Smokemont Riding Stables — Attraction in Big Cove Community

Words cannot express the feelings I have had all day about this. Made reservations for my daughter and I to ride the waterfall ride today ( 7/17/2024 ). The reservations were made months ago, for her 21st birthday. We live in Wisconsin, and planned an entire trip to go to Cherokee.

Spent months ( and $ ) perfecting my ability to ride a horse, at the stable my daughter rides in Wisconsin. She has been riding for years.

By judgement of appearance, and the use of my walker to get to the ticket stand ( because I did not want to WASTE all my energy beforehand arriving 45 minutes early ) … a judgement call was made by someone I never spoke to that “… they could not accommodate me because of my condition.”, without knowing what that condition is, or asking. They would not even let me demonstrate that I could get on, and dismount , ( which I have been doing weekly for months now ). Their main concern was that it was supposed to rain, and thunderstorm. I was told ( when I asked on the phone to Savannah months ago ) to my question:

“What happens if it rains?”.

“We still ride!” - I was told. Unless there was a thunderstorm.

Today I was told that if it rains, and thunderstorms; I would have to dismount, and walk up to a mile on the mountain. I said ok. I can do that. They don’t think I can. They don’t know me, or didn’t bother to find out.

I feel very discriminated against, as there was no mention of this deeming of someone based on a persons opinion of them.

It never rained. I knew it wouldn’t. See I had been monitoring this for months. What makes one think I wouldn’t monitor the weather. I had it on radar right there.

I go skiing annually in Colorado, and have walked through waist high powder, up in the mountains, when Clydesdales got stuck pulling sleds. I rock climb 600 feet @ Devils Lake, WI several times, and rock climb 🧗 in a gym monthly.

Yet, I am not worthy to ride a horse, yet alone with my daughter.

The guy in the RED shirt, with the attitude, makes the call. Why don’t you advertise that on your website, or say on the phone.

“Sorry”.

That’s all I get. I hate that word. It means nothing. It is a cop out. Take away your handicapped parking 🅿️ spot then. Put a big sign up THAT YOU DO NOT TAILOR TO THE HANDICAPPED, as you deem one to be handicapped. Don’t tell people you give rides to kids, with NO experience. Be truthful about how discriminatory your guy in the RED shirt is. Is he the owner? He wouldn’t even give his name. Maybe my attorney can get it out of him.

Trip ruined for me, but I swallowed my pride for my daughter’s sake.

When I get back to Wisconsin today, folks will ask how my horse ride was; because that’s all I talked about before going to Cherokee. What fine advice other than “sorry” to you have that I should tell them?

Had I known you discriminate, I would have made reservations elsewhere.

Very hurt by this...

Had a great morning this morning at Smokemont Riding Stables! A friend and I took the 2.5 hour ride to the waterfall and it was wonderful! Our group consisted of us and two others, it was great having such a small convoy! Buck was our tour guide, locally born and bred, and he was a wealth of knowledge about the area and local flora and fauna. I had a great time chatting with him and learned a lot! My horse was Casey, who was basically me in horse form…he was cautious going downhill and not in a rush to go anywhere haha (but not in a bad way, I appreciated it!). They seemed to do very well with pairing horses to your size, experience, and personality. We had all ridden before but I would have felt like I was in good hands even if I hadn’t. Buck was constantly checking behind him to make sure we were all keeping up and would wait if anyone needed to catch up so no one was left behind. He even took our photos (individually and in couples/groups) on our horses so we had a nice memento from our ride. The ride itself was very pleasant, they take you through beautiful, lush woodlands covered in native plants and mostly deciduous trees. You’re next to a beautiful creek/river for most of the ride so you hear nothing but the peaceful sounds of the water, wildlife, and wind through the trees. The only time you come close to a road with cars is when you’re at or nearing the stable/campground. You go at a leisurely pace and the terrain is gentle with some ups and downs around the mountain park which made it interesting and not just flat. Being that I went in November the leaves were already gone from the trees but I could see how incredibly picturesque it would be during other seasons such as spring and autumn. It was still gorgeous and green though with tons of ferns, rhododendron, and moss covering the landscape. The waterfall was serene and definitely a place I would be happy to return to so I could spend more time as it was more gentle and relaxing rather than powerful (which I honestly prefer anyways). You get about 15 min there to take photos and eat a snack (BYO) before heading back. Your guide helps you on and off and they have a platform both at the stable and at the waterfall to make it even more accessible to ride. The stable itself had bathrooms and a drink/snack machine and the booking/check in process was super quick and easy. I’m already planning on coming back to ride again in the spring! Thanks again for such a wonderful experience, I could’ve spent the whole day! Totally worth it! Do the 2.5 hour ride,...

We had a good ride over all, until the horse that was assigned to my wife (who was behaving weird from the very beginning of the experience) started to stop and keeping behind the guide and my two kids horses.

The horse suddenly stopped, and started to jump and kick and my wife fell down of it. Thankfully, my wife was able to reach the side of the road in order to avoid the horse’s kicks. My horse was nervous also and I tried to get down of it to help my wife ( I was not able to get down due to the massive size of the horse and he started to move in the opposite direction ) but at the end my horse was able to keep it together and my wife’s horse stopped kicking.

This happened at the very end of the ride, we were near the stables, so my kids did not see what happened. I asked for help , the guide came back and asked what happened, he took my wife’s horse and walked with him to the stables, I asked for help to get down from my horse to help my wife, he did not help me (he was dealing with two horses) and suddenly another person came and help me with my horse, so I was able to check on my wife.

Besides a couple of bruises on her lower back my wife is ok.

As any other company that offers a service with this kind of animals, they make you sign a waiver. It is understandable, however I would recommend a little bit more explanation of what to do in this situation, or more guides (one in front and on in the back) in order to get help faster. Beside the guide asking once if my wife was ok, and the other person who helped me to get down of the horse, nobody else asked anything about what happened, or offered any kind of assistance. The guide went into the stables really fast and I did not see him again, I was waiting to return my kid’s helmets, but they were busy at the office checking in the next group of people. One worker told me to drop the helmets on the side of the office.

Thanks God my wife is ok, she is strong and resilient, but what was planned as a family vacation trip, almost turned into a tragedy.

I’m giving two stars due to the lack of follow up from the staff, and the slow answer to the situation itself, even though we signed that waiver, they should have some kind of protocol in place in order to address this kind of...