We are sorry this family did not feel the experience was as awesome as most. The great thing about a review site like TripAdvisor is that the ratings come from a diverse and unrelated source of people from all over the world. To say our rides are overrated would be to suggest that the majority of our reviewers (5 star) didn't rate us properly. We find that difficult to accept given the # of reviews that we have of that calibre.
We genuinely appreciate the reviewers honest assessment, weighing pros and cons - the pros speak for themselves, so no need to expound on them. We do, however, need to clarify some points on the cons (of course!) so that anyone reading this is completely informed of how we do business. Another plus of a review website like this - we get to explain misgivings or misunderstandings right here under the review!
Con #1 - Very little interaction from the guide. This was a private tour. We treat these a little differently from a standard group ride. People who choose this tour go with it for a few reasons: the quietude, peacefulness and privacy of having no one else on the tour. Or they choose it so that they can unleash their experienced riding skills or because they have no riding skills. On a private tour we step back a little and let the riders enjoy their privacy. We don't ask riders WHY they chose the private tour but give them the respect of being a little more...private. Additionally, our guides gauge the attitude and personalities of the riders within the first little while to see how involved they are in conversation. After a few questions, you can determine from the responses if they want to keep talking or just enjoy the ride in quiet. It's not a perfect science, but the alternative (a chatty, nosy, invasive guide) would get us much worse reviews. Sometimes the riders don't stop talking - easy for us to see what they want. Sometimes they answer in one word response...do we keep pushing or let go? We do our best to figure you out - apologies if we get it wrong on occasion.
Con #2 - Water. I think this reviewer may have mentioned this on the tour as it was brought up in our staff meeting this week. If so, thanks for the feedback! We are now stocking water on every ride. It wasn't an oversight on our part. Long ago we used to bring drinks and found that most riders brought their own. So we stopped. It's not a problem to add it back in.
Con #3 - Pictures. This one upset us. From all previous reviews you will see that we are DILIGENT about taking photos (with the riders' permission). With your camera. For free. That has been a MUST on our rides. Our guides are instructed on how to do it and where to do it. No exceptions. Recently a freelance photographer started taking photos on the beach at a cost. We have insisted that he explain that he is not affiliated with us and detail what he does. We have also insisted that the guides advise the riders that it is THEIR choice to pay him. We still take photos with your cameras. If this was not made absolutely clear, we apologize and will speak with the photographer immediately. We appreciate that riders are paying hard earned dollars to ride with us and we do everything we can to give them good value for their money. Anything less than that is not ok.
Con #4 - Swimming. The swim portion is about 15-20 minutes. That is made clear on our website and within our confirmation and info packs. Depending on the wave action, we have to adjust where the horses go in the water and how deep we can take them. If it's too rough, the swim tour is downgraded to a beach-only ride. It's a bummer, but safety of horse and rider is never a question. Sometimes the water is smooth and perfect, sometimes not. That determines how we do the swim. At no time are the riders themselves actually swimming. That is also explained in our collateral. You are always on the horse's back (unless you slip off) and it is the horse who swims. We go out to 6-7' of water in some areas, between shallower banks. The horses cannot swim with a rider in deep sea for 20 minutes. They'll drown. We'll make sure our guides explain this in more detail before a ride.
Tips - Appreciation to the reviewer for adding their tips - of which we agree. These are things we recommend in our info pack upon confirmation of the reservation. We always suggest riders go to our website for more information before making a reservation and email us with any questions.
To be informed is to be prepared.
Chelsea Rivers
Owner
Spirit of the West
