Alright, so I read the first few pages of reviews for Muddy Water, and I can see it's a mix of both negative and positive experiences. Both sets of reviews are valid, and I am writing based on my experience here. We are from out of town - the East Coast - and we decided to come to Muddy Water Ranch for a group horseback riding experience. One of my friends - an experienced rider, and one who lives in the area - had visited before and recommended this for the group. First, highly emphasize the word "muddy" in Muddy Water. This place is a no-frills, no hullabaloo ranch - and yes, it's filled with mud, rocks, trees, and horse poop. When you pull up to this place, it indeed looks shady, as in unkept and not extraordinarily professional - but we took it for what it was worth. This is clearly a mom-and-pop, cash-only business that operates as such. The staff all have aliases for some reason or another and yeah, you sign 'ska-free' waivers before riding to help delegate responsibility to some other party if something were to happen. So, take this place for what it's worth. It's one of those things where you pay for what you get - and for the price, this was honestly not too bad. But again, it is to be expected. We were a large group - 7 people - and we road with three others, so 10 people all together. After speaking to us about our riding experiences, an old gentleman (probably the one who everyone said is rude) assigned us each a horse. He was an old horse rancher - customer service is not his business, horses are! He was rough around the edges, yes, but just doing his job. Once we all got horses, staff members (there were three) began bringing our horses out. One of the younger ranchers gave us a tutorial on how to ride - posture, where to keep your hands, how to steer, etc. After mounting our horse (again, with help from the staff), we 'practiced' for about 10 minutes, just going in circles around the ring. Then, the trail leader told us it was time to go on the trail. The trail is directly behind the ranch - in fact, you can see it at any given time. We had a trail leader out front, and one in the middle of us, continually calling out commands and advice, which we found super helpful. We road the trail for about an hour, and to be honest, an hour was plenty. The horses mostly moved in a line, one after another, but I do like to think I steered my horse (who's name was Chico) in some direction. The trail was a quite muddy and the horses did their job and went through the mud. Don't wear your best clothes, just an FYI! Wear old shoes (boots, if you got em) and pants that you won't mind getting dirty. Overall, we enjoyed our time at Muddy Water and accomplished what we came there to do - ride a horse on a trail! read more

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I really don't want to be mean but I'm writing for safety concerns. The staff were fine, as far as manners, at least to me. I agree with some of the reviews that when I pulled up, I had a bad feeling and felt like I should decline this ride. But it was a gift and I went ahead. The horses are kept in what looks like hollowed out semi truck trailers, not barns. It was disturbing actually. Somehow we started off with what I think were three guests and three staff members. Two of the guests had never ridden which always makes me uncomfortable. But on the trail, other people sort of appeared out of nowhere adding to our group? No idea if they were late guests or they worked there. The staff of riders numerous times kept changing up the order of the horses on the trail, switching riding positions. There was not enough room on the trail to do this which I also did not feel was wise or safe. I never thought about it, but after reading the reviews realize I was not offered a helmet - I would have declined but was never even offered one. Using the word "trail" is generous. It's more of an area you circle around in repeatedly and the area is just mud (lots of mud) and logs. So your horse, for the entire ride, is navigating mud and logs. The poor boy in my group that had never ridden - his horse was not even on the trail a large part of the time, the horse would finally figure out to catch up to the group but he was wandering about on other parts of the trail. My horse finally got a bit antsy and starting kicking up a bit, which scared the new riders. I can't blame the horse, the situation seemed very unsafe to me and chaotic. I just feel for safety reasons, this is probably not the best place to go to enjoy a well run trail ride with experienced staff. When I left, I was super disturbed to see a family joining the already full group with a dad and a maybe one year old riding double. I was actually pretty afraid for them to head off with that group. I attached a photo of where the horses are kept - they are kept in these steel trailers. Concerning. read more

Muddy Water Equestrian - horse stalls - Horseback Riding Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Worst experience ever.... I will never recommend this place. We had young children with us that did not have any experience and they were put on horses by themselves. No helmets to wear. My friend was trying to get on her horse, was bucked off, landed on the plastic stairs and smacked into the ground. Not one staff member came to her aid. I dropped the reins of my horse and ran to her while the main guy said "wait aren't you getting on". The children were crying and wanted off the horses immediately. We got my friend into the bathroom and I told the main guy I was taking her to the hospital and all he said was "there's no refunds" Worst place ever and we will be taking it further than this review. read more

I should have known this place was sketchy just by the poor condition of the property. Safety and professionalism are not a concern of the owner. His most important concern was whether we brought cash to pay for our ride. The trails were so muddy our horses appeared always on the verge of falling. At one point my wife's horse spooked and ended up falling downhill on top of her leg. She was injured and trapped under the horse! It took the volunteer trail lead a couple of minutes to get the horse off my wife. She was in a lot of pain and a day after she cannot walk and her entire thigh is covered with a nasty bruise. Instead of expressing his concern for her injury, he blamed her for it! And even though he has our phone number, there was no call to see how she was feeling. I could go on, but if you read the other reviews you will see what kind of place this is. I cannot say it strongly enough: Avoid avoid avoid!!!! MAY 13 UPDATE: We have incurred $1,000 in medical bills to treat her injury. It will take many more weeks for her to heal. See photo. read more

my first riding experience and I was a bit nervous but the staff was very knowledgable and patient. We went thru an instructional and safety briefing before heading to trail. Wonderful ride! Even met the owner who was very nice and down to earth. read more

I am surprised at all the negative reviews this place has. I loved it. The owner has sarcastic humor but he was funny to me. I went here with two other friends and we all had a great time. Initially, it was scary but a young woman talked me through what to do and after that I had a great time. My horse Midnight was perfect even though we were the first riders of the season. The trail was nice and calming and ultimately the ride really relaxed me, which is what I was looking forward to. I want to go again only this time have the chance to ride a bit faster. I would recommend. read more

Muddy Water Equestrian - Bellamy, Midnight and Preacher all great horses - Horseback Riding Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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So I've been looking around for places to ride in the area (I'm from Northern Kentucky) and ran across this place. I met up with a friend who I haven't seen in years for a ride. I will start with for $40/hr, you get what you pay for. First I showed up about 30 minutes early because I worried about traffic, etc. Although I waited in my car until my friend show up, there was no one there or any signage to show people where to go to wait or what to do that early. Eventually a lady came out and I saw her give instructions to fill out the waivers. Then the owner came out to collect payment. I agree, a little rough around the edges and gave one couple a hard time for not having cash (which my friend and I were able to give them cash and they venmo-ed us right away). The things that stood out to me were that the lady leading our group was friendly and did callouts when things were coming up that we needed to be aware of.... however at the end of the line, where we were, we couldn't hear her at all. The two young girls riding toward the back were not helpful and when I asked the one what she had said, she just said it real fast with her back facing me so I still didn't catch what was said, but she wasn't approachable so I didn't bother her again. My other observation was yes, there were no helmets available (website states what helmets you may bring with you) but I didn't see anyone offering any to anyone. I was also at the very back of the line...typically when I've ridden, there's staff in the front, middle, and end... but it was me. Fortunately I'm pretty experienced, but even at that, thought it wasn't the safest format. Plus the staff/volunteer right in front of me (who muttered the directions) didn't say one word to me and when I thought she was talking to me one time (she was turned around) she replied rudely "I was talking to the horse". So she did not leave a good impression. When we got back to the corral, I had my friend and I stay on our horses and she asked one of the staff to take our pictures, which he did, but then after I dismounted, he quickly took my horse away without a word. it wasn't until after he saw me put some cash into their tip jar did his tone change and he was all appreciative and friendly.... Would say overall the ride was nice, it was sunny out, the horses were all well behaved. I do agree wholeheartedly that they need to work on some of their customer service skills and some of them shouldn't be working with people at all, again, not all of them, but the ones I came into contact with directly seemed to care less about making everyone's experience fun. read more

I have been going to the ranch for a little while now and I love it so much . If you are reading this you need to go to the muddy water ranch you will have so much fun if you go. it is a great experience! read more

This is a great place for confident riders who want enjoy a nice wooded trail. The horses are well trained and there is a match for every level of riding experience. They start off by giving a brief riding intro with a demonstration of the basics. You'll be paired with a horse suited to your level so make sure to be honest about your skill level. If you're not comfortable around horses yet, they do offer a riding lesson once a month which will get you ready for the trail ride. For young kids, the pony rides in the round pen are a fun way to gain confidence around horses. We love Muddy Water Ranch, the horses and the staff and will definitely come back soon! read more

Anyone who didn't give a good review did not give this a fair appraisal. The staff was excellent, and the "cowboy" was an amazing human. He talked to my 12 year old like an adult and gave her tons of praise. He went out of his way to help my wife onto a horse and walked her around the indoor stable (she has MS and is in a wheelchair). You do not meet people like this everyday. Thank you, thank you! read more

This is my favorite place to go. My friend brought me up here during the summer two years ago and i have been in love ever since . The scenery is amazing and the horses just are so cute. The workers are volunteers who come up to work during the summer and are absolutely amazing. T read more

I've included a detailed description of my experience below, but for those who just want a quick summary here's what to expect. There is no signage or personnel around to help you figure out where to go or what to do if you arrive early, the man in charge will try to scam you into paying more than you should, expect to only be riding for about 30 minutes if even that long, and don't expect to have any instruction about how to ride a horse. This place is completely unorganized and the man who seemed to be in charge was the most unprofessional person I've ever had the displeasure of working with. My group arrived 30 minutes early as was suggested via email and we had no idea where to go. There was no one to instruct you of where to pay or what to expect, not even any signage to help. Eventually a young girl, maybe 10 years old, brought us to a table to sign some waivers. These waivers include a section about opting in or out of helmets, but we later discovered that they don't have helmets available and they get mad at you for asking for a helmet. We were there at least 15-20 minutes until seeing an adult at all. This adult should learn some manners from the child we first saw, because it was clear he had none. He collected the money, but thought it was acceptable to make up random prices for each group as if that was funny. When I went to give him the money for 6 people he said we owed $1,800. I said no, and told him the correct number, which would have stopped the juvenile attempt at joking for any typical business person, but he kept trying to keep joking. It was inappropriate and disgusting. The other extremely unprofessional and possibly criminal thing he did was to not collect the same amount of money from everyone. I overheard him letting two other people pay just $20 for the both of them and also "joke" with another parent that it was $300 per person. After all of that, he eventually gave us very basic instructions on how to steer the horse we would be riding and then kept asking if everyone made a reservation while mumbling under his breathe that there were too many people. He never tried to look up who made a reservation or check the waivers that some of us signed, instead he gave up and asked if anyone had experience riding. By the way, this was about 5-10 minutes after our time had started so we were already late. Only one person rose their hand, which led to some muttering under the breathe and then him telling them a horse's name. He started assigning horses in this manner and was angry that we didn't automatically know what to to do when "assigned" a horse. Honestly, we didn't even know what was happening since he was just pointing at people and saying "you, Shilo." or some other random name. Oh and he would ask you if you had experience riding every single time he turned back to look at you. I believe I was asked at least 5 times. Eventually we were told to walk over to the stable so the other employees, all of which were somewhere in their early teenage years if not younger, could hand us the reins of a horse. Once handed these reins we were expected to magically know what to do. If you haven't realized this yet, they don't verbally tell you how to do anything it's just expected that you know what to do and how to do it by being in their presence. Once in the paddock, I had no idea if I should be waiting for someone to help me get onto the horse or if I was expected to just wing it, so I asked the man who had taken our money at the beginning. He grumpily told me that I had to wait for someone to check the saddle and help me up and then trudged over to do those tasks. As soon as I was in the saddle he tried to start walking away and I asked him if the stirrups were in the correct place. If I hadn't been vocal about that I would have been riding the trail with them at the wrong length, which did happen to some members of my group. It was obvious that he did not want to help ensure that everything was set up correctly and at one point he even smacked one of the kids who was working there upside the head. I didn't see the smack happen, but one of my group did. At some point when most if not all of the group was in the paddock, many still afoot, one of the employees on horseback tried to give more instructions and help teach anyone who could pay attention how to control the horses. I will say overall the children who went on the trail ride with us were as helpful and courteous as possible. They are the saving grace of this place, but they were expected to manage about 3x the amount of people as they were capable of. I find this a fault of the management of Muddy Waters iteslf and not that of the riders. On the trail these employees shouted out instructions of how to lean to go up or down hill, helped keep the horses moving, and were overall good company. Even though we paid for an hour of horseback riding we were only on a horse for a max of 30 mins. read more

BEWARE! If you're looking for a place to take your family for horseback riding this is not the place. The gentleman that ran the place was extremely rude. There were a lot of people very inexperienced that were put on horses right away and even at the beginning of the trail ride when they asked to get off they had them keep going. One woman fell off of her horse and hurt her back and my daughters saddle was not even on correctly making it not enjoyable at all since she was having to worry about not falling off her horse the entire time because the saddle was slanting to her right. One of the kids with me was eight years old and had never ridden a horse and they did not put her with anyone experienced nor near me and at the beginning of the trail ran into some trees and had to scream for somebody to let her off. When I tried to go back they told me I had to continue the trail and that she would be back there when I got back. Remind you I had no idea who she was with. When I asked for a refund instead of a gentle explanation I got yelled at to the point where I just got in my car and left. Inexperienced people to say the least and we were lucky that only two people were hurt and not to mention several were screaming during the ride. The guide kept stopping which made every horse back up and not a comfortable or enjoyable ride at that. I would definitely recommend taking your family elsewhere! read more

Great place took family here Labor Day and had a blast. I had three kids two that were small so they had to be towed by a guide which they were great with them. The owner and people that work here are very friendly helpful and make the experience great. The family's already planning our next trip back. read more

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Horses are treated terribly!! Employees are rude an disengaged. Trail leader was texting the whole time, another employee (a teenage girl) was mocking the customers. There was hardly an instruction before riding, despite almost everyone being beginners. They just tell you to get on the horse and go. Furthermore, the trails were so muddy that it became dangerous. The horses were slipping and sliding all over the place. When his horse slipped, a man had to hang onto a tree to prevent from falling off the horse.... This place should be shut down due to the treatment of the horses alone. read more

It's a nice place in Cincinnati to introduce beginners to horse riding, especially kids. Pros: reasonable, pretty trail in woods. They had a group leader at front and sweep at the back. Cons: Disengaged trail leader and owner makes off color jokes despite kids being around. Example - The group leader was uninterested in what he was doing and was texting the whole time (!!) The 10 yrs old girl, whose b'day it was, was right behind him, curious and asking questions and instead of encouraging her or speaking to anybody else in group, he was grumpy and didn't answer anybody. The girl who was the sweep was engaged. Owner made jokes about prostitutes and drugs when we were signing up for ride in front of 5 kids. read more

My duaghter wanted to go horseback riding. We went there for the price and experience. If you dont know how to guide a horse speak up. The trail is in the canopy of trees so there are some muddy spots. Dont wear your favorite shoes. The staff was friendly. We will return. We meet a few people who ride there often. Its like country in the city. read more

Muddy water equstrain park is a great ranch! They offer exclent trail rides and the people are great . the prices are low for a great experience. Would Deffinately recommend!! read more

I was going to take my 11 year old niece trail riding today. We decided not to here. The place looks really run down. The volunteer women were nice, but the main guy was ridiculous. He made a sexual joke to another guy while we were sitting there. On top of that, people kept coming up for the trail ride. We counted over 18 people before we decided to leave. read more

We loved the trail ride! It was fun, workers were helpful and caring, and we will definitely go again! Horses were treated well. Two children loved every minute! read more

Horses kept in poor condition, while still having to work and carry a rider. There are other places in the greater Cincinnati area to go for a trail ride. I recommend you go to any one of those over this place. read more

Great place for beginner horse riders. My husband took me for a ride for my birthday. The staff was friendly, nice and knowledgeable. The ride was relaxing and exciting. We plan to do this again soon. read more

Unsafe. My stirrup leather broke while riding downhill and I was injured. Yes, accidents happen, but judging from the rest of the experience, I doubt the kit was properly checked. I'm just glad it happened to me, not one of my friends on their first ride. The first timers were given zero instruction by staff. There was no safety instruction, nor were we offered equipment such as helmets. The two employees who rode with the group were playing on their cell phones most of the time. The horses were very dirty, which was not a good sign seeing as we were the first group of the day. At least they did look well fed. It also strikes me as shady that a business that offers $90 riding lessons is cash only. I will not be returning to this stable. read more

Great place to ride on trails if you're looking to go up /down hills , you'll get some walking trotting and running in. I wouldn't recommend these trails for young inexperienced riders. For adults it's a fantastic place!! Staff is professional and the guy that runs it will keep you laughing. I would definitely recommend this place and I will go again!! read more

I'll preface this by saying I actually do have horseback riding experience and that I'd hope for a great day out with the family on the trail. But I have to say AVOID AVOID AVOID. Worst trail riding experience I've ever encountered. Horses are not well taken care of. Looked like they hadn't been groomed in months. They were not tacked up properly and I had to tighten my own horses girth since they were incompetent. The owner is the rudest person I've encountered in quite some time. Treats his staff terrible and his patrons worse. I cannot emphasize how unpleasant and rude he was to my son and the other guests there. The "trail" if you can call it that is not a trail. The horses were not well suited for trail riding and some were spooking and bucking during ride. There was no organization and the people leading the trail were teenagers that didn't even have riding mechanics down themselves all except one girl who knew what she was doing. The "stalls" are storage containers that have been converted and are extremely small. It's inhumane. The owner also doesn't require that you wear a helmet. He doesn't even give the option to provide them. I cannot say enough about how dangerous that is to put a bunch of people with little to no experience on horses without a helmet. Would not recommend to anyone ever. read more

This place is awesome, great environment! People are nice great trial ride and I loved my horse. I wish is was was longer. Hugely recommend it! Although the owner is kinda hard to get used to him like his sense of humor is werid. Anyway I love the people and environment! read more

I would definitely say if you like riding then go here. I have been here more times than I can count. I have been going every other weekend for quite some time now and we always have a great time unless one of the guests riding doesn't pay attention when the guides are explaining how to ride and steer your horse if they need a little assistance. The reason I say this is because one of the times I was there a woman and her daughter were so freaked out about riding they could barely contain themselves to pay attention to the guides instructions and then on our ride started screaming when the horse moved its head downward to eat some grass because she didn't know how to get the horse to move which had she paid attention she would've known and her daughter was just too scared in general and even though the guide tried putting her at ease which I witnessed they just weren't happy. This was the owner I am referring too which he was very tolerant, patient and tried repeatedly to make them laugh and help, so some just can't be satisfied. I never have seen the staff be inappropriate around adults or CHILDREN. I also have never seen any of the staff texting. I mean texting while riding a horse sounds crazy. I have seen staff members phone ring and he didn't even answer it, yet alone text. I feel the price is very reasonable and have taken many friends both adult and children under 13 and have no complaints. I also have helped with the horses and they seem to be kept just fine. I know he feeds them a higher quality food instead of going cheaper. I feel the owner has a strong type of personality and sometimes it can be hard to tell when he is joking but that's not his fault that is just who he is so for anyone that had a bad experience here please give them another try. Perhaps you misread the situation. They do have head gear you can use if you'd like as well. read more

I would not recommend this place at all. Everything about it is unprofessional and unsafe. The workers are rude and the place is nasty. I like horseback riding but the entire experience was stressful... read more

If you're going for a trail ride, you might be all right, but definitely wouldn't recommend paying for lessons. My daughter was left in tears after every single one. The horse's are not well cared for and the facilities are abysmal. Professionalism is not in their vocabulary. You're better off looking into lessons in northern KY. read more

great horses! very friendly and fun. i love all the horses here and it's great!

Okay, this place is absolutely horrible! The horse I was riding was limping and my 6 year old daughter's horse was bucking and they poor horses were dirty and obviously in pain. The guide was on his phone and did not even notice me yelling for him to help my daughter who was hanging off the horses neck.Despite the bad experience I gave them a second chance and once again they disappointed me. This time I brought my oldest child who is 11, and he was in tears by the end. I also brought my middle child who is eight, and she was also crying because the guide yelled at her. An absolutely horrible facility. read more

I went riding here along with my sister because it was listed as a beginner trail with calm well mannered horses, and she is a beginner rider. The horse I was assigned was so focused on eating that I could not get him away from grass. There was no food in and no water as far as I could see. They gave me a different horse only because another rider left and their horse was already tacked up. The trail they took us on was supposedly a beginner trail, yet in some places it was so muddy that my horse went down on his knees and took a second to get up. There was a downed tree that they had to actually jump over, the leader never doubled back to help anyone over this obstacle, and was told that about half the group were beginners. The horses are hard to control and kept trying to take every opportunity to eat random plants, and my sisters horse ran off the trail and I had to go help because when the leader doubled back all he said was that she needs to pull on the reigns (which she was obviously doing to no avail). I would not recommend this place to anyone, and they need to be investigated for possible animal cruelty or neglect because those horses had obviously not been fed at all. read more

Shifty place to pull in to. Against my better judgment we went through with it. They did not offer helmets to the children under 18 and for these awful, muddy, dangerous trails, they most certainly should be wearing them! The owner YELLED at a younger boy who was scared of the horses. The horses were housed in shipping containers with holes cut out of them. Their hooves were matted with mud. I definitely WOULD NOT recommend this place. I should have trusted my gut. I'm honestly surprised this place is still in business. It should have been shut down long ago. Poor horses! read more

We had a great time. It is definately the best deal out there for horseback I could find. My girlfriend and I have never gone horseback riding. We decided to try this place out (the price was great). The only issue we had was we have never been on a horse. The instructors did not take the time before you get on to explain anything about how to ride, steer, or stop your horse before you get on. You are basically given a horse and they say lets go. We had to ask what to do which was strange. When you ask, they are more than willing to help and explain how to ride. You just have to listen! Its not hard. I felt pretty safe the whole time, I mean as safe as you can be riding on a 1,000lb animal. If your looking for a fun time at a low price, get adventurous and go here. I will def go again in the future. As far as for kids, I would never put a little kid on a big animal like a horse in the first place, use your brain. As far as the atmosphere, its a horse ranch, not a winery so expect what it is...Well worth it, a little scary at first, but a lot of fun. read more