Yokum's Riding Stables — Attraction in West Virginia

The bathroom reeked and was a huge mess. The light hardly worked, and I struggled for almost a full minute to get any water out of the grimy faucet. The horses seemed generally happy. I am concerned about the chunks of poop floating in their water and the green goop lining the troughs edges. I hope they don’t actually use that trough.

The whole ride ordeal could’ve been worlds better. For starters, it would’ve been helpful to tell us what to do and what not to do once we got on our horses. How about “pull on the reigns to get them to stop,” or instructions on how to steer. Not everyone knows how to ride a horse-some people are nervous or frightened! The trail was very rocky and my horse tripped so many times, as did everyone else’s in the group. Get used to your horse slipping suddenly. And also, the lack of instructions in the beginning-there was no actual guidance on the trail. Our guide hardly said a word to us. I had asked several questions throughout the ride, but he either didn’t hear me or just didn’t answer. At the very end of the ride, I had steered my horse to be right next to him. He looks at me and says, “pull on the reigns.” Only words I ever heard him spoke aside from telling me my horses name is Possum.

I like Possum. He’s a spirited horse and we liked to pass people or block people from passing us. Pretty responsive to my commands, such a sweetheart. He’s the only reason this is two stars and not one.

So just keep these things in mind before...

Horses are adequately trained and the trail is great. Some staff were a bit rude and not communicative. There are several things a new rider should know even on well trained horses that knows the route. The only thing they reviewed with our group was turning and stopping a horse, and it was a quick mention before we headed to the trail. The return trip is a bit rough with the decline, so it can be important to use the stirrups to lean back when going down big hills, to help with soreness in the back and hips, among other reasons. They did not review this or any other important guidelines for horses before heading out. Also, if you need to use a step to dismount the horse, this may be tricky at the end of the trip because the horses know they are done and get to eat, and become a bit grouchy and impatient. I need to dismount with a step given a hip injury. The horse was very uncooperative for this, and even though I am an experienced rider, I needed help handling the horse and navigating him to the step. The staff person assisting me yelled at me during this process, which ended our trip on a bad note. I would return if it’s the only option in the area, but I will be looking for other places to ride in the future, especially if I am bringing people who have never ridden. Also, you can pay with a card but there is $4 fee they did not mention before running any cards for our party. Again, communication from staff was very...

I reviewed this place when I was here three years ago and somehow my review got taken down (beware of this - if you note how many “local guides” give them great reviews, you can see how skewed their rating is). This place is an absolute nightmare (no pun intended). I went with my three kids, who were 7, 10, and 13. They tossed my kids onto big horses and took us straight up to the very top of Seneca Rocks on a narrow rocky incredibly steep trail with a sheer drop-off on one side. Up was bad - down was sheer terror. My youngest was sobbing, and instead of stopping and helping, the dude who was leading the trip turned around, came back to where we were, and without my permission, grabbed the reins of her horse and took her to the front, so I couldn’t see her or comfort her. All three of my kids were terrified, the horses kept slipping on the loose rocks, and the steepness of the slope was terrifying. When we got down they got us off the horses and walked off without a word of apology or even acknowledging how upset we all were. They are truly uncaring people, and I bet their “excellent” rating is based on a bunch of their friends’ reviews, not real clients’...