Cindy's Riding Stable — Local services in Mackinac Island

I thought a while before posting this review and while it isn't my intention to hurt their business, I feel I need to share my experience. My wife and I were on the island for a couple days and decided we would try horseback riding. We each had done it a handful of times before in our lives and we both really like animals and thought it would be a neat way to experience the island. For those of you who have not been here before, there is a questionnaire and liability waiver that you fill out. On the questionnaire, some of the questions include: How many times have you ridden? What level of experience do you have? What type of horse would you like to ride? Do you want to wear a helmet? Respectfully, I answered/circled "1-5 Times," I consider myself a novice, I would be ok with a horse that likes to be in the front of the pack and no, I don't want to wear a helmet. When it was time for our reservation, we showed back up and were told the horses we would be riding. There were maybe 6-8 other people riding at the same time (though no one we knew) and as the workers brought the horses out one by one and the other riders got on theirs and I snapped a few pictures of my wife on her horse. I will say - all of the horses seemed calm/tame and ok with people being on them. My horse, Nevada, came out and I hopped up on him. If you haven't seen the layout of the building, they have a almost gravel parking lot between their building/stables and the building next to them. When I got on Nevada, we were positioned by a staircase that was coming down off the neighboring building. The workers there had given people brief instructions on how to steer, go, stop the horses. No more than two minutes after being on my horse, and as they were leading the other horses/riders out into the street to leave, my horse either got spooked, panicked or maybe mad that he wasn't leading and began bucking. Having never experienced it before, I tried to hold on as best as I could until ultimately was bucked off the horse and hit the stair railing and fell to the ground and had the horse roll partially on top of me. My wife said after that, he got up and started running towards the street to leave and the workers grabbed him as I tried to get to my feet and get my bearings straight. After it had happened, it seemed like no one there knew what to do or how to handle the situation with a couple employees even offering me a different horse if I still wanted to ride. I had blood coming down my arm, my back, chest, head and elbow/arm all hurt really bad and as I wasn't in any shape to ride, my wife and I were issued a refund and an apology. I want to say I understand horses are animals and no one knows how they will act but I am really shocked at how the situation was handled. Never did anyone offer to call 911 or for me to sit down and let them have someone check me out or anything of that nature. We were merely issued the refund and sent on our way almost as if we just had a change of heart and no longer wanted to ride. Now, 3 days since the incident has happened, no one has even courtesy called me to make sure I was doing ok. I wanted to post this because I want people to understand this CAN happen to you. I never thought that day as we were signing the waiver form that something that could have completely altered my life would have happened. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to walk away from it only battered and bleeding and hope through my review, there my be consideration to making all riders wear helmets and if someone reads this and is considering riding or not, perhaps this will be your sign to pass on...

My daughter and I rented horses. I rode Daisy (female) and my daughter rode Sidney (male). My horse Daisy did not like my daughter’s horse, who was following mine as she kicked back once at him and I had to work hard to keep her focus on me. The guide said, “Daisy doesn’t like male horses only females”, so she was already upset. The guide went with the other 2 people as they were going longer. The guide directed us on a trail stating, “ cross the paved rd to the trail as the rd will take you right back to the stable”. We headed down the trail and got to the rd to cross. Daisy (my horse) became very upset over leaving the group first off. She became VERY vocal about it. She kept calling out to the other horses that had left us. I continued to reassure her to no avail. At the rd (where we were to cross) she refused to cross it and instead went down the paved rd. I made several attempts to turn her around as she continued to be vocal and know wanting to bolt. I continued to try to calm her, again to no avail. She was very agitated and I was concerned she was going to rear up so I let her go where she wanted out of safety concern. Daisy took us right back to the stables and bolted through the stables and ignored my commands (both verbal and with the reins) to stop before the stable so I could dismount. I guess I’m disappointed that staff paired my daughters horse with mine first off, as they knew my horse’s preference (female vs male) and the fact Daisy is a horse that has anxiety leaving the pack. This created a potentially dangerous situation for myself (riding a panicked horse). Being a nurse and having experience in staying calm during an intense situation helped to keep Daisy somewhat calm enough to not rest or bolt, I’m sure if I would have panicked like I wanted to someone may have been injured. My daughters horse (Sidney) on the other hand was a very well-behaved and gentle horse. I know this is a business and the goal is to make money, I would have waited for a different time or day as to have horses paired for the ride and situation better. I know this may be a new staff and the beginning of the yr and the horses have been coupes up, but this pairing created an...

Wonderful experience with Cindys! I chose the 1.5 hour unguided ride and went by myself on a white horse named TQ. I showed up at 11am on a Monday mid-August and was able to get riding by 11:30am. $75 was reasonable and I loved that they let me go off on my own.

STAFF: The young woman who greeted me was very friendly. They have you fill out some info on your experience level before they select a horse for you. They provided helmets of different sizes if you wanted to wear one. My guide who took me and another rider up to the trails was also very friendly.

THE RIDE: For the 1.5 hour unguided ride, the first 30 minutes or so was with the guide out of town and up to the trails. Then she sent me on my way on a dirt trail for about 15-20 minutes where I saw no one, to Sugar Loaf Rd, Arch Rock rd behind the fort, the Governor's Mansion, then the Grand Hotel golf course, and down the hill by the Grand Hotel. (My one suggestion would be for the guides to mention these landmarks when giving directions back to Cindy's.)

MY HORSE: TQ was great! I have many years of riding experience but hadn't ridden in almost 10 years. I felt very safe the whole time. He needed a little direction sometimes, but that was just fine. Both his walk and trot had lots of 'get up and go' but he was very responsive if I wanted to change gait or move off to the side of the road more. He was not spooked at all by e-bikes, the airplane overhead, or the garbage bag of leaves (lol.) A very good boy!

I'd highly recommend even to experienced riders who might otherwise be bored on guided trail rides because of their unguided option. I've been to Mackinac Island many times, and this was my favorite way to...