Madonna Inn Trail Rides — Local services in San Luis Obispo

I don't normally write scathing reviews of places, but I feel like this is the best way to see change. I tried to take my aunt to this Trail Barn for her to have her first experience with horses. when I called them the night before to schedule, I asked how they felt about nervous first-time writers because my aunt had never been on a horse before. They assured me that they dealt with nervous and inexperienced writers often and that 40% of their customers had never even seen a horse before. When we got there, both ladies running the barn we're incredibly rude and called us. They threw paperwork at us without even introducing themselves, greeting us, or asking our names or how we're doing that day. They showed us where the helmets were at and I, not either of the workers, got my aunt and I situated with helmets. once we had helmets on, my aunt admitted that she was nervous and the girl told her that she shouldn't ride if she isn't nervous because she didn't want anything bad to happen. I questioned that it sounded like she didn't have faith in her horses to handle a nervous new Rider, which is interesting because that is the majority of the clients that come to ride at a tourist attraction Trail Barn. the girl immediately got defensive and said that she had faith in her horses, she just didn't want anything to happen because horses can panic when the rider is nervous. I thought that was an interesting comment because, having ridden at a trail barn for many years myself, I know for a fact that most of the horses are picked for their calm even temperament. The girl told us we should just get a refund and try riding someplace else. she was not the least bit reassuring, warm, or comforting. She was rude and cold the entire time and treated us as if we were stupid. We got our refund and left. I'm heartbroken that any Barn would treat a client like that. I don't know anybody that was born confident riding horses. Everybody was scared their first time and most people wouldn't have kept riding if they had been treated the way these people treated my aunt. I really wanted to share with her the magic of horses and there was no magic to be found today, only disappointment and incredibly rude staff. We will be taking our business elsewhere to a barn that treats people with respect...

I’m sure the trail rides are very nice—however whoever runs this operation needs to update their communication and reservation workflows. Over the course of three days, I emailed, called three times (no one answered), left a voicemail, and sent a text message. Complete radio silence—then a text message reply comes in approximately 18 hours after I sent mine saying they’re closed for the week because of the heat wave. Which is completely fair! Safety first! But if they knew the whole week that they would close, they should have done the following: -Communicate the closure to the reservation office at the inn so that they know and can inform people who (like me) have traveled from around the country to stay at the inn and enjoy its amenities. The Madonna Inn is internationally renowned and stuff like this reflects poorly on them, even if it’s technically operated by someone else. -Update the voicemail with the dates of anticipated closure. -Set up an automated workflow with SMS thru a provider like Attentive, postscript, or Klaviyo. When people text a keyword to the number, you can send automated, instant messages with updated hours! Such a workflow takes half an hour to set up, I’ve done it before. It can be turned on or off whenever needed. Automated flows can be set up for reservations too but that’s more complicated. In this day and age it just isn’t acceptable for communications to be so poor. I shouldn’t have to email AND call AND leave a voicemail AND send a text just to be left on read. I was really looking forward to doing this and now I don’t think I’ll try again when I come back. This is the Madonna Inn, world famous destination, not a dentists...

Our group had a blast at the Madonna Inn Trail Rides where we went on the 1.5 hour hill ride with a group of 10 people. There was a large outdoor expo on the Saturday we arrived so we had to park near the main hotel entrance and after checking in at the registration office walk the quarter mile or so to the stables. Registration staff didn't give us any parking info but the helpful guides told us about a side road that we could have taken to drive straight up to the stables for anyone going there when there is a large event. When we got to the stables we filled out the waivers and paperwork and then were introduced to our horses for the ride. Tanner, Ivy and Hayley were great and really helped us feel at home and safe for some of our more inexperienced riders. The ride took us up into the grassy hills behind the Madonna Inn where the dirt trails were easy and fun to navigate on our horses who seemed to know the area well. Bring a hat or sunscreen as the trail does get a lot of sun and some dust which is to be expected for such an amazing horseback riding experience! Highly recommend this company for their fair pricing, welcoming staff and beautiful San Luis...