Maroon Bells Guide And Outfitters — Local services in Aspen

My mom got bucked off her horse (maple) and broke her pelvis & there was no plan in place to help her. Staff seemed confused on how to handle it. Told her the only options were to walk back or get back on her horse and she could barely move so really neither was an option for her. How do they not have a better plan for if riders get injured?? Not to mention no one besides my family rushed to help her, the guides just stood there unsure what to do and not showing much concern. I witnessed it, she literally flew off her horse and landed really hard on her hip / back. Glad it happened where it did because most of the trail is just lots of big boulders everywhere and it could’ve been alot worse if she would’ve got bucked off on those parts. I’d wear a helmet if you ride here. She got bucked off at the end of the ride, We were not far up on the trail only about 3-5 minutes away from being back to the stables. The Trail at that point would’ve been wide enough to get an ATV back to pick her up but for some reason that wasn’t an option, my fiancé and I had to run back to our car and pick her up ourselves. Staff lacked empathy and didn’t seem to show much concern they just told her they had Tylenol & water back at the stables and gave her a wavier to sign while she was in extreme pain & discomfort. Their advice for what to do next?…go home, Tylenol, rest & drink water… didn’t even suggest that maybe she needs to go to the ER. So we waited til the evening to go when my mom was shaking uncontrollably & felt terrible to go to the hospital. The ER nurse told us my mom should’ve come in immediately as getting bucked off a horse like that can result in internal bleeding which can lead to death, luckily she didn’t have any internal bleeding, just a broken pelvis which still requires an ER visit. They never called her to check in on her later that day or since it happened a few days ago. They handled this Situation very poorly. Pretty place to ride but you better hope nothing bad happens to you while riding because they aren’t prepared to help their riders if they...

We have ridden with this outfitter many times on our trips to Aspen and have never had any issues. As long as everything goes good, the ride is beautiful and the wranglers are friendly. However, if things go wrong, they are not prepared to deal with a situation. Several days ago, I got bucked off my horse on the morning two hour ride. It was a very hard fall. I could hardly even get up off the ground or walk after the fall. I thought I had broken my back but after my ER visit, I discovered I had broken my pelvis in two places. The wranglers saw that I had been bucked off and they saw that I was in severe pain and couldn’t walk. When I asked how I was to get back to the stable, they told me I could get back on my horse or walk. We were less than 1/4 mile from the stable. I would have thought they would have called to the stable hands to get a mule or ATV back for me to ride to the stable. This was never offered. My husband and son helped me start walking back to the stable, while the wranglers took the rest of the riders back to the stable. When the wranglers finally came back they told us we could drive our vehicle down to pick me up which we did. I was asked to write an incident report which I did even though I just wanted to get back to our condo. It appears that the only plan for a situation like this is to be sure to get an incident report filled out! They have no plan for helping an injured rider. Nobody from the outfitters called to see how I was doing or feeling. It was like nothing ever happened. I would have thought out of courtesy, they could have checked in on me since the ride we booked was over $1,000 and we have ridden with them many times over the years. Very, very disappointed in how they handled the...

We did the 2-hour horseback ride ($195 per person). The horses were beautiful and well cared for, and the staff and wranglers were friendly. The views were absolutely stunning and it’s definitely a scenic experience.

That said, for the price, I was expecting some variety in the terrain—at least a few flat areas where we could trot or pick up the pace a little. Instead, the entire ride was on a steep, rocky mountain trail. While the scenery was beautiful, the actual riding wasn’t enjoyable. We were leaning forward and backward most of the time because of the constant hills and uneven ground. It didn’t feel great for us or for the horses.

Also, the ride wasn’t a loop. We went one way and then turned around, so we saw the exact same trail both directions, which was a bit of a letdown.

Beautiful location, but the trail experience didn’t quite live up to expectations—especially at this...