About Vail Stables
Vail Stables offers a unique and fun experience for visitors of all ages. Located just a mile from downtown Vail, CO, this family-friendly destination provides breathtaking views of Vail Mountain. From May to September, guests can enjoy horseback rides through the peaceful forest, suitable for families with children aged 5 and above, as well as adults. Private rides are also available. The friendly staff ensures a safe and enjoyable experience for all, especially younger children. Visitors have praised the staff for being friendly and helpful, making them feel safe throughout their rides. Guests can also join in on Goat Yoga classes, Goats & Wine sessions, and G.O.A.T. Happy Hour, where they can interact with playful goats while enjoying drinks and taking in the scenery. Many have found the goats adorable and enjoyed the mix of yoga and goat snuggles. With its stunning views, gentle horses, and adorable goats, Vail Stables is a must-visit destination for a memorable summer experience that includes fun activities and a chance to see wildlife.
My daughter and I did the GOAT Yoga class this morning. It was so much fun! The goats are sweet. The instructor, Holly, was very patient and great too!
Everything about this experience was top tier. From the people to the horses, all around A+. Everyone was so kind (and patient) with those that were having their first horseback riding experience. The check-in process was super easy, I even got to pick out a cowboy hat! The baby goats the beer while waiting for our ride time slot was *chef’s kiss.* If you want to horseback ride in and/or around Vail, 100% recommend!
We had a great overall experience and I absolutely would come back. In the spirit of your own open honesty and sense of humor I will share the details of the experience because we had some bumps. These bumps obviously should not reflect poorly on the 5 starts above! So, I read the website very carefully and closely, all the waivers, all the fine print. As someone in a customer service industry, respect. The website made me laugh. I enjoyed it. I printed the waivers in advance of our trip to Colorado--- yes, you could make a commercial about me not turning into my Mom for Geico. There were two pages. We signed them dutifully noting our minor children and brought them filled out in advance. The 2nd page was the form for people refusing to wear a helmet. As someone with a healthy respect for horses I laughed out loud. "What is it about people that they would refuse to wear a helmet?" We arrived exactly at 10am and used the restrooms, applied sunscreen, and had snacks by the car first. We walked up to the tackle room with our 12 oz plastic water bottles only, dressed appropriately and ready to go. We did not receive any immediate attention from the staff who was busy getting a group off the horses and selling them some t-shirts. We stood around without being addressed and I was confused by the check-in process at this point. I only knew from the website that we were to wait in this area. It's really small BTW. Essentially only our family could fit. We selected and fitted ourselves and kids for helmets, I even goaded my husband in public in the tackle room for picking up a cowboy hat. "I'm getting shade from my wife he said" "No, your'e getting sense from your wife" I replied. Wear a helmet. Eventually the younger male employee in the tackle room noted me and I showed him the printed waivers and asked if I was to leave them there? He took them from us. Another Grandma and her child came. This child immediately bonded with my two girls. Everything was happy and fun as we stood outside, the girls anxious, wearing their helmets, us trying to hold them back out of the way of employees and hold our water bottles and their water bottles. Finally, after 10:15, the other families started showing up. Shortly thereafter, a different employee came in with a stack of papers and everyone else who had been arriving started lining up in this small tackle room while we remained in the spot we believed to be appropriate with our excited kids helmeted and ready to go. At some point the young man told me there was a problem with our waivers and we had to get in line. I admit, I skipped the line and approached the side of the desk where my pre-filled waivers were waiting and the older employee was ignoring me. He continued to serve the others in line. I interrupted to ask if I truly needed to sign the waivers again, pointing to ours there in front of me, and was told that our waivers did not match our reservation What do you meant they don't match? Ignore me, serve the line, the last name is possible under my hyphenated name? Can you check for me? OK great we have the reservations, here again are the filled out waivers, "I need you to fill out the back-side of the waivers" This is the release to not wear a helmet part. This was a second page that I left at the hotel because we were wearing helmets and at that moment they were already on our heads. "But do we need that? We are choosing to wear helmets?" "Yes we require both things are signed"- Ignore, continue serving the line. I grabbed a blank one from the stack, flipped it over, signed it, grabbed the stapler sitting there and stapled it to my form and then waited. He served the entire rest of the line before we asked for another second form to fill out for my husband. Am I in the wrong for trying to skip a line at that point- sure. I could be more patient. But also, had there been many options to communicate with us and get us set up properly resolving any confusion at that point? Yes. When t