Long pants needed for horseback riding in the surf?

[avw3]

Hello! We will be doing the Royal Caribbean horseback riding excursion in St. Maarten next week and noticed that the requirements were to wear long pants. Is that required or necessary? It will be hot, and it seems like shorts would be fine in the sun and water.

 

Will they turn us away if we wear shorts (not bathing suits?) Any insight would be appreciated.

[crewsweeper]

Probably an insurance type issue and for your safety.  Long pants and closed toe shoes.  Your bare legs will rub on the saddle and flips and stirrups don't work well.

[roupa]

Does it actually say that long pants are needed for riding in the water?? We booked a private horseback ride years back and, yes, long pants good for riding on dry land, but we wore bathing suits in the water…no saddles. Waist type life jackets provided. Crazy feeling once horses were swimming! I actually fell off while in the water…scared my husband, but I easily got back on the horse! 👏🤣

Some what  out of the ordinary excursion…fun!

[avw3]

Thanks everyone for the comments. We did the excursion last week and it was good. We did NOT have to wear long pants for any portion of the excursion, and everyone was dressed in either shorts or bathing suits. You ride the hilly trails first then end up riding in the water at the end. Water shoes are recommended because then you won't have to take them off or change them before you take the horse into the water. It was 90 degrees that day and long pants would have been VERY uncomfortable. Please not that there is a 200 lb. per person weight limit to ride the horses. THEY WEIGH EVERYONE PRIOR TO BOARDING THE BUS. They bring a bathroom scale with them. If you weigh over 200 lbs., you will not be allowed to ride the excursion and your money will NOT be refunded. 

 

The excursion was a little disappointing because while the trail ride was good, the ride in the water is short. They basically have about 100 yards of beach area near the stables, and you ride the horse back and forth in the water three times so that they can take photos of you. The photos will be available for purchase when you return to the stables. I thought we would actually tour the St. Maarten coast in the water with the horses, but that is not the case. They give you a free small rum drink (dixie cup size) when you are done, and they have bottled beer and rum punches available for purchase after the ride.

 

Not sure we would do it again for $99 per person. 

[Duanerice1]

Thanks for coming back and giving us your update.  Think we will pass based on your experience