Would give zero stars if I could!
I got a refund from Groupon because of this extremely poor experience at this stable.
In addition to being extremely disorganized, and offering a lousy program, the stable manager, Cindy Wilkenson, is very unfriendly (unless you are a border?) and is not interested in helping your children learn to ride. We were treated very rudely and they were extremely unaccommodating and callous in their treatment of my daughter.
They are obsessed with covering their insurance liability and seem to have little interest in actually providing a service They will cancel your lesson at will without any concern for your time or your children's feelings.
Cindy Wilkenson clearly doesn't have any children of her own. This woman has a heart of stone. Her demeanor is that of an army drill sargent, not a teacher making this an inhospitable environment for children. My 9-year old daughter left this place in tears because of the cruelty and belligerent behavior of Cyndi, who she referred to as the ""mean old lady!""
I suspect that everyone is treated this way, but perhaps we were treated so poorly because we made the mistake of purchasing their Groupon offer, which was a complete WASTE of TIME AND MONEY.
My daughter had ridden many times before and we were promised that the program would be tailored to each persons ability and riding experience. That of course was a lie to get me to buy the package. My daughter was never evaluated and was subject to the same boring rip-off scheme as everyone else.
The first ""lesson"", 1 1/2 hours of reading to the kids from a horse coloring book! I kid you not! They didn't even see a horse that day!
Second lesson -- was canceled when we arrived at the stable because there were no other students for the class, but I was told that my daughter would ride for only 15 minutes that day in another 1.5 hour ""lesson."" What a joke!
They blame their insurance company. for this emphasis on safety, but their is really very little discussion of safety going on. We mostly got an earful from the instructor, Bethe, talking about herself and her glory days and sacrifices as a youth competitive rider.
The whole thing just felt like a scam. I grew up taking riding lessons and never did I experience such strict ""safety"" guidelines before. I just don't buy it.
In addition, the place is dead on a Saturday morning., which is not a good sign. I think the business is in trouble and they needed some quick cash a la this Groupon???
If you bought this and were equally dissatisfied, I suggest that you request a refund from Groupon. They will issue you a refund immediately. I got my refund within 5 minutes! I don't think that Las Trampas stables should get away with this poor excuse for riding lessons.
Don't waste your time at this stable. We won't be!
more