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denisea
Forum Goddess
Registered: Fri Aug 16, 2002
Location: On the road to ruins...
Posts: 6891
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Review Date: Wed Apr 27, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Small Groups, Friendly/Knowledgable/Attentive Staff, Well Cared for Animals, Beautiful Location
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Cons:
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I've been riding and showing horses since age 6 and IMHO this is the only horseback riding tour to do in PDC. Over the 20003/2004 holidays, I arranged for 2 different groups to go horseback riding at Rancho Punta Venado. I also joined one of the groups. Our group, like all groups at Rancho Punta Venado, was limited to a maximum of 10 people. My personal experience has been that riding in a small intimate group is much more enjoyable than riding with a whole cattle herd. The atmosphere is completely different because the smaller group caters more to the individual experience. Rancho Punta Venado is just this type of place.
I've also found that typically horses at smaller ranches are healthier and better cared for than those of the larger tourist oriented operations and again Rancho Punta Venado is no exception. Their horses are beautiful, healthy animals that are well cared for by an attentive staff. The even temperment of their horses allows each tour to be easily adapted to the level of expertise of the individual rider making it perfect for the beginner or novice rider as well as the more advanced rider. Our guides paired each of us up with a horse appropriate to our individual skill levels and then instructed us on what to do (and what not to do) while on horesback in order to have a safe and enjoyable ride.
Our tour started out on a simple dirt trail that winds through the jungle and then onto an awesome isolated stretch of unspoiled sandy white beach. You can also arrange to swim with the horses, however, this is dependent upon the experience of the riders in your group and our particular group was not experienced enough to entertain this idea. The ride lasted approximately 1 hour. Though the time spent at the ranch is really closer to 2 hours as opposed to an hour. Drinks and snacks are also served after the ride --- we were offered sandwiches and various chips along with water, juice or soda.
If riding in a small intimate group through the jungle and on an isolated beach is the type of experience that you seek, then I highly recommend Rancho Punta Venado.
If you go, consider scheduling your ride for early in the morning for two reasons.
- The horses will be rested and not tired from earlier rides.
- It will be much cooler riding in the morning as opposed to the heat of the midday/afternoon sun.
Happy trails!
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DiKC
way into it
Registered: Wed Sep 22, 2004
Location: Kansas City area
Posts: 233
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Review Date: Mon Jun 13, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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We made reservations through the hotel for a morning ride, and got to the Ranch by taxi from Playa. We waited around quite awhile for some other people to show up, and ended up with about 7 guests on horses. Nice small group.
They fit you to the appropriate horse based on your size and experience, and do a brief training on how to ride. One person was wearing a helmet - maybe she was a minor.
The ride was slow. After riding through the jungle we finally reached the beach, and it began raining. I think our time was cut short because of that. We also didn't do anything but ride out to a spot on the beach and turn around and head back - no "fun" riding.
We had our slow ride back through the jungle and back to the ranch house. The taxi did not come back for us, or possibly it had come earlier but we were late because of our late start on the ride itself. We sat there over an hour and a half before the ranch staff helped us get transportation back to Playa. They had gone to take their lunch break. Finally one of the staff drove out to 301 to flag down a taxi. (It is a very, very long drive from the ranch out to 301 - not something that could be walked).
The outing ended up taking most of our day for a one-hour horse ride. It was certainly not our best day in Playa.
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