Five Oaks Riding Stables

For an EXPERIENCED rider! Wouldn’t recommend for a child under 13 unless experienced. This trail is on a mountain with narrow trails. Horses prefer walking on sides of the trail versus the middle because of the mud. This would quiet scary and yes, traumatizing! Please find an alternate trail for 1^st timer kiddos. Again, this is a good trail for those who have previous experience, NOT for little ones who haven’t yet. Condition of the horses are questionable. One horse had ankles as limp as noodles… I was sure the horse would end up with a broken ankle or two. Horses were dirty, some with feces in their manes… older gentlemen that lead the trail didn’t impress me. Rude at times. I’ll sum it up: For the best experience here, experienced adult riders, most likely, will experience a good time. Others – will not.

We had a great ride, our guide Gary was great and very personable. Horses we in good shape and seemed healthy and cared for.

Negative stars. There is something not right at all about this place. There are a ton of horses all crowded into one area and drinking out of the same trough. They were filthy and looked as if they hadn’t been groomed in weeks. There was no indication they had stalls to sleep in. Although no one was riding yet, multiple horses were already tacked and just crowded in with the other horses. They were so close together they were kicking and biting each other. The smell was horrific. (We ride frequently when on vacation and this was not a normal horse barn smell.) Worst of all, down in the pasture (I use that term loosely as it was really just dirt) was a pony all by herself. We were there 3 days and she was down there all three days in the rain pacing back and forth along the fence gazing up at the main barn area. We were told 3 different stories as to why she was there alone: 1) she was sick and was separate from the other horses; 2) she had misbehaved and was in time out and 3) she was a rescue horse and would be moved up to the main area later on after she acclimated. When I asked how long they had had her I was told one year??? This is obviously a money making venture for whoever owns it and care for the horses is not a priority at all. So glad we did not ride because I would have felt horrible contributing money to them. Someone needs to check into this business and investigate how those horses are treated. Terrible. If you want a great vacation horseback experience try Wampee Stables in North Myrtle Beach. They do it right and treat their horses wonderfully.

The overall experience was great! However, it took awhile for our group to be assigned a horse and saddle up. (We spent a lot of time standing there waiting for the guides to pick horses for us to ride). It would have been nice for the guides to be more personable throughout the trail ride as well. (I don’t even know what our guide’s name was). If you are looking for a basic trail ride, this may be an experience for you.

I do not recommend this business. Their interpersonal practices are terrible and bordering on the side of gender discrimination, but their animal care practices are abhorrent. They have been known to keep exponentially too many horses in small paddocks with no pasture, no hay, no shelter, and in below freezing temperatures. They are, obviously, not paying their most important employees — their horses — a living wage: FOOD. I’m seeing many, many horses with poor condition and, as another client mentioned, they have, admittedly, allowed their deworming protocals to go ignored for far too long.

My fiancée and I stayed in a hotel next door to this place over the Christmas holidays. At night we would go out on our balcony, and it overlooked where this place kept 3 of their horses. There were no stables or shelter for the horses. The horses were left out all day in the sun with no shade provided and nothing to block the wind at night. It was really cold all the nights we stayed. Last night it was about 25 degrees and had been raining all day and rained all night. I felt so bad for the horses. The owners of this place could invest in some cheap wood to provide some type of shelter for their horses and/​or one of those jackets/​cover-​ups so they don’t get sick. They were at least nice enough to leave some hay for them to eat though.