Old Bethpage Equestrian Center

My mother bought a group of 3 lessons for my daughter the Christmas before last when she was 7 years old. That spring/​summer, she was still small and nervous about being around the horses. I figured we’d wait into the fall/​winter to do it so she’d be a bit bigger. By the time October rolled around and we still hadn’t gone, I knew they were expiring on 12÷18÷15, so I started calling. Different times, weekdays, weekends, early, late, to see if I could extend the lessons until the spring… NO ONE EVER ANSWERED THE PHONE!!! When I called again as spring was coming around (early March) they FINALLY had an answering machine. They returned my call, and when I explained the situation to the first gentleman I spoke to, he said he was sure they would honor the gift certificate and he would have them call me back. When a woman returned my call the second time, she said there were new owners and they would not honor it under any circumstances. So basically, we threw away almost $ 200, even though I attempted reaching them for months to get it extended (they knew and acknowledged that the past owners didn’t have an answering machine and I had no way of getting in touch with them) and we were still told the certificate won’t be honored. Thanks for nothing. I’ll be taking my daughter somewhere else for horseback riding lessons.
PS: The only reason I’m giving them ONE star is because Unilocal won’t let me post it with ZERO stars, which is exactly what they deserve.

I had the best experience EVER! I am soo in love with the place it’s unreal. Although it did take them a while to answer the phone in order for me to make an appointment for my group on, I’m just glad I got through! Sincerely the best equestrian center experience that I have had. The trail leader Autumn was awesome with so much personality, and the other staff was great as well after. She taught me so much about horses and answered everyone of my many questions lol. All in all I honestly can’t wait to go back.
Plus: they let us meet all the horses after our ride and told us about each horses personality.
By, a satisfied customer.
Visit: 1÷15÷2015

When my friends and I purchased this groupon for a horseback riding trail we were excited as this was something we had not done before as a group. So we called to set up the appointment for a Sunday afternoon and we were given a 2pm appointment time for our trail. But when got to the Old Bethpage Equestrian Center at about 1:40pm that afternoon, we were told that our trail was going to be about 1 hour late. So we waited and waited and waited some more until our trail started at about 3:35pm. Not to mentioned that the staff was extremely rude, gave us no instructions whatsoever on whether or not to wear helmets and did not accomodate us at all considering their lateness. Their customer service was certainely poor as they lacked the very basic etiquettes of operating a business. Once we got on the horses, it was like we all were supposed to just know what to do. No short instructional directions at all as to what to do the get the horse to listen to your commands, how to hold on or anything. The trail was beautiful as we enjoyed the fall scenery but it was entirely too slow with little direction. The horses seemed just lethargic and tired. I have been on other trails and did horseback rididng before and the horses pick up speed but these horses moved slow the entire time. I would not recommend this groupon to anyone. If there was a no star option that is what they would get. Thumbs down. Never again!!!

So the groupon deal we found was great! The overall experience could have been better — I mean they ask if anyone has ever ridden you either raise your hand or not then they get you on the horse and it’s like «go ahead kick the horse». Could we have gotten a 1 minute lesson on what to do? Very nerve racking because for a first timer I wanted to hold onto the saddle but all you hear is keep the «reins forward»…well how the heck are we supposed to know what that really means. Then we are told to kick the horse so they move… well how hard because we don’t want to hurt them and get kicked off. They leader of the group says you can ask any questions but once you are on the horse kind of single file it’s impossible to scream to the front or back person on how to do anything… loved the idea but definitely could have been more enjoyable.

Even one star is too much! I bought a deal in groupon to go horseback riding on a trail and for Starters it takes forever an to schedule an appointment, they always let it go to the machine (even when you’re there you hear the phone ringing and it going straight to the machine) when we finally got through, they didn’t have space for our group of 9, so we broke up the group at 10am and 11am. They told us to be there a half and hour early. So our first group showed up at 9:30 and nothing. Than at 10 our second group showed up. Then they told us they only had one of our reservations for 5 people but they said they could accommodate us and fit us all together at 10:50. So we stayed. We waited and waited. At 11, they took these other 2 ppl that showed up at 9:30 but has no reservation and told us to wait. We waited again, it was 11:45 and we decided to ask what was going on. This lady with short hair was polite and told us they were really backed up but we would be next but didn’t know how long it would take and than this old man next to her decided to get smart with my friend (who was speaking) telling her she can go clean the horses and he would teach her. Of course she got offended and asked him to not get funny with her. He kept it going and was like well at least brush her hair it’s relaxing. At that time another lady came to us and told us they also pushed back her reservation time that she had and had no idea when her and her daughter would ride. Finally we got fed up and decided to leave, when we were leaving they told that one lady, they set us a horse for them to go horseback riding but they couldn’t do that for us. At the end, it seemed like they were being a little racist with us bc they quickly found ways to attend other groups but with us they had us wait since 9:30. I’m not one to write a bad review but this place really was unprofessional and if your going to put your business up on groupon, you should be ready with the amount of business you’re going to get and at least answer the phone to make appointments.