Chatfield Stables

This place sucks. Trust every other person on here who gave this place 1 or 2 stars and NEVER set foot at Chatfield stables. I attended a summer camp here last year. At first, I was really excited. The owner seemed nice, the view was gorgeous, and I really happy that I got to ride western. I had 2 years of english riding under my belt in saddleseat and hunters. The first 4 hours of camp was spent learning how to brush, saddle, bridle, unsaddle, unbridle and everything else you needed to know. I was glad they briefed you but it was pretty hard to remember 4 hours worth of new information (western is much different than english). It would take several pages to describe the awful details of the week. Let’s just say it involved several sick horses, fights between the owner and workers, b**** guides, harsh scoldings (I got yelled at soooo many times there) and injuries. Do yourself, your kids, friends, and family members a favor and NEVER EVER even think about trying Chatfield Stables. *by the way, the owner was probably the meanest, harshest, and rudest person I will ever meet. It was sad because sometimes he treated us nice. SOMETIMES!!!

Went her about a year ago
The owner was super rude to my 10 year old niece. She is a non-​rider – , we put on the form she has been on a horse one other time in her life. The mare she was given was slightly barn sour and the owner came over and berated her, telling her that he didn’t care what her riding instructor said at home, you have to do xyz…
Umm we just told you she doesn’t ride.
I guess because i was a rider, he needed to show me he knew more?
Its a head to tail trail ride, so I didn’t think i needed to «prove» anything… and never said a word about riding before except filling out the form where i was told putting 20 years of professional riding meant nothing to him, he needed to know the number of times i had ridden (i think i finally put something like 5000 so he could have a number)
When e the horse still wouldn’t co-​operate, he finally let the guide pony her on a lead and once the mare got a 100 feet or so away she was fine and he let her off the lead.
Absolutely no problem with her getting help, but was so upset he spoke to my niece that way, she was so excited about riding a horse and since i dont have lesson horses any longer, thought this was a low key way to let her ride a quiet horse.

Took my family on a one hour ride today. My 10, 7 and 5 year old children had never sat a horse before. This was by no means a luxury stable… it was a pure and simple stable with salt of the earth horse people for guides. I found the staff to be knowledgable and safety minded. There are several negative comments about Bob, the manager, in previous reviews… I can see where his stern manner may rub some the wrong way… for me it fit the surroundings and if you listened and followed instructions he was more relaxed with you. He and his crew know what they are doing and gave us terrific instructions and a wonderful experience.

I/​We have had 2 fantastic rides and one really good ride with Chatfield Stables. I have paid regular price, groupon pricing and both have been worth the ride. Because our most recent ride with Chatfield Stables, and having ridden 3 times with great success, I thought I was overdue in writing a review.
On our most recent trail ride, we rode with an out of town family member, my husband and I and our daughter. We rode for 2 hours and all participants were more than happy with the ride we experienced. While not the most «ideal» weather for some, we were all prepared for the conditions. If you are someone who demands the perfect weather, then go look for a ride in the arena, not on a trail. It was an overcast fall day in October, but that did not disparage the ride in any way whatsoever. The mostly cloudy skies allowed us to enjoy a fabulous ride with the four of us and our guide Rachel in the splendor that is fall colors in Colorado.
We encountered little foot/​road traffic, despite the holiday weekend (and Chatfield was full of campers to the point of being sold out). As with any trail ride, you have the pre-​requisite safety instructions. And if you want to be irresponsible, this is not the place for you. This is a state park and all the recreational activities that are in play here require all to respect the park’s many offerings and as such, those activities have to be done safely and in conjunction with others enjoying the park.
The recent ride we took lasted 2 hours and honestly, we felt spoiled as if we had somehow cheated our guide. As I have taken the hour and the hour and a half long ride, i have to say, give yourself the 2 hour ride. You will feel like you have a chance to enjoy the ride in the park and get to know your horse and vice a versa. There is nothing worth doing without taking the time to enjoy it properly. Most movies last 2 hours, so if you want to be outside in the park /​sunshine/​trail, then take the longer ride as you won’t regret it. You really get an opportunity to feel like you got a quality ride in and a chance to relax while taking in the views of the mountains, the lakes, the forest. And while it is a busy park, it is big enough to accommodate the horseback riding in conjunction with others who enjoy the trails.
Our horses were well suited for the abilities of each rider and our guide was very pleasant and relaxed. On previous rides, the daughters of the owner of the stables have been our guides and they all have been quite gracious. Brandon briefed us on some safety procedures and he and Rachel readied the horses for our ride. They helped us up onto the horses with ease and good directions for how to do so without spooking the horses by doing something that city slickers just might not know. The directions for guiding horses were simple and direct and worked.
During our ride, the initial portion of the ride is across a large open field and it really gives everyone an opportunity to get to know one another and the wranglers/​guides a chance to assess your abilities for riding. And let’s face it, if you are here riding a horse for a couple hours, it is because this is an activity you want to take part of but you don’t have your own horse. With that in mind, it isn’t a rental car, it is a live animal that has a personality and the guides are there for your safety and enjoyment; treat them nicely and you will have that reciprocated and it will be fun if you approach it with the right attitude. They don’t control the weather, the good or bad day you had so far, and they cannot read your mind about what you do /​don’t know, so be honest when you complete the form with respect to your experience so you get a horse that will accommodate your abilities. Speak up about something that may have been overlooked, like helmets or adjusting the stirrup to the right length so the guide can set you up for the best/​comfortable ride.
Enjoyed the ride?, tip the guide appropriately as they should receive a good tip for work that they have done (i.e. answering your questions, taking pictures of your crew, helping you be safe and enjoying your ride, etc.). In any service industry, tip well if you appreciated the experience the wrangler/​guide provided. If they are not treating you well upon arrival, then vote with your feet and leave or ask them if it is a bad day for them or ask for a more responsive guide — that is the only way the business knows they need to get someone who wants to be there to service their clients. With any entertainment experience, you are going to have to pay the price for the cost of operating that form of entertainment, so keep that in mind when you decide to take on an adventure. Approach horseback riding with a joyful child-​like wonder since horses can sense that and they will happily carry you through the forest for the entire ride. Be safe, have fun, and let the love of the outdoors be the ultimate reason you choose to enjoy this unique adventure.

I can’t review my ride at Chatfield because after 3 messages and an email, I haven’t heard back from anyone.

DO NOT BUY A GROUPON TO THIS PLACE!!! I bought a Groupon for my wife to this place. She tried twice to book the ride but the person you have to deal with HATES Groupon customers! He told her he couldn’t accommodate ‘Grouponers’ for 3 months! Then he hung up on her TWICE because she didn’t have some numbers he wanted. If you pay full price… maybe you will get better service but don’t count on it.

The Guides = 5 Stars
The Horses = 5 Stars
The Grounds = 4 Stars
The Manager = 1 Star
My wife and I decided to schedule a 1 hour ride for our anniversary. When I called an older man answered the phone and seem pretty polite. I explain the occasion and ask if they have any openings on Sunday. He tells me they are not open on Sundays, but they are on Saturday. I check the website and also do not see anything about rides on Sundays so I assume he is telling the truth. Turns out he was not. I also scheduled our ride time to be at 3:30pm with our arrival at the stables being 3:00pm. Upon arrival I am told that I am an hour early for our 4pm ride?! Considering the schedule adjustments my wife and I had to make to ride on Saturday in the first place I was pretty pissed at this point, especially when I overheard a guide speaking with another couple about tours being open on Sundays.
The saving grace for this place is the amazing setting/​location, the happy horses, and the amazing guides. If these would not have been at top level I would have gone to higher management to complain and possibly seek a refund.
On the bright side that did not need to occur and my wife and I had a great time. The 1 hour ride takes you through some basic back country, a little trail through the woods to see wildlife, and then back to the stable. All in all our 1 hour ride was actually 1 hour and 15 minutes so great value.
The guides are extremely patient and were genuinely friendly (consider the working conditions). We rode with a brat of a child and a know-​it-​all former guide from another park near Estes and they were very accommodating to both.
I would highly recommend this stable if you are looking for a relaxing fun ride. From what I could see it is not great for the advanced, but for beginners like my wife and I we could not have been happier. Just make certain to confirm your reservation time and know that they are open on Sundays despite what the old man says on the phone…
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Side Notes:
To comment on some of the 1-​Star postings. They all seem to revolve around this same old man giving bad information. The pony ride is accurate, you do just circle the stables and you do have to pay $ 8 to enter the park in general. As for it being manure strewn, it is a working stable so I am not sure what he expected?
For the Groupon gripe, I can also see that being directly at the old man in the barn/​office. If they get rid of him I am guessing this would be a top level riding site. As it stands, if they lose those amazing guides this place is going to be a nightmare.
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Give this stable a chance. They are good horses, the rates are very reasonable, the guides care, and the scenery is amazing.

I bought a groupon here for horseback riding. My friend bought one as well. We were thinking that we could take our kids out together. I called today to redeem the groupon, and left a message. The rudest man on earth called me back, and told me that they are booked out a month, and that he couldn’t guarantee that they will accept my groupon, since it will then be after the expiration date. It’s my fault they booked out a month? He then laughed at me… bizarre. I was going to book anyway, because I was honestly thinking that they would have to accept the voucher since I called before the expiration date. I asked if my friend could get in at the same time, and he said she cannot, because they only allow one groupon customer per riding group. Ahhhh, now I see why they are booked out so far. I filed a complaint with groupon, and hopefully can just get a refund.

NOT WORTH IT!!! I got a two hour ride groupon for my daughter and the entire experience was miserable. There were 4 of us on the trip, my daughter, my son, my husband, and myself. The cost after all of the hidden fees was over $ 200. The Groupon cost 140. 140 is a good deal… over 200 is NOT a good deal. The guy that I called to make the appt was awful, the blond girl that lead the trail was a b* but I bet the guy on the phone was her dad. They are so much alike. The Asian girl was very friendly and the boy was alright as well. I don’t know their names. Riding for two hours at a monotonously slow pace is physically painful so I asked the blond if we could go a little faster since my family was the only ones on this particular trail, I didn’t see how it could be an issue, and she said no this is a walking trail and she started walking the horses even slower. Also my horse had huge knots in its main, its hair/​fur was falling off like it hadn’t been brushed in months. When we got there we had to pay for a park pass, then we had to leave a mandatory 20% tip-​I don’t think tips should ever be mandatory, if I like the service I will leave a tip if I hate it I won’t. ALSO there was no tutorial for my kids. My son is 8 and has never been on a horse, haha they never told him anything about how to ride. During one part of the trail (the only good part) we had to cross a river, my son had the reins above his head and he was pulling really hard, enough so that the horse could not look down to see where it was going. None of them corrected him even though the horse was stumbling because it could not see what it was stepping on. I had to yell back for my son to drop the reigns and I was 3 horses ahead of him. My husbands horse kept rubbing its sides into trees, probably because it never gets brushed, and my husband came home with cuts and bruises on his legs… never again would I ride with this place. I have had much better experiences at other stables.

I took my daughters, my sister, and my niece (visiting from overseas) to the ride with my Groupon. The guy in charge of the stables is simply AWFUL. The more you are polite to him (thinking he might be having a bad day), the more arrogant he gets. The reservation was a pain to make, and when we arrived, we found out that we needed cash for mandatory tips, helmets, etc. Even though he demanded we were on time, we had to wait for more than 30 minutes because they had not yet fed the horses, and wanted to get more customers in. I drove out of the park to get more cash and returned.
The rest of the staff was pretty nice, but I told myself I refuse to let this guy make money off of me again; I’m not a big fan of places where I pay to get abused. There are other stables around Littleton that are run by people who value people — and horses.

We got pony rides for my 3 and 5 yr olds, and I’d recommend Chatfield Stables. It’s mellow, so don’t go expecting a wild pony ride… but if you want a lovely CO cowboy/​cowgirl experience in a beautiful setting that is close to Denver/​Boulder/​Castle Rock, this is a good find.
My city kids loved it. The stables had lots of different kids of horses to look at and Chatfield Park has great picnic spots. It takes about 30mins, so it’s short and sweet.

The ride was nice, but the man who runs the place is very unpleasant. I don’t think I’d return, because of that.
I found out about Chatfield Stables from Groupon and bought a one hour ride for $ 36. After I purchased the Groupon, I had to call to make a reservation for a date. I’m a pretty easy-​going, overly polite person. I called and got voice mail and left a message stating that I had purchased a Groupon and the dates that I was interested in. The voice mail requested my name and number, so I left those. A man called back but somehow only had my number and not the list of dates I had suggested in front of him. I repeated everything I left on the voice mail and he replied that those dates didn’t work. He didn’t offer any other suggestions. He was pretty gruff. I suggested another date and he said that would work and then he said I had to give him my Groupon number to reserve that date. I said «Let me get it» I had it near me and it wouldn’t have taken long to reach it, but he yelled at me and said «I’m a busy person. I have to go. Call me back when you have it» and hung up.

I got my Groupon number, called him back and got voice mail again. I repeated my name, my phone number, my new desired riding date and my Groupon number. I was polite again. I said that I too am not easily accessible by phone so I would like to know what other information he would like me to give him by phone when we finally did manage to speak on the phone again. I wanted to be able to have all of the information that he needed from me in one place so we didn’t keep playing phone tag.

The last phone exchange had been so unpleasant that I was ready to eat my $ 36 and take my business elsewhere, and I normally never do that. He called back again and somehow because of their voice mail system, he didn’t know who I was or what I was calling about. He only had my phone number. I had to repeat all the information that by this time I had left on numerous voice mails. I had my Groupon number. And then he said «And I need your credit card information.» I asked why he needed that since I had already paid for my ride and he said it was in case I was a no show, they would charge my card extra. I was rather annoyed that he hadn’t told me in the previous conversation that I would also need to provide my credit card number, but luckily I found it pretty quickly and gave it to him over the phone and reserved the date.

When the date came, my friend and I got there on time. They requested that we get there early or be prompt. However, many other riders came after us and my friend and I ended up waiting in total over an hour before we got on horses. The gruff man was berating some customers for not speaking English well enough to sign paperwork. He was berating his staff — some nice young women who worked for him. He was berating other customers for wearing open-​toed shoes. He kept arguing with customers. It was uncomfortable to witness.

When we finally got on horses, the ride was nice. It was less structured than any other ride I’d been on at other stables. The riders and horses were allowed to get out of line and slow down or go faster and pass other riders. It was unorthodox, but we were ok with it. The ride itself was nice. The guides were nice and the horses were good.

You also had to have a parks pass to enter Chatfield State Park to get to the stables. Luckily, I already had one of those, or else I would have had to pay extra.

I was excited to see this on Groupon, so I bought a 2-​hour ride for 2. Booking the ride was more rigamarole than I would like. I called for about 2 weeks before I finally got a hold of someone. Then I thought the gentleman that answered the phone was a bit rude. Once I mentioned I had a Groupon, it was apparent that the customer service wasn’t going to get any better. He was short with me, talked over me, and made sure I knew that if I followed google map directions that I’d get lost.
The day of came and as requested, we showed up 45 minutes early for the ride, to sit in 30 degrees for 45 minutes. The girls who got the horses ready seemed like they were reading a script. They were friendly when they were asked questions, but were otherwise all business.
Unlike other rides I’ve been on, these tour-​gals (one leading, one following) said hardly anything. The ride was quiet and boring. I would have appreciated commentary on the land, the horses, the weather… anything! But we rode nose to butt for 2 hours with hardly any conversation.
I would not recommend this place.

Really terrible. I paid for two kids pony rides. What I got was a couple laps around their dirty, manure strewn parking lot. The guy I talked to on the phone assured me the park entrance was discounted if you were going to the stable. Which was a lie.
I ended up paying $ 38 for a few laps around their parking lot. What a terrible disappointment. Avoid this place.