Horseback Riding With Mountain Trail Rides In Davis, WV

When we were heading to Texas, I really wanted to go horseback riding. This was actually a surprising revelation. I love to look at and pet horses, particularly their noses, but I’m not much one for riding them.

I went to a summer camp every year as a child and rode horses, but I was always very nervous. I was sure that when they shifted their weight from one foot to the other they were tipping over. As a result, I hadn’t ridden a horse in over 25 years. It didn’t happen for me in Texas, but I found a great deal at a local spot when we arrived in Davis, WV. Here’s my experience at Mountain Trail Rides. (Spoiler Alert: it was great!!)

We stayed on a farm just outside of Davis through Airbnb. It turned out to be the perfect location since it was only 10 minutes from Mountain Trail Rides. Justahilly Farm is over 100 years old and has cattle and a horse named Buddy. Truffles and I went down to visit Buddy most mornings and offered him a carrot on a few occasions.

After my short drive on a cold Sunday morning I arrived at Mountain Trail Rides. I will say that since I was a single rider, and I didn’t have anything special to do during the day, I was very flexible with my start time. However, my trail ride didn’t start for over an hour after I arrived as we waited for a large group to join me. Be prepared to be flexible (especially if you’re alone) and let them know if you need to keep to your set time. I informed them that I was flexible and I didn’t need a private tour, so I was happy to wait and hang out with the petting zoo animals for a while.

I purchased a cup of feed for the petting zoo (and one for the horses for after the trail ride) for $1 each. I went into the petting zoo and hung out with the donkeys, miniature horse/pony, chickens and goats for a while.

Once it was time to get going we were each provided with a safety briefing and a horse based on our experience and level of nervousness. I ended up with Tiny (who is not tiny) – I choose to believe that it’s because he’s cool and I’m cool and we deserved each other. He was also a very sturdy horse who was not in any danger of tipping over. Whew!

It turned out that Tiny was just the perfect horse for me. He was sturdy, didn’t take any crap and liked to be in the lead. He also had a fair bit to say throughout the ride. The ride took an hour. I didn’t get many pictures as a) I was focused on the ride and b) the weather had turned cold so the scenery was pretty but not breathtaking. We went up a hill, into the forest and around. It was a nice day to be out, albeit a bit cold.

When we arrived back it was time for a few pictures and snacks with Tiny before I said goodbye.

For only $35 for the hour (at the time of writing), it was well worth the expense and time to see more of Davis, WV, the State Park we rode through and the horses. I’d highly recommend doing this if you find yourself in Davis; if you don’t care for a horseback ride, consider just stopping in to the shop and petting zoo to stretch your legs and get some pets in.