My fiancée and I loved our experience at Summerland Beach Rides! Our guide Ava was great. She was…read morevery friendly and made us feel at home, did a great job teaching us the basics, and told us fun facts about the houses along the ride. Our horses were very gentle and well-behaved. I felt totally comfortable and, having never ridden a horse before, that's saying a lot. The trail itself is very picturesque and of course riding on the beach is spectacular. It would make for any special occasion, or even for no reason at all! It seems like they take good care of their horses too. I have a few suggestions for the owner to make the experience even better: 1. Put up a sign at the ranch that says Summerland Beach Rides. The ranch is small and unassuming, and we were not sure if we were at the right place. 2. Invest in more helmets. Some of the current ones looked a bit busted and dirty, and I had difficulty finding a size that fit my medium-sized head.

Pure MAGIC! The sunset ride is a great mix of…read moretrail/orchard scenery and a good amount of beach time! Lukas was our guide and was very helpful- even took a ton of pics for us! He also knew the horses all very well in regards to their personalities. Definitely worth it as a bucket list adventure.

Such a beautiful beach ride. I was just overwhelmed with the beauty and so grateful for the…read moreexperience. The booking was easy and I told them we had no riding experience. Bob assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and it wasn't! I was super nervous but excited but scared. lol The directions were perfect and Kevin showed up on time with a big grin. Such a nice guide. All the horses were saddled and ready to go on time. I got Skippy, the gentlest horse ever. The ride was so beautiful, I just can't tell you how beautiful. Sarah was another guide and she was just the sweetest most encouraging young woman Ive met in a long time. Most laughable moment when Skippy decided to he needed to catch up with the other horses and took off in a trot! I wasn't expecting it but it made me laugh so hard. He did that the rest of the ride. Can't wait to go again.

Amazing ride, amazing views, went on the sunset beach ride, the sunset was beautiful, horses were…read moreshiny and beautiful, leaders are so nice (: Definitely recommend. I love this place, definitely going back to here! Good for beginners and intermediate!

What an amazing experience we had we rode horses for an hour and a half. The horses were all so…read morebeautiful and well taken care of everyone was so welcoming and helpful during the full experience. Our guide was Jimmy he was so great told us stories and some background of the horses and the ranch. After we went to their bar and had some drinks, they were a 10 out of 10. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for some fun or romantic experience. Thank you so much :)

Went horseback riding for a friend's birthday on Saturday and it was wonderful! Driving to the…read moreranch felt like entering a fairytale! The road was filled with streams, shady trees, birdsong, and gorgeous green countryside. We brought produce for the horses to snack on and got to feed them! We did the 1.5 hour trail ride and there were only 4 of us in our group, making it comfortable with fun conversation. It was such a beautiful day and beautiful trail. Our guide was funny and kind, and helpful when some of the horses were going a bit slow (shout out to Tot and 530, the horses!). Every cowboy we encountered were also funny and kind. We truly had a wonderful experience and wish we could've stayed the whole day just hanging out at the ranch!

We went on a trail ride this morning with our Guide Donna. Couldn't have asked for a better ride…read more She was super friendly and knowledgeable, the scenery was beautiful and we loved our horses "Duke" and "Yankee". Highly recommend and we will be back if we ever find ourselves in Ojai again!

I love this place just for spending time with the animals, even though I haven't gone horseback…read moreriding yet. The kids love seeing the horses, goats, llamas, and much more up close. I know it's America and other places might see it as a liability, but I hope they continue to let people come and roam free!

Rachel is awesome! Super knowledgeable of the ocean, water, marine life, and history of the area…read more What a rad human being to have guiding the tour. As it turns out, all of the harbor seals, and sealions have names. We befriended one named Steve, he is much better at swimming than I am. He also taught me secret techniques to paddling. This one Pelican named Parry got into a barking match with some sealions, which is a fight he wasn't gonna win, let's be honest. Though I was hoping to see an M-A-N-A-T-E-E ... next time! If you're gonna go down on Haley street, where the dogs are easy and the sun is cheap, you never know just who you'll meet, on Haley. (But hopefully it's Rachel from the Santa Barbara Adventure Company, and you get her kayak tour; shout out!)

This would have been a 5 star review, however, I felt like just a few things could be improved on,…read moreso it's a solid 4.5 stars experience for me. For almost a decade now, I've been wanting to visit The Channel Islands National Park as it's one of the more unique US national parks which require a ferry ride to get over to the islands, so does require some planning. I booked the Santa Cruz Island kayak and snorkeling tour online and the process was simple and all instructions for the tour was laid out clearly and simply. It does recommend that you're intermediate level for both activities. On the day of tour, you do need to make sure you book your ferry tickets that coincide with the tour. You need to be on the 8am ferry out to be in time for the kayak and snorkel tour. They do have a harbor side 7:30am orientation and provide you with clear instructions on what to do as soon as you reach the island. Once on the island, another staff greets you, gives you another orientation and then you head over to the gearing up area. This took about 90+ minutes as you had to find the right wet suit, hood, mask, snorkel, fins, life vest, kayak jacket, and helmet. Note that a lot of the equipment is pretty well worn and I didn't have the best pair of fins (and forgot mines at home) as side clasps were sticky and not working properly. Masks also kept fogging up (and wished I had remembered my own mask). Wet suit was bit tighter than I like. You can use your own gear and next time when I come back, I'm bringing my own. Once everyone gears up, which does take awhile, everyone heads down to the shore and that's when we launch our kayaks, there are solos and tandems available. Kayak tour was great and we got to see at least 5 or 6 sea caves, a lot of fun! These sea caves are some of the most numerous in the world. I really enjoyed one of the sea caves that has a Green Room, water was gorgeous and so clear. Got to see plenty of cormorants, pelicans, sea kelp. I did get yelled at by one of the tour guides as he told me it was his fourth time having to tell me to zip up my life vest. I think it was a couple of times and not 4 but ok, I get it, safety first. It made me feel like a school kid again. I'm a pretty safe person and wished he could have been nicer about the information he needed to communicate to me. We then had lunch on a small beach and then geared up to snorkel. The water is fairly cold, probably around 60ish, so a 7mm wet suit and maybe more would be good. I wished I had some gloves and forgot my booties, which would have kept me a tad warmer. We snorkeled/swam for about a mile, saw snails, sea urchins, fishes, anemone, etc. We sort of lost time at the end of the tour and really had to rush to get back to our original point and we all had to kayak pretty quickly back. And to top if off, had to really work fast to get out of all our gear and wet suits are never easy to get out of. Made it in time for the ferry but barely and got stuck with some of last seats available on the ferry back. I feel like the timing of that could have improved. Overall, a very good experience just with some issues that could be improved one. Highly recommend this tour! I would do it again!

Christine at Equine Xscape is an honest, easy to work with horse seller. I'm highly recommend…read morecontacting her with any of your horse purchasing needs. During the purchase process Christine is excellent with communication. She gives you details, explains things clearly, and makes purchasing a horse stress free and easy. I purchased a horse from her sight, unseen, a few years back. He was and still is everything she promised me! Throughout his journey to me, she checked in frequently, showing me she cared beyond just getting the money. In the current horse market, she is someone you can trust!

Christy is the kindest woman with an awesome team. There is no one more thoughtful with her animals…read morethan this beautiful soul. It is not about the business for her, it is about the animals and the joy of sharing her safe space. The trail ride was awesome and the perfect length for my friend and me. It was my friend's birthday, and she is more well versed in horseback riding than I am, and she also had high praise for the whole experience. I learned a lot! Christy really deserves the world, and I will be back because it was one of the best days we have had in a while.

We had a really nice time at Vino Vaqueros. Our group did the 9am ride, which ended up being a…read moregreat call as the weather was cool and comfortable, and it made the whole experience more enjoyable. Char was our guide, and she struck a good balance of keeping things relaxed while still making sure everyone felt comfortable, especially since a few people in our group hadn't been horseback riding before. I rode Boomer, who was steady and easy to ride, and we appreciated that they gave a simple safety overview before heading out. After the ride, we did a casual tasting of both a red and white wine and then chose a glass of our favorite to hang with. The setting was quiet and pretty, and it felt low-key in the best possible way. One of the dogs Nana even joined us for the ride. Overall, it was a calm, well-paced outing that felt thoughtfully run without being overly structured.

Had a lovely time on our trail ride! Some of the horses were a bit stubborn at times, but whatcha…read moregonna do? Just added some amusement and laughs to the experience hahaha. Our two guides were great and one took plenty of pictures during the ride, which was really nice because we got to have those memories documented without worrying about having our phones out while on horseback. The trail itself was a beautiful view of the springtime flower blooms on the hills. I'd recommend bringing a hat or sunglasses because it can be a bit bright, and there's room for a water bottle in the saddle bags.

Enrolled my eight year old daughter in Western Trail Rides weeklong long "Horse Camp" during spring…read morebreak. She enjoyed it immensely. Melissa's a former teacher, and with children, she maintains the structure similar to a classroom curriculum. This structure allowed for a more enriching experience for the kids. Rather than just a meandering three hours each day, lessons were taught throughout. The camp was limited to four kids, all happened to be girls, all 7-8 years of age. Mornings started with the Pledge of Allegiance, then a team exercise, usually puzzles, to build comraderie. Plenty of hands on experience with horses, including the proper care and respect for the horses...And of course horse back rides. Arts and crafts as well as general horse education were included. Thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all the girls. My daughter couldn't wait to rise and get there to care for the animals, but also to spend time with her new friends. Melissa was nothing but kind and caring towards the girls and clearly understands why she has these horses, and uses them to enhance the perspective of others via Western Trail Rides. I'm glad my daughter was there for a week. That Melissa is of the Christian faith, would threaten only the littlest of men.

I honestly had high hopes for this experience, especially since I've been eager to learn more about…read morehorses. I read the glowing reviews and expected a warm, educational, and patient environment because everyone seemed to love it. Unfortunately, that's not what I got. From the beginning, communication was confusing and inconsistent. When we called, we were told we'd get to groom and saddle the horses ourselves, which I was really excited about since I'd only learned grooming in the past. we did groom the horses, but with putting the saddle on, that part was completely skipped and she did it all herself. I asked about it and was brushed off with a vague "let's stay in the present moment" comment--something she repeated often to avoid directly answering questions. It came off dismissive, not peaceful. The ride itself was stressful. I'd told her it was my first time riding without a lead guide and this is my first time having full control. She didn't offer any instruction on how to stop or control the horse before mounting. The horses clearly had a strong bond with her and would follow her no matter what, even when I tried using the reins. I was told to "have control" but wasn't shown how to do that properly and beforehand. I had no control because the horses were trained to follow her--not us. And then I got blamed for it. At one point, my horse started walking off and I didn't know how to stop him. Instead of calmly helping me and telling me what to do, the guide stood there silently with her arms crossed and an annoyed or pissed off expression followed with annoyed sighing and rude comments like "oh gosh help me" acting like I was supposed to know everything even though it was known I'm a beginner at this. Later, when I finally got a basic instruction ("pull the reins to your stomach and say hooo"), I followed it--but the horse still didn't respond fully, because again, it was just fixated on her. That's not a beginner rider's fault. She also snapped at us multiple times over small misunderstandings--like which halter to grab--and never took the time to clearly explain what we were doing wrong, or how to do it better. My mom even asked a question after the ride, and the guide cut my mom off followed by an annoyed "Anyways...." and no question was answered. It was hard to enjoy the experience when the environment didn't feel calm, or respectful. For someone who talks a lot about peace and presence, she was surprisingly impatient, reactive, and dismissive. If you're a total beginner, I'd strongly suggest finding a place that's more beginner-friendly--where the horses are better trained for guests, and the instructor actually takes time to teach, guide, and support you with patience. Seems like i'm not the only one with this problem and I wish I read the reviews on a proper website beforehand. Super unprofessional and bipolar behavior. Honestly felt like a big scam. She has us do the hard work for the majority of the time but once it was time to start riding, we immediately got scolded and rode for not even 20 minutes? This experience wasn't it.

Took my parents up here for a visit and we loved it. Katie was really wonderful. She was kind,…read moreaccommodating, and made the whole experience really enjoyable. A great way to spend a relaxing morning while seeing the gorgeous rolling hills. Would definitely recommend. I'll be making sure to stop by again when I'm back that way.

The most amazing experience! The land is beautiful. Our guide was so informative and we even got to…read moresee all the animals on their land. We finished off our time at Fess Parker with a great win tasting! Would recommend to everyone looking for a more personal experience.