Horseback Riding on Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay?

[PoloGirl]

I am going on a cruise which offers horseback riding excursions on both Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, and am wondering which island to do it on. Has anyone done this excursion on either island?

[HERKIMER417]

I did this excursion last Sept.

The cost was $79

 

They list it at 1.5 hours but that may be streatching it. We spent alot of time waiting for the guides to get some horses out of the corral and saddling them.

 

There is 2 loops to the ride:

I presume they have different trails but the first loop we took was along the beach and then returned by way of a dirt road - lined with hurricane trash.

 

You return back to the corral and they remove the saddle and throw on a blanket of sorts. You are actually riding bare-back when you do the second loop - the water loop.

 

You ride on the beach for a while and then into the water - turn around and ride back in the water to the corral. The horses do love the water, but like any trail horse they tend to gang up.

 

They have open lockers to put pants - if you don't want to get them wet.

 

The guides really tried to make it nice for everyone - taking pictures and giving hints on horse handling.

 

Riding in the water with the boat off your shoulder was a picture that I'll always remember.

 

As an aside - I took the last ride - 2:30. On the ride out I looked at the ship and then when we took the horses into the water I looked again. I noticed something was different. The ship had turned around. :eek: I know that these ships do not turn around on those anchors - it in fact had pulled anchor and was getting ready to leave. While the horse could swim it was not that good.

My DW was on board already deciding how to explain to our DD how I became the new Gilligan.:p

 

We probably cut short our ride a little on the return trip. They quickly loaded us on the truck to take us back to the tender. We were reboarding as the ship as it was powering up. A nice memory.

 

The bottom line -

Is it expensive for the time on the horse - yes.

Will you always remember it - yes.

Try not to take the last ride :D

[PoloGirl]

Thanks for the info HERKIMER417! I was thinking of trying to do the first ride anyway, but if i hadn't been, your story would have convinced me :).

 

Another question: do they allow you to go at a faster pace than a walk at any point in the ride?

[kanigeta]

The last post was over a year ago; anyone have anything to add/share that's done the horseback ride on HMC more recently?

[jwlnroe]

yeah I would like to know if anyone has done that recently as well because I would like to try that when we go to HMC in march. . was it $79 to book it through the cruise line?

[jc811]

Just did the Horse back thing on Half Moon Cay last week 8-22-07. "HERKIMER417" described perfectly. Nothing has changed. Still $79. Still try not to get the last tour. They really try to squeeze it in and you feel rushed and you are watching your watch as you make sure you catch the last tender.

 

We were never on a horse before. It was fun for us. It will be boring for experienced riders. No trotting, running or galloping allowed. Just a slow walk (which was enough for me!)

[jwlnroe]

so it probably won't be fun for me then as I am an experience rider.. done the rodeo.. had horses my whole life. let me know otherwise I will go parasailing or jetskiing if they have that available and just hang at the beach.

[jc811]

so it probably won't be fun for me then as I am an experience rider.. done the rodeo.. had horses my whole life. let me know otherwise I will go parasailing or jetskiing if they have that available and just hang at the beach.

 

If you have done rodeo, then this will be slightly more exciting than a carousel. I would skip it if I were you.

[nyc1234]

I am going on a cruise which offers horseback riding excursions on both Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, and am wondering which island to do it on. Has anyone done this excursion on either island?

 

Just went on a horseback riding tour in Grand Turk via Carnival. The tour is with Chukka Caribbean Adventures (http://www.chukkacaribbean.com/horseback.php) and it is probably the same company that runs the tour in Half Moon Cay.

 

The price is $79 for 1.25 hours in HMC and $95 for 2 hours in Grand Turk. Actual riding time is much less than what's advertised. You are either waiting for the tour van to arrive to pick you up from the pier/port, or to pick you up from the ranch. After they have paired you with your own horse, we walked around once or twice before going up a hill, coming back down and walked around the ranch. Then it's time to change into the swimming gear for the horses. Because it rained when we were ready to do the swim part, I think it might have been cut short a little, they whipped the horses while we were in the water, and some people felt off, but the guides were there to help.

 

I really enjoyed my first time riding the horses, but I think Carnival is over-charging a bit. If you book an independent horseback riding tour in Belize and Cozumel, the cost would be much less ($35-$50 for several hours). But since you can't book these directly with the tour company as they have preferred arrangements with the cruise line, you are stuck.

 

OVerall, I think it's a good experience. The tour guides were very nice and Oscar was fantastic. They do give you a brief island tour at the end before returning you back to the port/pier.

[NCTribeFan]

We did HMC last May and December and loved it both times. Actually, the 2nd time was better because I knew it was going to be great, especially once we got in the water.

 

In December, I had one of the "good" horses (retired Jamaican racehorse, I believe) that just took off through the crowd trying to reach the front horses. I was hanging on for dear life. It was great, but I don't get to ride often.

 

We're going on the Miracle in 12/17, but that excursion hasn't been posted. If it's available, we're going to do it yet again!

 

Note: we've done the first excursion on both trips, so getting back to the ship wasn't an issue.

 

EDIT: OK, I'm an idiot! We did the Chukka riding excursion on Grand Turk, not HMC. Did the stingrays on HMC and were very disappointed. In December, we just did the beach (the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, btw)!