Ride in the Bahamas for Fun or To Improve Skills
Beach Riding or World-Class Lessons in Nassau, Bahamas
May 3, 2009
In Nassau, Bahamas, there are two major types of English riding: beach riding for novices to advanced riders, and lessons, also for beginners or experienced riders. Nassau offers well-established, professionally run establishments for both types of riding.
Beach Riding in Nassau, Bahamas
Beach Trails is a trail-riding facility operated by Windsor Equestrian Center/Happy Trails. Its owner was an amateur rider in England and has been riding since age 6. The Equestrian Center offers a riding arena and instruction, but the Beach Trails division is suitable for even novice riders, as long as they are 12 years old or older.
Beach Trails will pick riders up from hotels and cruise ships via courtesy bus. At the stables, each rider is given basic riding instruction (how to sit, how to hold the reins, how to stop a horse from moving forward, and so on). Then they are led for a 1.5-hour ride through woods to an unspoiled beach.
Of course, there are a few restrictions. A minimum age of 12 is one, and the activity is not suitable for the physically or mentally challenged as the facility does not have the sorts of equipment, horses and personnel to accommodate various needs. There is a weight limit of 200 pounds, as well, although they can be flexible as long as they have larger horses in the program; they do not ask any horse to carry more than 25% of its own weight.
For more information about Beach Trails, phone 242-362-1820, or email Sue@coralwave.com.
World-class Lessons for Beginner and Advanced Riders
If you are already a rider (or want to be), and want the thrill of riding in perfect weather on horses trained by a top-notch instructor who is Bahamian by birth but was educated at a premier U.S. equestrian degree-granting college, Virginia Intermont in Bristol, Virginia, then you might investigate Afterglow Stables.
Claire Cash is the owner/instructor, and, in addition to her degree and her British Horse Society credentials earned via apprenticeship in England, she has more than 20 years’ experience teaching riders from beginner to show-circuit level, and is a fully qualified riding instructor. Parents of young riders, particularly, should be careful, at home or on vacation, to find qualified instructors for safety’s sake.
Learn to Ride on Happily Rescued Horses
Perhaps even more attractive for some riders, Afterglow Stables is very “green,” with most horses trained for riding after being rescued from the Bahamaian “outback.” In addition to a good grounding in English riding basics, with Afterglow, riders can also feel that they have contributed to the welfare of horses in the Bahamas. In North America and Europe, it is relatively easy to place an unwanted horse. In the Bahamas, it’s very difficult, so many people who are tired of their horses simply dump them to forage in marshy, inhospitable back country. Afterglow saves and retrains them to be safe lesson horses, if not the most gorgeous horses on the planet (although some are).
Accommodation for “Special Needs” Riders
If someone in your party is physically or mentally impaired, Afterglow Stables may be able to accommodate you. Because it caters to only a few riders at a time, unlike Happy Trails which caters to larger groups, Afterglow can often teach special needs riders, not on the beach, but in the safe, enclosed arena. Afterglow can also accommodate children under age 12 because it limits the number of riders on horseback at any one time, and therefore can thus more closely supervise the activity. There is no rule of thumb regarding such accommodation, however, and?as with any lesson barn?you will have to speak with the instructor and discuss the possibilities. Call Claire at Afterglow Stables at 242 424 8901, or send Claire an email at Sankasox@gmail.com.
