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Review content:
My sister, daughter and I went to the Sun City Stables for my daughter's 7th birthday. What a phenomenal experience! My sister and I had horses growing up, and all three of us had recent experience riding horses. I have done trail rides in NH, VT, MA, and CO so I'm familiar with assessing the condition of the horses and tack and how the people treat the horses. In CO, the horses were standing in mud, weren't brushed before being tacked up, and were not in the best condition. I often find the tack to be in very rough shape. Not so at Sun City. The place was clean and the staff really cared about the horses. The horses were in outside stalls that had canvas overhead for shade. We watched them tack up the horses; they brushed them and weren't heavy handed putting on the tack. The tack was in good condition. \r
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For each horse, the staff reviewed what the horse was like, and what to watch out for. For example, my horse liked to take a left at a certain point in the trail because it led back to the stable. Knowing that, I was able to pre-empt any attempts my horse made during the trail ride to turn back. \r
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A young man led us out to the trails and then gave us instructions on riding on our own. Being from up North, it was really nice to experience the Florida forest. The horses were wonderful. At a few places, the trail was more open and wide. This was obviously where the horses were accustomed to trotting and even cantering. It didn't take much to get them to trot here. They even went into a smooth canter a few times; my daughter was so proud that she cantered for a moment on her old, reliable horse, Danny.\r
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I will return to Sun City on future trips, and I recommend that if you haven't ridden, or if you haven't ridden recently, do a guided ride and listen to what they say about your horse. Be gentle with the reins because any horse develops a sensitive mouth with many inexperienced riders. Western reining uses one hand but if the horse tries to turn toward a direction you don't want, take the rein in the opposite hand and pull his head in the direction you want to go. Also, be honest about your riding ability and experience--the horse, for one, will appreciate that.
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