St Maarten horseback riding?

[skoi]

I've been reading very different views of two stables on St Maarten-- Bayside and Lucky Stables. Any opinions on them would be welcome.

Thanks,
Julie

 

[callahanjulie10]

We have used Bayside 2 times and loved it. We went to Lucky on our 1st cruise and decided against it- not a nice area and I would not want to ride there. We strictly rode on the beach and through the water. The only downside is the taxi cost to and from- it is on the French side where Lucky is on the Dutch side.

 

[inkkognito]

We went to Lucky, as we wanted to go to the closest stable and the tourism office told us about them. We took a cab there and went on a ride...definitely not in the nicest area! You actually go through an oil refinery for part of the ride! The horses were also quite high strung and were getting very nervous because there were a lot of dirt bikers around. We enjoy it, but both my husband and I are experienced riders and own horses. I thought the horses were a bit hyper for trail horses.
We took a "bus" back, which is actually a van that drives around and picks up people. It only costs a dollar, and although the last stop is usually by the stores, the driver brought us as close to the ship as they would let him get (we have him an extra tip). We were the only tourists on board.
Barb

 

[skoi]

Thanks.

I did a search on the board and found a thread about the people at Bayside being quite unfriendly to Americans? Can anyone enlighten me on how that all turned out? I'm not sure how to link to it as I'm terribly internet illiterate.

It'll be hard enough getting my husband to go to the French part of St Martin as it is , and when he saw that-- he hit the roof. Of course if his deployment come through he might well be on some big ugly gray Navy ship instead of the Magic so the horse riding thing will be a non-issue.

Thanks again,
Julie

PS We are not horse people.I've ridden a camel at the zoo, and that was the end of riding things for me. DD 10 loves horses, and her little brother 6 follows her lead. But he's too young to ride at Bayside.

 

[callahanjulie10]

They have never been rude to us, in fact, my DH doesn't ride horses and stayed at the little open air bar area and chatted while we went on our ride! We went there in Sept 2002 and then again last July.