Cornerstone Ranch — Attraction in Princeton

I saw a deal on Groupon for this ranch and thought it would be a fun thing to do with my family. Instead of being $150 it was priced at $70. After purchasing you must go to their website and reserve. After reserving a time and using my Groupon code it showed that I still owed a minimum tip of $25. I felt this was odd because I normally tip based on the level of service (in my opinion). There were options to leave more of a tip but again, tipping before even recieving the service is not something I like to do. So I booked a 5 person sleigh ride three weeks in advance. Unfortunately the day of our reservation it was snowing terribly. In fact there was a winter storm warning for my area. I tried calling but the voicemail clearly states that not only can they not take your call but that they will not be returning calls. As they do not have time. It does say to send an email. I went back to the website to see if I could reschedule and they have a 48 hour policy. Basically they need 48 hour notice of all cancelations and or changes. Great. So we decided to still do the 2 and a half hour drive. Our reservation was for 3:30 pm. We arrived at 3:15 pm. There was a fire going and other vistors who had just finished their ride and seemed happy. The woman who greeted us at the front seemed very nice. The owners daughter who spoke with us and told us some information about the different horses was also nice and welcoming. Something had occurred with the sleigh infront of us and the horses needed to be attended to. We didn't mind waiting as my sons were having a good time and again the owners daughter was extremely nice. Our sleigh ride started closer to 3:45/3:50 pm. We were told our driver was in the restroom, to which the woman who had previously greeted us let us know the driver had been in the restroom for awhile. The woman who ended up being our driver was the one who had previously been driving the sleigh with the horses who needed help. And as she got on the sleigh she asked us if we were the 4:00 pm reservation to which we said no, we were the 3:30 pm. The driver seemed annoyed by that. Not sure why that was annoying but maybe the 4:00 pm paid a bigger tip. Who knows. So we finally get on the sleigh. The driver at first talks about the horses and mentions the incident with the previous sleigh. To which my husband comments (being nice) that the horses for our sleigh were smaller so maybe it was best. The driver than goes into a rant about having 13 years of experience etc etc etc. The driver than proceeded to talk about her personal life, and every now and then would ask a question as to why we thought the horses wore bells (etc etc) my sons had a good time for the most part. I generally stayed quiet as anytime I spoke the driver cut me off and talked about herself again. We went around once, and after that we didnt stay for hot chocolate as the snow was coming down alot and the fire was almost out. Im so glad I did NOT spend $150 because that experience wasn't worth it but 3 stars because my sons enjoyed themselves and the fact that some of the horses were saved from being slaughtered. I wish I couldve given a 5 star review but I honestly also wish we had a different driver. There should be something in place for pictures to be taken. Like someone there who takes a picture of families. Maybe even the person who signs people in. There were definitely alot of volunteers/employees etc walking around. As far as the tipping before receiving service, pros and cons because I dont feel that our driver with the sour attitude deserved a $25 tip, but the owners daughter would've definitely received more than...

I brought my daughter here for her first time horseback riding. Read all the reviews prior to going. I had a little trouble with the reservation system in the beginning, but was due to my own fault. Emailed the owner, and later that day received a response to my inquiry about the system. After that, i had no issue booking the reservation. I tried to arrive half hour before, but forgot my Groupon vouchers and had to turn around to get them, even though i didn t need them once the reservation was booked. The road to the ranch was a dirt road and bumpy, but had signs pointing the way to the horse riding. Managed to get there with 10 minutes to spare. The public bathroom is a portable toilet in the parking lot, no issue for me or my daughter. We were seen walking up and asked to sign the waivers, then grab a properly fitting helmet and meet the others in the horse corral. We were assigned our horses, and given a brief how to get on the horse. Once on the horses, the very knowledgeable owner talked a little about why she does things a certain way, and what to expect and how to deal with any issues or concerns while riding. Before leaving for the trail, me and my daughter both felt a lot better about what to expect on the ride and with the horses. The trail was nice, had some great scenery even though it was near some power lines, and the horses were excellent, besides trying to sneak a bite to eat every now and then. Myself and my daughter were in front of the pack and got to talk to the owner about a variety of things. Was happy to meet her and her family. The horses are excellent on the trail and did not hesitate in any area. I did forget to bring sunscreen, but wasn t to much of an issue. Trail was a little sunny, but not bad. We arrived back at the ranch about 15 minutes prior to the two hour mark, so ride was a little over an hour and a half. The owner offered to take pictures of me and my daughter, i believe she had done so for the others before we had arrived. I was able to get a picture of both of us side by side on our horses to remember by. My daughter now loves horses and riding and can not wait until i take her again. Before leaving, i was more than happy to offer the owner a tip, $10 per rider i thought was reasonable so that she could put it towards the amazing horses she has on her ranch. Never once was i pressured to offer a tip and i did so with no regrets. The main thing i say to people reading reviews wondering about this place is, do not expect luxurious accommodations as this is a working ranch and a family business. She does not have a large staff, and most of the time the staff she has is busy caring for the horses, or on the trails...

READ THIS BEFORE GOING (esp. with a kid) A quick story about how a place where stuff helped horses turned to the worst one. Find a better place where the staff treats horses and people better, Cornerstone is the worst (even though I loved it before)

I and my wife spent the whole summer at that place in 2021. Everything was super cool and friendly. I worked on a very stressful job and came to Cornerstone to relax. We took two-hours private rides for two. There was a woman (Robin) and her associates who were kind and friendly.

Now, it’s March 2022, I and my wife came back after the winter.

1)First thing that I mentioned was that even though I paid full price for the private ride, we were taken in a group. There were three more people but I was okay to meet new people and be in the group (my wife didn’t share my perception).

2)We took our horses and nobody gave us neither helmets nor ladders to get on the horse. I came to a horse to touch her, and the young (teenager) associate started to yell at me that I came in without a helmet. She threw me a helmet and went off. I was super shocked but decided to continue and go to the ride. I took a picture of a horse and another woman asked me to delete it and said that it is not allowed (we did it before all the time, making super cool pictures).

3)We started the ride and moved forward with that woman. During the whole ride, she was yelling: “DO NOT TALK; DO NOT TOUCH THE HORSE; DO NOT LOOK TO THE SIDES; DO NOT…, DO NOT…, DO NOT…!

The final thing that killed me was when my horse turned a little and stopped going further. The woman turned to me and started literally shouting that I did something wrong. Just to remind, I am taking my walking tour to relax, I am not in the army or hose police. I told her to stop yelling at me. She started to shout, even more, yell and say bad words. I’m okay with hearing those words but there were kids…

4)Finally I told her that we are coming back and I don’t want to continue the ride. She basically screamed at me and my wife that we are ruining her day(maybe she got paid for a successful ride) and forced me to continue. I refused and she started to threaten me with the police that I break the group tour for other people. She was yelling at me for ten minutes but I stayed calm and cold-minded. Then she called another woman and the teenager(mentioned before). They took us back and I asked to talk to the manager. Her reply was: “THE DOOR IS THAT WAY, NOBODY WILL TALK TO YOU”.

I did not argue about the $200 return or anything else. This place is dead,...