who don't know horses: to you, everything looks fine).

I hate the owners of these horrible enterprises. If you care about horses, do NOT do this kind of thing.

Well. That shut that down pretty quick.

I certainly hope so.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and as for what happens to the horses when they finally break down and pain meds can no longer disguise their injuries from the tourists?

Do you really think somebody who is willing to profit from forcing horses to do something that breaks them down is going to, I don't know, pay for a giant green pasture and top-notch care once the animal is too lame to be rented to tourists for "romantic" beach rides?

Go ahead and check out youtube for clips of what happens to horses in American and Mexican slaughter houses. These were not animals raised for meat. These are the low-value cast-off horses left over from commercial for-profit tourist trap activities, and race horses who weren't good enough. It is very easy for an experienced horseman to note that many of the horses in those clips are older animals of uncertain breed (ie, not ex-racehorses, though there are many of those too). This is where your "romantic!" ride on the beach ends for the horse.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I got it. I understand. No horse rides for us.

[Anonymous]

An alternative is to trot along the beach yourself, pretending to hold reins, as if you're riding. (Think Monty Python and the Holy Grail.) I used to do this as a child. It's actually really fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it in Costa Rica too. Part beach and part hills. It was worth it but part of fun was riding through the trees and seeing the monkeys. The beach part was relatively tame in comparison, but beautiful.

I did this in Costa Rica as well - what a RUSH running full speed along the water.
But what I remember the most, was riding through a camp set up along the trail - the occupants were living in object poverty and though they didn't treat us this way, I felt very uncomfortable crossing their boundaries. But the thing that I will never forget is the man, sitting in his tattered tent with an old crank record player, listening to Rachmaninoff - my favorite composer and perhaps the most romantic man who ever roamed this Earth. The combination of this humble man's circumstances, one of my favorite pieces of music and me, essentially uninvited, riding through his camp on my horse, left me feeling like the stereotypical Ugly American.

Anyway, HA! What were we talking about... ah YES, horseback riding on the beach. Do it! It feels like flying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and as for what happens to the horses when they finally break down and pain meds can no longer disguise their injuries from the tourists?

Do you really think somebody who is willing to profit from forcing horses to do something that breaks them down is going to, I don't know, pay for a giant green pasture and top-notch care once the animal is too lame to be rented to tourists for "romantic" beach rides?

Go ahead and check out youtube for clips of what happens to horses in American and Mexican slaughter houses. These were not animals raised for meat. These are the low-value cast-off horses left over from commercial for-profit tourist trap activities, and race horses who weren't good enough. It is very easy for an experienced horseman to note that many of the horses in those clips are older animals of uncertain breed (ie, not ex-racehorses, though there are many of those too). This is where your "romantic!" ride on the beach ends for the horse.

OMG. I just read this post. Now I feel like an even UGLIER AMERICAN than I did in Costa Rica. Honestly, unless it's a friend's horse that I know beyond any doubt is well taken care of, I won't do this again. No rides where money is exchanged. Forgive me, Please.

[Anonymous]

I am also a horse person but I think that poster is out to lunch. Sand/beachtime is actually a good low impact workout, often used to condition racehorses and sport horses. On most beach rides I have witnessed, they spend little time in the deep sand and more along the water's edge where the sand is firmer, anyway.

I think the plight of trail horses is not so bad if they happen to have good owners. That said, always investigate the stables and don't ride where the horses look skinny and rough-coated.

You want to not send horses to slaughter? Stop giving them jobs and they will end up there sooner. Congrats, horsey PP, for ensuring the slaughter demise of more horses by encouraging a boycott!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did it in Costa Rica too. Part beach and part hills. It was worth it but part of fun was riding through the trees and seeing the monkeys. The beach part was relatively tame in comparison, but beautiful.

I did this in Costa Rica as well - what a RUSH running full speed along the water.
But what I remember the most, was riding through a camp set up along the trail - the occupants were living in object poverty and though they didn't treat us this way, I felt very uncomfortable crossing their boundaries. But the thing that I will never forget is the man, sitting in his tattered tent with an old crank record player, listening to Rachmaninoff - my favorite composer and perhaps the most romantic man who ever roamed this Earth. The combination of this humble man's circumstances, one of my favorite pieces of music and me, essentially uninvited, riding through his camp on my horse, left me feeling like the stereotypical Ugly American.

Anyway, HA! What were we talking about... ah YES, horseback riding on the beach. Do it! It feels like flying!

Why ugly american? Theyre making money off you?

[Anonymous]

We did this in Antigua and honestly it was boring as hell after the first 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did this in Antigua and honestly it was boring as hell after the first 15 minutes.

Ha, yeah after considering everything I think that will be our experience too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? We will be going to Sea island and the resort we are staying at offers beach rides. Approx $290 for two people. For a 2 mile ride, basically walking. No trotting or anything. Around 1.5hrs.

It sounds like it could be fun but I also don't want to spend $300 for a mediocre experience. Any thoughts? DH is happy to go if I want but not something he would pick on his own. Is it worth it or is there something else in the area we can better spend that money?

Do you know how to ride?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? We will be going to Sea island and the resort we are staying at offers beach rides. Approx $290 for two people. For a 2 mile ride, basically walking. No trotting or anything. Around 1.5hrs.

It sounds like it could be fun but I also don't want to spend $300 for a mediocre experience. Any thoughts? DH is happy to go if I want but not something he would pick on his own. Is it worth it or is there something else in the area we can better spend that money?

Do you know how to ride?

It's just a trail ride. No experience needed. More like a pony ride

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a horsey person, I hate that this is a thing. It is a way to make money off people who don't know anything about horses, but it is terrible for the horses themselves.

Riding a horse on deep sand is horrific for the horse's legs. This is NOT the same as riding in a carefully manicured arena that uses shallow sand. Deep sand causes the horse's fetlocks to move in ways they wouldn't normally move, and forcing a horse to do this every day for hours is going to cause injuries. Especially if the horse is "ridden" by people who are inexperienced riders, and will be sawing at the horse's mouth and shifting their weight all over the place as they attempt to balance themselves. The horses used for these tourist trap money pits will be placid, older animals that are gentle enough to take daily the daily abuse of trudging through deep beach sand while carrying inexperienced riders, and it will break the horses down quickly. Nobody cares about the horses themselves: they will forced to keep going when they develop wind puffs and other injuries, and discarded when they finally succumb to the inevitable, more serious injury.

And all the while, the tourists are thinking about how "romantic" it is to be riding a horse on the beach.

I've seen various such horses/riders on various beaches, and I can always see the results on the horses' legs (which are NOT apparent to people who don't know horses: to you, everything looks fine).

I hate the owners of these horrible enterprises. If you care about horses, do NOT do this kind of thing.

Well. That shut that down pretty quick.

Ask her what her thoughts on snorkeling are. I bet she has a similar diatribe about how it destroys the reef ecosystem and no one should do it.

She probably has one for every topic. The common theme being "you're slowly killing __________ by having fun on vacation"

[Anonymous]

Some trail horses are treated well and are healthy. Some are not! I wouldn't commit before I could see them. I have seen carriage horses in Greece that were working while very thin and obviously lame. I probably wouldn't risk it in a third world country.

And to me it wpuld be boring without going faster than a walk.