Reen Manor Riding Stables — Local services in Perranzabuloe

I'm an experienced rider who has their own horse and my family kindly bought me a surprise beach ride for my birthday while I was on holiday. I was paired with a 17.2hh giant called Eric who got fed up with the ride and did a MASSIVE fly buck at speed on the beach to deliberately ditch his rider (this was not out of excitement but out of frustration with the situation). In my opinion the groups are way too big (I counted 17) and a mixed ability ride never works... I also don't think its very clever separating the horses on the beach especially when you separate two horses who are best buddies and just want to stay together. So my holiday/birthday plans were ruined and spent with a bruised swollen chin, whiplash, swollen purple thumb, bruised swollen coccyx and unable to walk unaided or dress myself for a week. Riding school said "it happens to the best of us" and "these things happen" although if they know that a 17.2hh horse enjoys to fly buck so enthusiastically then I really don't think that he should be used for paying customers? Speaking of which, no sort of refund was offered for the privilege and they just wanted me gone before the next group could see me hobbling away! So no, I do not recommend... and even if I hadn't of been chucked off I still wouldn't recommend because this isn't proper riding in my opinion.

Additional comments following response from Reen Manor: I am 5'6" and weigh 10 stone, I therefore do not require a 17.2hh horse and Eric's fly bucking aside, he was not an advanced riders cup of tea as he really couldn't be bothered to put one foot in front of the other (up until the point he was to be reunited with Charlie). Therefore, I don't think you should split those two up on the beach otherwise you're putting someone else in danger of getting seriously hurt when he responds like that. I also forgot to mention that two other horses on our ride decided to get down and roll on the beach (riders still on board), so again these are unsafe habits. Regarding the comment about only having 11 client horses, this is simply untrue because there were AT LEAST 17 people on our ride (3 of which were staff). I would also like to correct you on something... I did not fall off, I was thrown off which is a very different thing. The comments made by staff were supposed to make me feel better yes, however if id seen someone get thrown off and they couldn't immediately get up, complained of pain in their back, hand, and face and were feeling dizzy then id be sending them in to hospital (not giving them an ice pack and shoeing them away). I was in shock and someone should have taken charge of the situation properly (and that person should not have been me). Just to update on the thumb, that's broken by the way and requires surgery. Additionally, I'm spending a small fortune on seeing an osteopath to try and put my back right - I notice you didn't respond about any sort of refund. I agree that the route is very beautiful but there was no flow to the riding, you are constantly stopping and the trots are about 10 strides max then back to halt again (i.e. not proper riding). I'm afraid I would actually give up riding rather than visit Reen Manor again. If you're an experienced rider and want to experience proper riding on the beach then I highly recommend Los Almos in Southern Spain - the horses are fantastic with excellent manners and they actually let you "ride". In the mean time, I'll be sticking with my own boy (when I'm actually able to...

I'm going to try to be as fair as possible here...after all this is £75 each - a total of £300. Our family of 4 adults were all novices of sorts - however, my husband & I had done several sporadic rides & hacks before through woodland, mooreland on a beach and even through Monument Valley. Our daughters had ridden maybe 2-3 times before so were complete novices. You are asked to notify the stables upon booking what your experience is, then again when you arrive, so I have to question why one if my novice daughters was given the most unresponsive horse possible - even a guide kept saying how awkward this particular horse was - she didn't have the experience to make the horse obey and she's now said she won't bother with horses again. The stable is nice, the horses are well looked after and the staff are pleasant. But, I would have to say that the ride was the tamest we have ever done, anywhere. We file very slowly in single file around 1 mile though some pretty dunes to the beach. The trail is very narrow & we cannot stray because of rabbit holes, this makes the whole journey to the beach feel very sanitised & unadventurous. Along the way we are assessed by a couple of very small trots (literally 5-6 seconds long) as to whether we will be allowed to canter on the beach - we apparently all failed that part, but that doesn't bother me too much as my daughter's certainly didn't feel confident enough after a few seconds trotting experience. After the long, slow walk we finally get to the beach - the experience, right? We get around 10 minutes on the beach, the sand was too gloopy to paddle, we watched those that passed the test do a quick gallop down the beach and back we go! Not much of an experience in my opinion & certainly nothing like our last experience of a beach ride where we were knee deep in the water. In fact I'd be pushed to call it a beach ride - it's really a dune walk! You are not allowed to take photographs while on your horse, so on the beach I asked if there was an opportunity to get one taken - there was a garbled excuse about waiting for the others, then we just set off back. So we don't even have a photo memory of our family on horseback by the sea. We went back the same way at the same pace with another couple of very short trots. My conclusion - if you are a complete novice with absolutely no previous experience, then you will probably enjoy this ride. Is it £75 worth - not in my book, I would have been much happier at the £50-55 mark. For £75 we expected to come away beaming, instead we came away with a 'meh!' I would love to add photos,...

I would really like to have written a highly possitive review as both staff and horses were very friendly, however in all honesty I had very high hopes, but was overall left disappointed.

For the 2 hour Beach Hack

If you are deemed: very experienced (a current rider) or, a complete novice, then this may be a fun experience. However if like me you fall in between the two categories and have some riding experience and may even just be a little rusty then this may be disappointing.

Due the nature of the ride you get split up into two groups (walking or cantering) and due to fears for Health and Safety, especially since an accident occurred this year resulting in an air ambulance being required, they are extremely, extremely cautious (as was told to me) and you will probably get put into the novice walking group with people who have very little to no horse experience. This for me when I thought it would be a different ride ruined the experience. Instead I slowly walked a small section of the beach before walking back with a couple of very brief trots on the very bramble, stinging nettle and thorny route back) and in my opinion made it a waste of £55.

I understand Health and Safety is paramount and that the staff have the experience, knowledge and say as to which group they think you're suited (However, as stated previously, if you have ridden before, including cantering, but are not deemed suited by the staff for the cantering beach ride it is very disheartening) I found the experience under-whelming and if I had known then that it would just have been a walk I sadly think that I would not have gone.

Maybe a refresher lesson would have been beneficial for myself, to just get in the rhythm again, as riding ability is assessed on first canter attempt before you have got a feel for the the horse or how it rides.

But of you fall into the two categories mentioned, or would even just enjoy a nice slow paced stroll on the beach then it could be a fun experience, I unfortunately found it very sadly disappointing. A real shame.

Like I said otherwise both staff and horses were friendly with nice views...