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Lajoie Stables

4.6 (45 reviews)

Lajoie Stables Photos

Recommended Reviews - Lajoie Stables

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Reviews With Photos

This year riding Thor

This was my fourth year riding at Lajoie stables. And I have to say it's the highlight for me when we come up to smuggs. Everyone I've ever come into contact with there are so friendly, and helpful! The horses are wonderful, the trails are beautiful, and we've always had great conversations with our guides along the way. If you love riding and being out in nature, this is the place for you. They also have other animals on the property which is great. So many cute doggies to cuddle with before and after your ride Can't wait to come back again next year!

The view
Shaun H.

My wife wanted to ride a horse on vacation so she asked me to research a little in the area and I came across this stable. A couple of the lesser reviews were pretty funny (and unrealistic in their expectations I thought) so I ignored them and chose to go with Lajoie as our choice for horseback riding. I had never ridden a horse before and my wife had only briefly but they were great about easing our apprehension. We arrived and found the place rather easily but it does take a little longer than your GPS or google maps will tell you so plan accordingly. I think we left about 15 minutes early to get there at 3:30 but still ended up getting there 5 minutes late. There wasn't a whole lot in the way of instruction beforehand but rather some legal papers to sign, the choice of do you want a helmet (yep, yep I do!) and then we were on our horse and riding. Because we were first time riders we only rode for an hour and I'd heartily recommend the same for anyone else as you can get sort of stiff being in one position. After about 40 minutes I was wondering how much longer we had to go, despite enjoying the ride a good bit along with my wife. All in all it was a once in a lifetime experience and we really loved talking with our wonderful guide through the course of the hour. My horse was quite the character, choosing to go to the bathroom both number one and number two and rub his neck up against this one tree so hard I thought he was going to knock the tree over. Aside from a bit of a trip of my horse near the end (so close to the finish!) and him starting to bolt briefly there was no real scares of any sort. Really recommend Lajoie stables and love all the dogs they have around the grounds as well as the chickens. Amazing views on your ride as well and so much wildlife. Very fun and highly recommended for beginners!

Lajoie Stables popped up first on our "horseback riding" yelp search & boy were we so excited to see how accommodating they are to everyone & that they offered private rides. Getting there we wandered around the homefront & gazed around at all of the other roomates on the acre (AMAZING) Mackenize was our tour guide and one word for her was PHENOMENAL! She was super sweet- informative, friendly & made our ride truly unforgettable. This was our first time in Vermont but definitely wouldn't be our last visit to the Lajoie Stables! Bailey & King were definitely our spirit animals lol.

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2 years ago

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3 years ago

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9 months ago

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2 years ago

Wonderful staff, beautiful location and sweet horses. Great value for a private ride. Highly recommend.

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3 years ago

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Horses look to be well cared for. They know their horses! Highly recommend!

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5 years ago

Absolutely love this place! Awesome people and horses. Great family environment. Can't wait to go back someday

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Ask the Community - Lajoie Stables

New Moon Ranch - Our branded Mustangs first trail ride

New Moon Ranch

5.0(3 reviews)
22.6 mi

New Moon Ranch (NMR) is a very special place! I came to NMR over a year ago upon the recommendation…read moreof a friend who had been riding and taking instruction from Lotta. It was a life long dream of mine to learn how to horseback ride but for many years it was something that I never thought that I could do. After a conversation with Lotta followed by my first lesson, I began a path on the most rewarding endeavor. Lotta helped me to address any reservations and fears that I had right from the beginning. I appreciate Lotta's instruction because she helps me as the rider understand the horse's perspective and how to build a foundation of trust. Lotta has a gift for teaching. She is emphatic, has a great sense of humor, and also knows when a rider needs to be challenged to break through to the next level. As a beginning adult rider, NMR has offered me a place to examine and grow my self-confidence, communication, and leadership skills through the horse and rider relationship. More than a year later, I am still so excited about this new found passion of horseback riding and always enjoy my time there! I must also mention that NMR is located in the most beautiful setting that offers beautiful trails and a ring situated in a scenic valley alongside the Huntington River. Lotta and the rest of the NMR crew (Hollister and Clara) are always welcoming, kind, and together offer a wealth of knowledge. If you are looking for a down-to-earth and beautiful place to ride, definitely check out New Moon Ranch.

It's a great family ranch. Hollister worked with my newly adopted horse on picking up his feet, not…read morekicking, and will continue to work with him until he is sound/rideable as he bucks/bolts currently.

Photos
New Moon Ranch - Monty, Pat (wife), and Hollister having just passed his Advanced Exam

Monty, Pat (wife), and Hollister having just passed his Advanced Exam

New Moon Ranch - NMR.

NMR.

New Moon Ranch - Hollister with Monty Roberts in his saloon, Solvang CA

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Hollister with Monty Roberts in his saloon, Solvang CA

Trapp Family Lodge - Meet the cows tour

Trapp Family Lodge

3.6(264 reviews)
15.8 mi
•$$$

I was 11 years old when the Sound of Music first opened in theatres, and I've been a huge fan of…read moreanyone or anything related to that movie or period in history. The fact that the story was true and that this famous singing family settled in Stowe, VT because it reminded them of their homeland, well, it's been a long-time dream of mine to visit the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe and feel the connection in person. And so I did... in July 2025, some SIXTY years after seeing the Sound of Music. We actually didn't stay here, which seems kind of odd considering what a fan I am. Now that I know how much there is to do in Stowe... and at the lodge itself, perhaps if we come back with plans to stay longer, I would stay here. The Von Trapp Family Lodge has so much to offer a person... whether one stays here or not. These are some of the activities: 1. Hiking 2. Mountain biking 3. Skiing / Cross-country skiing 4. Horse-drawn carriage rides 5. Sleigh Rides 6. Disc golf 7. Yoga / Massage 8. Bicycle rentals 9. Tennis 10. Swimming 11. Rock Climbing Wall 12. Indoor arts / crafts / culinary classes 13. Wine and/or beer tastings 14. Choice of 4 restaurants We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the lodge and grounds and learning more about the family and the history behind the lodge. Since this (ironically) my 1700th review, it's fitting that such a special place falls on a noteworthy review number.

I will start with the few positives about this place. The property itself is really nice and well…read morekept, but is extremely hilly which is not advertised well and is something that should be kept in mind while planning to travel, especially if you are older and struggle with rough terrain like at the Von Trapp Lodge. The tours were enjoyable, and was one of the only things my grandfather really enjoyed on this entire trip. Food on property was good, but was way too overpriced. We traveled to the lodge for my grandfathers 80th birthday as a family, and were looking forward to a good time, especially since he is a super fan of the Sound of Music films. We arrived with high hopes and were let down in every which way by this resort. First off, the service, besides maids in room service, were just awful. Upon arrival, the front desk staff told us that they changed our reservations and rooms around, despite the fact that we made them over a year and a half in advance. They separated the entire family, putting three rooms in the 400s and then one room on the other side of the lodge in the 200s when we had specifically booked 4 rooms all alongside each other. The service was terrible when we tried to have them fix this huge issue, and they made it seem almost as though it wasn't their problem to deal with. Conveniently, there was a wedding being held there the night we arrived, and we have heavy suspicion that our relocation was in relation to this wedding party that came in. The entire lodge itself is full of stairs and is like one big maze for the people staying there to navigate. It was exhausting for my grandparents, and heavy limited their activities while on the trip. The amenities seem nice, but aren't as advertised. Everything the place has to offer is spread out across the entire 2,600 acre property. The pools and hot tub are a big walk down a huge hill, and the pickleball courts are even further down another huge hill that was super inconvenient for the elderly and physically challenged in our family. No one wanted to play pickleball because it was so ridiculously far away, and essentially inaccessible. The disc golf, meeting cows, and meeting goats, etc. are anywhere between a 0.5 - 1 mile of a travel, so don't plan on walking anywhere because that distance once again includes tons of hills and ups and downs that aren't easy to get by. One of our rooms occupied by our family had a huge mishap, as the ceiling began to fall apart and water came into the room and soaked the clothes of someone traveling with us. The leak caused a huge issue and forced our family to once again have a relocation of rooms. All of a sudden, 4 rooms right next door to each other became 4 rooms on 3 different floors. Once again, only the maid staff was actually helpful in this situation, and they helped clean the mess and offered to wash the wet clothes. Then in the room I stayed in, the door to the patio broke from the inside, which basically made it inaccessible from the inside, unless you wanted to go all the way around the building to sit outside, and then do the same to come back inside. We alerted the staff multiple times about this, and not a single person ever came to fix the issue. One morning of our stay was also ruined by the hot water being shut off for hours at a time.Mind you, all of these troubles occurred in the modern wing of the lodge built in 2000, so I can only imagine what it was like for people staying in the older rooms from the original, rebuilt lodge in the early 1980s. In all the issues we had, not once was the front desk staff ever any help at all, and the manager was always conviently in some meeting or conference and avoided speaking with us. Almost nothing is actually included in your stay, there were fees implemented for basically anything you may have wanted to do, outside of the tours they offered. The fees were not cheap at all, the meals are expensive, and nothing is super affordable, so the fact that we paid thousands to stay at this place, but then had to pay more to actually use the amenities was absurd. I would never recommend staying here to anyone in my entire life, even if you enjoy the movies. My family travels a decent amount as well, so we have comparisons from countless other trips, and all of us more or less agreed that this is hands down one of, if not the worst places we've ever stayed at in terms of value for the price paid. I will also note this, in all my families travel, we have never had a stay somewhere that was bad enough to prompt us to write a review, so I legitimately created a Yelp account just to write this. I want this to be a guide for people who consider this place in the future, because if the things I listed dont bother you than go right ahead! You dont have to use this review as a direct reason not to go, but I do urge you to heavily consider these things before you hand youre money over to the Von Trapps, as this was just our personal experience with the place.

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Trapp Family Lodge
Trapp Family Lodge - Lots of nice seating areas with beautiful views

Lots of nice seating areas with beautiful views

Trapp Family Lodge

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Breakaway Farm - Romantic champagne toast for an engagement

Breakaway Farm

4.3(13 reviews)
23.0 mi

I scheduled a trail ride on short notice for just me, and Tam and Sarah were very accommodating…read more They got me in next day, easy as that, and listened when I told them my riding experience. "Experienced rider" is a term that gets tossed around a lot when it comes to trail rides, and in general I think people say they're experienced in order to get an "exciting" ride, possibly with cantering or galloping, or to be given a lot of autonomy on the trail. The thing is, lots of cantering or galloping, letting riders do whatever they want rarely sets up a good ride, either for horses or riders, and as a former trail guide I'm all too aware of dealing with those expectations vs. what a trail guide can actually safely and reasonably do. So to the "experienced riders" who aren't actually experienced with being a rider on a paid trail ride, your experience may or may not be relevant to your ride and to your trail horse. The guides don't know you, the horse doesn't know you, and you might not know trail riding well; like all horse events it's its own particular beast. So, for me, I said I'd been a guide but I don't do much riding these days and besides that, I'm old and lazy and don't want a hippy hoppy happy bouncy horse, I want a nice horse with half a brain that does as they're told and has some common sense. The horse they gave me was Serena, a lovely Percheron/Canadian warmblood whom they've used for beginners on trail all the way up to experienced riders. She was a perfect pick for me and the reason I've gone to all the detail I have here is to once again point out that the key element to having fun on a trail ride is having the right horse, a good guide, a fun trail and things going along according to your expectations. Accordingly, I had a lovely horse who quickly realized I more or less knew what I was doing, and adjusted her game to match my skill. She was fun, willing, had her own personality but when it mattered, did precisely what I asked. It took me a while to get used to her gaits but after a while on trail I learned to get her collected into both a trot and canter that weren't too bone jarring. (A little more muscle tone on my part might have helped too, AHEM.) Meanwhile, Sarah's a wonderful guide. She had me ride Serena around the ring to assess my actual versus reported skill, and once she was satisfied I'd be all right, off we went. The trails around Breakaway are *stunning*. Given my experience and enjoyment Sarah had me exploring some pretty dense forest with her, which was some fun challenging riding and incredible scenery including vast meadows, silvery-hued marshes, the mountains in the distance and finally my absolute favorite moment, what Sarah calls "The Cathedral," a stand of maples planted in long rows whose branches form vaulting pointed arches of green over dark naves of loam. The ride was long and satisfying, with varying scenery, good conversation, some nice challenges like trailblazing and a bit of trotting and cantering. Sarah was at all times alert to me, what I was doing, Serena's behavior and the safety and well-being of all four of us, horses and riders. This is the epitome of an excellent guide. The rates are very reasonable for the rich experience you get. An hour was fifty dollars and I tipped heavily, which is customary for such a great experience, solo, tailored exactly to my skill and what I wanted out of the ride. Breakaway is not a "fancy" stable; it's a working stable. There are geese, sheep, ducks, dogs, ponies, mules and horses there, all of whom are well behaved and well cared for. All the horses I got to hang out with and pet (I really had to go introduce myself to their glorious Fresian!) were calm, inquisitive ranging on downright affectionate, which is always an indication of how well socialized and cared for they are. In short, if you'd like a fun, scenic trail ride with horses and guides who know their stuff, this is the stable to call. Just be honest about your experience and what you want out of the ride, and you're sure to have a great time.

the guide was so awful and rude. she seemed young and i wanted to almost tell her how she could…read morebecome a better leader but she was so cruel to not only us but the other rides and even the horses, it would've fallen on deaf ears. don't recommend, im writing this almost three weeks after it happened because it still bothers me how awful she was

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Breakaway Farm
Breakaway Farm - Side Saddle Lesson and ride

Side Saddle Lesson and ride

Breakaway Farm

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Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm - First trail ride ever

Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm

3.2(23 reviews)
30.6 mi

As a recent rider at this farm, I must speak in defense of the horses and the staff who handled my…read moreride. I will admit that Karen doesn't seem to be very organized in her management of the rides. But I was much more focused on riding these unique and very amenable horses, a rare treat in the U.S. I came to this region of VT only to ride the Icelandics. When I arrived in the morning for a scheduled 3-hr ride, Karen was planning to spend the day shopping with her girls in Burlington. But two guides were arranged within a matter of minutes with help from her mother June and I enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing, safe and companionable ride with Shirley in the lead and Patricia, a horse owner who was there on the weekend. Regardless of what I perceived as a potentially serious glitch in arrangements, all turned out fine. I will ride again this week and I am certain I will be welcomed and handled with care. As far as the money: I was told that I could pay for the first ride and the next ride when I returned. This is most trusting and accomodating regardless of the reason. These horses are worth any amount of snafu, believe me!

Terrible (lack of) communication. I left a message wanting to ride the next day…read more No response back. No simple answer of sorry we aren't able to accommodate you. Just a big disappointment like a load of fresh horse droppings. You honestly think that i eould give any patronage to a place that doesn't return calls? Dead customer service.

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Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm - Beautiful Scenery and a GREAT Ride!

Beautiful Scenery and a GREAT Ride!

Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm
Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm - Bentley an amazing horse!

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Bentley an amazing horse!

Lajoie Stables - horsebackriding - Updated July 2026

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