carousel horse farm

Recently we went and rode horses here. Nice horses! We are not experienced riders but are guide was very good and explained everything to us beforehand. We loved it and so did are kids ! Highly recommend .

We were there at the exact time we were asked to be there. It is at the bottom of the hill from my farm. The wedding got out early and it takes exactly five minutes to walk a horse there, we could trot in less than 3. A quick phone call would have gotten us there early if he had wanted to make that call. My mistake was not having a written contract like I do most of my weddings that specified our policies in writing because he was a "neighbor". We found someone at the church who called to tell him we were there and he informed them that he would not return. (we didn't realize he had left) So we came back to the farm. During the conversation on the phone which he says he had "cooled down" he said he had literally driven by our farm and saw nothing happening here. The carriage had been prepped and parked in the front drive since 11 and the driver was heading toward the church at 8 minutes past the hour (we were due at 1:15) so if he drove over the hill and saw "nothing" then he did it well before 1 pm. It doesn't help when someone doesn't want to take some responsibility for changes in schedules but I will say we've never been late for a wedding before and in my experience, I've never been to one that started or ended early. So this is a new experience for us, we have learned to always have an agreement signed and to always charge full price because you get no appreciation for a 64% discount to a "neighbor". The driver spent over an hour prepping for this 30 minute wedding carriage ride, I feel the $80 he spent for the service was just enough to cover 2 hours of service, (it takes 30 minutes or more to put everything away properly not to mention the cleaning). I did offer to return $40 of it anyway, but he has never sent an address.

When this lady first made her reservation I informed her of the requirement of a guardian to ride with children 12 and under. She stated that she was scared of horses and did not want to ride. I told her I would keep the reservation if she thought she could find a rider to join them. She told me she would call back if she could find an adult to go so I left it on as two riders. This was probably not best practice, but it is rare that an adult will call to send children this young out without a parent so I held it waiting for her call to change the time or add a rider or cancel. She never called back. When she arrived she was very upset about having to go and, I had filled the ride without realizing that the 2 person spot was supposed to be a 3. This type of situation is rare and I will not hold a spot this way again. So we didn't have room for three. We offered a later ride, but she was very upset. So we arranged to take her children, against our guidelines, and did what we could to make her happy. In the process of working out the problem, I noticed that a helmet was not fitted properly, and several hadn't been adjusted. The guide was over by the horses so I asked him (yelled over) to come watch as I fitted the helmet properly. He is new this season and a cowboy that has never used helmets so we continue his training from time to time. He informed me that they had put the helmets on while he was attending other business and I asked him to make sure, when that happened to double check and not assume everyone knew how to do it. We went over all the fittings and he moved on with his program. I have discussed it with him and he did not think I was reprimanding him, he took it as training, of course, he knows me better than this lady does. So in the future we will not do training while customers are present. I will just fix the problem myself.We sold 800 groupons this year, out of those we have not had a single complaint except for those who feel they should be able to bend the rules. But if we do, we take a chance of losing our insurance, and if you look around you'll find that there aren't many of these places left in Maine or New England. So we will keep enforcing our standards and make at least 799 Groupon customers happy every year!

To our customers, if at any time you think your ride is not going as planned please speak up and ask the guide for clarification. Please reread our website if you have not talked to the guide to ensure that you understood our policies and descriptions. And feel free to call me directly to work out any concerns that you may have. We are happy to improve our services and make things right at any time. I just want to clarify a few things. I did apologize during and after her first description of the things that went wrong with her ride. I also offered to take her group out again at her convenience. She said she could never get them all together again. So I offered her five rides at our farm, with anyone she wanted to bring and she could split them up. I'm not sure why she didn't mention this in the review? I only "challenged" her when on her second go around with the description of the ride, after I'd apologized and offered an alternative, she contradicted herself on the time the guides arrived and the time they returned from the beach. After hearing her description a third time I assured her that we would find a way to make it right and she was welcome to use any of our services including the carriage or wagons. I then discussed it with the guides and determined that their ride was indeed over 45 minutes long (we do this ride quite often and check our watch for 30 minutes before we turn around), our webpage clearly states that all rides are 45 min to 1 hr long. They only stated that they were working on other events as they were leaving. as an apology for hurrying out after the ride. Otherwise the only time our other events were mentioned were in my conversations on the phone when we changed the time of the ride.There are other inconsistencies in this review but I will leave it at the initial complaint in the title area and mention that all four of the other riders stuck around after the ride, had positive things to say and tipped the guides. Many photos were taken throughout the ride and I never promised to ride in front of her building, since I never knew what area of OOB she lived on.

There are a few inaccurate statements in this review. First our sunset rides are $75 per person and have to leave on time or it is dark before we return, you are asked to arrive 10 minutes before the ride time to get fitted for helmets and sign releases. We did not ask you to leave because you showed up early, only that we couldn't leave early due to the idea of seeing the sunset. We have picnic tables, chances for photos of the horses and portopotties while you wait. At 5 pm I called because many people who leave will decide not to come back without calling to let us know, since these are specialty rides that keep us out later than normal we wanted to be sure you were returning since you were already late. We did not cut your ride short, we don't do that at any time, unless the customer requests it.We've had some gorgeous pictures of this ride if "the ride mostly was inside the forrest and plain fields. Nothing really impressive." was all less than you expected, I'm sorry. The sunset over Mt, Washington and the Presidential range is the highlight of this ride. I also took several pictures of you and your friend for you.You are given instructions on how to hold and use the reins properly before the ride. We go over it again on the trail and maintain the lesson throughout the ride. Yelling is a necessity so that the entire line can hear us clearly. Holding the reins properly is important throughout all of our rides. Letting a horse eat and wander off the trail continuously is rare, only some riders are incapable of taking care of this problem within five minutes of the ride's start. And unfortunately we have to keep reminding them throughout the ride. Its a necessity, for liability's sake. One last note, you make it sound as if you were put on a "young" horse because you had some experience, we do not have any horses that are considered "young:" for this job. The youngest being 10 yrs old. Just wanted to make sure our potential customers do not think we are putting anyone on young, untrained or inexperienced horses at any time.

Thank you so much for sharing your photos with us on TripAdvisor. I love them! I'm so glad you and your friends had a good time. Come again soon!

The staff was very friendly...the horses appeared to be well cared for and healthy. My horse actually responded nicely to my cues rather than just following what the others did. I did an advanced ride with a few other folks. We did a little trotting and cantering, so that was fun. We didn't see much except some big fields - and I didn't care for the long paths through the woods which were big mud puddles - but I don't blame or fault the farm as they cannot control the weather/ground conditions. If I were to do it again, I think I'd do the ice cream ride.

Four of us (two adults and two eleven year old girls) went on a great beginner's trail ride. Our guide, Alex, was wonderful. She explained what to do and the horses were great. We enjoyed our experience very much. The location was very easy to find and the horses were ready to go when we arrived. Our guide was very professional and knowledgeable. We recommend Carousel Horse Farm.

Rose and I met one fine afternoon before lunch, the snow was falling in spits as she was parked with her driver along rte 1. I asked the driver if I could touch Rose. The driver gave me guidance on where to touch. I proceeded to massage Rose on her side, Rose expressed delight in this subtle touch by turning around with her blinders on and looking at me.I spoke ever so gently to her.Rose spotted me later on that day in passing, bowed her head & hoofed the ground tapping with her front leg.I said hello to her, and she gracefully stood there with her task at hand. I enjoyed my moment with Rose, as I love my furry fellows.She was working carriage rides with Santa that day.

What a place,beautiful horses and staff,had a great time with the family on a short notice,a real genuine retreat..I would recomend this farm to anyone I know,superior knowlege of horses and it shows..thank you Carousel horse farm :)

I visited Carousel Farm in April 2012. Owner Tiffany took my husband and I on a lovely 2 hr ride through woods and fields, with Mt Washington visible in the distance. I am an experienced rider and was happy to find the horses obviously well cared for and loved. My husband only goes riding occasionally ( to please me) and was very content aboard his big Percheron mare, Rose, who carried his larger size without any problem. Thumbs up for Carousel!!

We were vacationing about 15 minutes from the farm, and my mother and I wanted to trail ride. We called last minute. When I told the very nice woman who answered the phone about our abilities and what we wanted, she offered several options, and we ended up on our very own, custom 2 person trail ride. Our guide was knowledgable and friendly, and checked with us often about our comfort. The horses were well trained, well groomed, and never made a wrong move. The sometimes hilly, sometimes flat, mostly woods terrain was enjoyable. We'll be back!

As guides we strive to make the ride safe and enjoyable. We strive to counter any negative experiences with positive ones such as stories about our horses, places we have ridden and activities we participate in. The guide will cover some history of the farm and point out Mt. Washington and wildlife. Our releases do stress that the guide's job is difficult and that riders are responsible for their ability to follow instructions and be physically capable of all skills needed. Whenever a trail ride is mixed in experience and individual groups of all ages, differences in expectations occur. Guides are taught to "yell" because in a line of four or more, with the guide facing forward or sideways it can be very difficult for riders behind to hear them. As the owner I have a very strong voice. My goal is only to stress the importance of using the techniques we have shown each rider before the ride because these techniques maintain our safety standards.I have been in business for 20 years guiding beginner rides. Many of our patrons are repeat customers and groupon has been a great new way to expose our business to thousands of new customers. We have an unmatched record for safety with over 9 yrs without a fall.I am truly sorry if anyone was unhappy at the end of any ride I have guided.