HorseBack Ride at Ponderosa Big Rock Riding Stables

My husband told me that when he was a kid, one of his brothers had a horse and he  remembered riding on it.  His experience wasn't really a memorable one because nobody taught him what to do and just told him to ride the horse and figured it out.  So on our vacation this year, he wanted all of us to have a  nice experience in horseback riding.

 This is what we did on our second day in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee .  We went to High Rock Riding Stables, a little drive from where we  stayed at.  I really love Pigeon Forge because it's like a high entertaining city with lots of things to do but I love the fact that you are also closer to nature.

 The photos above and below  is where all the  horses are.  They have so many! This place also prohibits you from carrying anything during the ride for security reasons so we couldn't take anything.  It's also their way of  getting you to buy the photos they took of you before you go to the trail, pretty good strategy if you asked me.  It would have been awesome to  take photos of the trail because it was beautiful!

 My son's horse  was well behaved despite the warning that our guide told my son that  his horse is  kind of lazy and needed to be wept but my son didn't really have to weep him.  The horse's name was Moonshine, she was really good actually.

My daughter's horse was energetic, she was running  when she get a chance so my daughter experienced how riding on a running horse feels like.  Her horse's name was Haa, she was the sister of the horse I was riding.

I have never really rode a horse before so I was excited and at the same time  a bit anxious because I didn't know if I will be able to maneuver the horse or not.  The guides are really good in explaining what to to do before you embark on a journey.  My horse's name was Gee and  she was giving me some attitude.  She was going on the side trail and eating some leaves which the guide then told me not to tolerate because she would not listen to me.  Other than that., she was a good horse.

My husband's horse's name is Maryland.  She was old and she actually look sick, I feel bad.  The guide was keep telling my husband to give the horse  a good weep but hubby felt bad to do it.  

I was very surprised that  the  guides that takes people to the trail  doesn't get paid a salary, they rely on tips that customers give.  We made sure to give our guide  some because he was very entertaining which made our experience more enjoyable.   The trail that we went to is not flat at all so I am glad that our horses did not   give us a hard time. 

We needed to cool down after our rides so we spent the rest of our remaining time   exploring all the other parts of the ranch.  They have a store for  souvenirs but you know how it is with business like this, the prices are  way up there lol.

 After our relaxing ride, we got to  spent time at the petting zoo.

 There are different kinds of animals  that  you can feed and pet like goats, rabbits, llama, and there were two peacocks which sounds like  cats.  I never really heard a peacock made a sound and I was surprised to learn how they make their sound.

 My son is  into taking videos so he was  busy filming some of the animals there.

 The package we paid for includes  some food for the animals  and bottles of water.  The kids get to enjoy feeding some of them after our horseback ride.

My son love all the  different farming tools that they have on display.

 Packages  that they offer varies.  You can buy the ones that include  gem mining, fishing, horseback riding, and other things.

 Some people go there to experience fishing.  They gave you all the things that you need to  fish on this pond.  You have to release the fish after catching them though.

 My son found some snails and he was excited about it.  He  filmed them at the kiosk before releasing them back to the pond.

 We watched a video of want to do and what not to do  before going on a ride and someone also explained it really well before we  saddle up.  Overall, it was the most relaxing thing that we did while we were there.  The white water rafting was full of adrenaline and rush but horseback riding is the most enjoyable for me.