Dawson Pointe Stables is a beautiful facility with acres of riding trails along with indoor and outside riding rings. It appears as though the animals at the stable are well cared for. So, you may ask, why a one-star review?
For starters this review is written from the perspective of a person who leased an animal at the stables. Leasing is a great option for those who know how to ride but need much more than the guided trail rides most commonly found. So when we found a stable near where we live that leases we jumped at the opportunity (actually my wife, an experienced rider, was the one who leased.)
She contacted the owner of the animal (in this case a lovely mule), went to the stable and after meeting Molly (the mule) decided to sign a lease with her owner which allows you three days a week to ride. The stable has rules, which are common. Riders must wear a helmet, the proper footwear, and follow procedures. Anyone who accompanied my wife must sign a waiver. And, from the list available at the stable, if the person leasing the animal brings a riding guest they must also be properly set up. This is all fine. As for the lease, the stable isn't involved. That transaction is between the owner and the leasee, and the owner is supposed to provide you with a copy of the lease. In our case that didn't happen.
Now for the one-star part. My wife took our granddaughter out to the stable the day before Thanksgiving to see Molly, and to take a short ride. (We hadn't seen our granddaughter since the outbreak of covid). She is 14, and has actually been riding a friend's horse for several months. She isn't an expert by any measure, but is confident on a horse, or in this case a mule.
We made sure she had a helmet, boots with heels, and proper clothing. My wife drove out with her to the stables, and took the mule into the indoor riding ring. They stayed for about an hour. While my granddaughter was on the mule during some of the time my wife trotted alongside, even holding the reigns. But in general they each rode Molly allowing her to walk and trot. If she cantered my wife had my granddaughter bring her back down to a walk or trot. They were the only ones in the ring and had a great time.
That day the mule's owner called us at home to tell us the lease was being cancelled. During the call she was unable to give us a reasonable explanation as to why. She vacillated from telling us that rules had been broken to beginning an explanation that the mule's back was sore. While unsatisfactory it was what it was.
A few days later my wife drove out to get her riding helmet, where by coincidence the owner of the mule was present. Still confused about the reasons for the cancellation and asking for a reason the owner then explained that the stable manager had called her, WHILE MY WIFE AND GRANDDAUGHTER WERE STILL IN THE RING, to tell her to cancel the lease because (as the story now went) they were acting in a "dangerous" manner.
This is why I rate this as one-star behavior. What kind of a stable manager, on witnessing "dangerous" behavior occurring right in front of their eyes runs to the phone to resolve such behavior via a phone call? What kind of stable management doesn't have the common sense, or courtesy, to instead approach the individual in question to either inform them that they were doing something wrong and thereby educate them and fix the situation, or even tell them personally that they are being expelled from their lease immediately?
My wife, as mentioned, is an experienced rider. She is also a senior citizen and loves our granddaughter. There is no possible chance she would ever endanger herself or our granddaughter by allowing dangerous behavior to occur while riding. And, if somehow what she was doing was being perceived as being "dangerous", there is no way she wouldn't have ceased such behavior immediately if so informed by the stable manager. Who, by the way, was never available to answer our phone calls after we were told that our lease was being cancelled at Dawson Pointe's demand.
Perhaps Dawson Pointe Stables treats horse owners who board their horses with a bit more respect than they do those who lease. Perhaps if they observe a horse owner not behaving within a certain behavior they actually have the professional courtesy to talk to them about it, as opposed to allowing such alleged behavior to actively continue while instead running to make a phone call.
The bottom line is our experience with the managing staff at Dawson Pointe Stable was that they are extremely unprofessional. Maybe they don't like to be bothered with those who lease an animal during a holiday down time. Who knows? All I know is I'd think twice about leasing there, make sure if you do that you get a copy of the contract before riding (our mistake) and don't count on guidance from management. Our experience was confusing, groundless and a huge emotional downer for my wife. read more
