Mazatlan - Randi's Happy Horses?

[adinap]

Orientodyssey - when we went in 2003, my 3 year old daughter did not have her own horse. She rode with dad:

 

 

I would email Randi to see if she still allows 3 year olds to ride with their parents, things may have changed in the last 6 years. There was no charge for her at the time, the pricing is per horse.

 

My daughter loved it though, and it wasn't too long of a ride for her. I definitely recommend wearing a hat and sunscreen!

 

When we go next month, my 5 and 9 year olds will ride their own horses, and it is the same price for everyone (no child pricing).

 

One more thing - the kids will wear their bathing suits underneath their clothes, so they can swim in the ocean and play on the beach while everyone is waiting for their food at Victor's. We bring our own towels, but we used them for extra padding on the horse!

[orientodyssey]

Orientodyssey - when we went in 2003, my 3 year old daughter did not have her own horse. She rode with dad:

 

 

I would email Randi to see if she still allows 3 year olds to ride with their parents, things may have changed in the last 6 years. There was no charge for her at the time, the pricing is per horse.

 

My daughter loved it though, and it wasn't too long of a ride for her. I definitely recommend wearing a hat and sunscreen!

 

When we go next month, my 5 and 9 year olds will ride their own horses, and it is the same price for everyone (no child pricing).

 

One more thing - the kids will wear their bathing suits underneath their clothes, so they can swim in the ocean and play on the beach while everyone is waiting for their food at Victor's. We bring our own towels, but we used them for extra padding on the horse!

 

 

Thank you for the reply! I just heard from Randi. She says it is no longer allowed to have the adult hold the 3 yr kid on the horse as it is too dangerous. My 3 yr old will be taking transporation only with DW and wait at the Victors for us.

 

My son (6 yr) old will ride the horse with me. Randi says the reason there is no child price, is because they need to be taken extra care. She actually dispatch a person to ride with the kid just to make sure they are safe. I highly commend her for the thoughtfulness, and I know my child will be in good caring hands during the ride.

 

It certainly worth much more than just saving couple of bucks on child pricing.

 

Thank you for getting back to me. I am looking forward to the horse ride next month!

[jjb415]

Randi told me that the youngest child she has taken was 3 years old. The child was strapped onto the horse and a guide led that horse, so the kid just had to sit there.

 

She charges $15 pp for just the transportation to Victor's and back. That includes 4 taxi rides and 2 water taxi rides, so it seems reasonable to me....

 

For those who are interested in getting to Stone Island on their own, here is a link to a thread with good directions. The cost is $2 round trip.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=996060

[lov2cruise707]

We did this tour in July. My 17 year old daughter and I were not matched up well with our horses. She was given a very large horse and I a very small one. Her's wanted to ride fast and mine very slow. I was constantly having to run my horse to catch up with her and she was constantly slowing her's down. Her legs were rubbed very badly on the sides of the horse and by the time she got off she couldn't feel her feet. As a result when she got off the horse and tried to walk down the beach she fell and spranged her ankle. I also found Randi to be very unprofessional, smoking and making negative comments about the USA. I hope she was just having a bad day but we will never use her again. The guides were nothing special.

[Uncle Fester]

We did this tour in July. My 17 year old daughter and I were not matched up well with our horses. She was given a very large horse and I a very small one. Her's wanted to ride fast and mine very slow. I was constantly having to run my horse to catch up with her and she was constantly slowing her's down. Her legs were rubbed very badly on the sides of the horse and by the time she got off she couldn't feel her feet. As a result when she got off the horse and tried to walk down the beach she fell and spranged her ankle. I also found Randi to be very unprofessional, smoking and making negative comments about the USA. I hope she was just having a bad day but we will never use her again. The guides were nothing special.

 

Sorry your experience was not as pleasant as you had hoped.

 

I do think your experience was atypical, though. I've booked Randi several times, and found her and her partners are some of the best guides I have had on tours outside the U.S. I have found them to be extremely attentive to their guests, especially the younger ones. As for the "working staff," horses are like other living creatures may have good days and bad days. It sounds like you may have caught one that got up on the wrong side of the bed that day. That's just one of the unexpected and fun variables of working with animals.

 

As for Randi, she is definitely a straight-shooter, which makes her fun and unique. She lives life by her own rules, and is not afraid to state an opinion or smoke a cigarette if she wants. That's part of her charm. With that being said, I have never heard her say anything disparaging about the U.S. or Mexico, and I truly believe she deeply cares about all the travelers that visit her. She offers a unique experience, and one that my family and I plan to share again the next time we are in Mazatlan.

[tursiopsgirl]

This sounds amazing and so much better than booking through the cruise. I am definitely going to do this when we are in Mazatlan.

[morriscats]

Uncle Fester - our experiences have always been the same as yours. We don't always ride (senior pain and all) but we do take the transportation Randi offers just to spend time with her on that beach and eat that great food at Victor's. Randi is a hoot and I appreciate the down to earth experience. It may seem that I jump to Randi's defense a lot but we have taken a lot of CC recommended private tours and have been less than happy with them and would say so again if Randi's were not the best tour out there. Sorry the other poster was not happy with the tour - we can't wait to get back.

[crzndeb]

My daughter and I just rode with Randi on Oct 29th. It will be a memory we will talk about forever. We had the best time, even if we felt we had both gotten hit my a Mac truck the next day. I think muscles hurt I didn't know I had...I loved Randi and listening to her stories. Our group even agreed to stay about an hour more on the beach, drinking beers, eating and just having a great time. None of us knew each other before, but you would think our group had been friends for years. What a special day I will always remember.

[sloopsailor]

Our ship is scheduled to arrive at 9:30. I'm wondering if booking the 10:30 ride is doable.

 

OOPS! Just noticed the ship arrives at 8:00am, not 9:30, so this shouldn't be a problem after all.

[Uncle Fester]

Our ship is scheduled to arrive at 9:30. I'm wondering if booking the 10:30 ride is doable.

 

OOPS! Just noticed the ship arrives at 8:00am, not 9:30, so this shouldn't be a problem after all.

 

Randi caters pretty much exclusively to cruisers, so she knows when ships arrive and leave and plans accordingly.

[cuteseacheergirl]

My boyfriend and I rode with Randi on October 29th as well. This was my second time riding with Randi and I have to agree with everything crzndeb said about the ride. It was a good time and we all got along great!

 

Randi helped make the day a special one for us all! :)

[lakeshoredreamer]

We will be using Randi on Nov 17th (we are on the NCL Star). I'll let everyone know how it goes. So far, she has only 2 couples going, maybe a smaller group will have a different experience. Can't wait...only 1 more day to we sail!

[stretchcruz]

We've done Randi's probably 8 or 9 times, always a great time, a wonderful day, great food, great beach, and great company. Randi is a hoot and we love listening to her stories. Yes, she smokes, I hate smoking, but if there is a cigarette lit I just move to another area...not so difficult because you are outside. We have had many many people join us on this trip, including my 75 year old mom, and everyone has had a great time.

[rdhnd]

:D Randi's was great! The fog was in so we had to wait to go in to port, but there she was waiting on us! We had a blast riding in the back of the truck/taxi's.

 

We love you RANDI!

 

Karen/IceTea & Rdhnd

[WINEMANVISALIA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBeO8Gn7Fw0

[sunshine426]

we had a great day with Randi last week. While my horse was a bit passive, since I have minimal riding experience, that was a good thing. Mr Sunshine was placed on a more spirited horse and he really enjoyed his ride. Only negative, he was riding in the fast group and I was in the middle group. At one point, I was alone on the beach, but I enjoyed the quiet time. Lunch at Victor's fabulous as described by others. Would love to book with Randi again someday.

[Drew B]

I also found Randi to be very unprofessional, smoking and making negative comments about the USA. I hope she was just having a bad day but we will never use her again. The guides were nothing special.

 

Were her negative comments about the USA or just its current President? When I was with her, I was kind of surprised that she went off on a little diatribe about Obama - it didn't necessarily seem to be the most customer-friendly thing to do - but I think everybody has a right to their opinion. When I returned from the tour and told my traveling companion what Randy had said, she was OUTRAGED. Different strokes...