My boys have been wanting to try horseback riding for a long time now. Browsing through the recommended things to do near Life is Good Cabin in Lake James, horseback riding was among the activities. The specific stable listed on their website was closed due to Covid-19 (and wasn’t particularly close anyway) so I did a little research and found Cedar Creek Stables in Lake Lure.
Since this was the boys’ first time on horses (and my first time in decades), we opted for the shorter 1 hour Creek Trail ride and chose a late afternoon reservation. The owner warned me that they frequently get pop-up storms in the afternoons in summer so the ride may be cancelled, but that was the only time that fit in my work scheduled so we took a chance.
As requested, we arrived 15 minutes early to fill out the forms. Masks were required while filling out the forms and paying but not on the ride itself. We ended up waiting a good bit beyond our scheduled start time and were starting to get a little frustrated when someone finally showed up to assign us our horses. She had all the kids stand up to get a sense of their size and then told them their horse’s name. Normally they would take everyone down to the stables on a wagon but in Covid-19 world they had us drive our own cars down to the stables and park there.
When we arrived at the stable, the kids were given their helmets (which were required for kids and optional for adults) and we were given instructions on how to ride the horses. We then went to our assigned horses, and the staff helped us get on. When I told the girl which horse I had she laughed and led me to him. I said “that’s not good” and she said “oh Nate just LOVES to eat.” JB had Montana and RB had Rusty and they were both so excited to finally get to ride a horse.
The staff led us out of the stable and on to the trail that went past the field and into the woods. Each horse was led out individually in a specific order (to keep families together) and then there were 3 staff members who rode with our group of 12 – one in front, one in the middle, and one in the back. True to Nate’s reputation, he immediately pulled off the trail and started eating. I had to pull very hard to get him back on course (he was persistent) and this became a constant battle between us on the ride. I was not expecting to get such an upper body workout on this trip!
When I signed us up for the Cedar Creek Trail, I had no idea that the creek itself WAS the trail. As soon as we entered the woods, we turned not onto a dirt trail but into the creek itself. The boys loved it! The horses waded along in the water, usually relatively shallow but sometimes high enough that I picked me feet up a little so they wouldn’t get wet. It was much more of an adventure than we were expecting and really made the ride unique.
After traipsing through the creek for a while, we did turn and head up into the mountains. The trail was pretty and wooded (Nate kept trying to eat from the side of the trail!) and steep at times. There had been some ominous clouds in the distance when we arrived and a few very far off rumbles of thunder during the ride. The staff were in constant radio contact with the owner and ready to head back if it became necessary. Luckily it did not. The weather held and we got to complete the ride.
About midway through the ride, the leader stopped the group and dismounted her horse to take pictures of each of us on our horses. (Due to Covid-19, she used her own phone and then texted them to us.) I really appreciated her taking them, since otherwise 90% of my photos were of the horses’ behinds.
After our photo break we started winding our way down the mountain and back to the stable. We got in the creek for another good stretch, which made for a fun end to the ride.
The boys absolutely loved their first horseback riding experience. The ride was unique, the staff was great, the horses were gentle and easy for beginners to ride. It was worth the trip from Lake James. That smile says it all!
