Was looking forward to taking this hour long trail ride with my eight-year-old niece who had been counting down the days to arrive in Arizona and go with me
I was a bit skeptical when we were told that our guide at the front of the line was a 10-year-old child but he is the owner's son and does this every day we were assured to be in the best and most capable hands
We loaded up on our horses and off we went it became a bit concerning as we noticed the paint ball company was shooting to the right of us and guns were going off to the left of us from shooting range we asked several times if the horses ever got scared by the paint bawling and gun range noise and they said it doesn't bother them . We were off for an hour of fun snapping pictures and having a good time and about 10 minutes to the end of our ride something spooked the horse that I was riding he threw his front legs up and threw me right out of the saddle I went off of his back with such force that I lost both my shoes and socks right off of me.. I fell flat on my back and was unable to move a few moments to catch my breath and I was able to get my bearings
At no time did the guide in the front of our line get off his horse or come back to see what happened
There was zero communication to the "base camp " there was absolutely no way that I could get back on the horse as I was certain I had either broken ribs or something worse I needed to get emergency help
I asked if there was any protocol for such emergencies and was told that they don't have anything to get somebody off the trails other than walking so I began my walk 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile back to the front entrance and was greeted by the manager asking why I was off my horse and walking I explained what happened and all he wanted to yell about was why the horses were not brought back to their pens the way they should've been
He never once asked me if I was OK he never said let me get an ambulance out here... all he wanted to talk about was the fact that this is never happened before and he doesn't know why it happened I asked him if he could explain to me what all the shotgun shells were all over the ground that we were walking through and could something havespooked my horse from that I honestly could not listen to his nonsense any longer and it was clear he was not going to call me any medical attention so I had to get in the car and have my sister drive me to the closest hospital
From that hospital I was transferred to Barrow neurological Institute in Phoenix for four days to make sure that the five breaks in my back we're not going to affect my spine and possibly paralyze me
Thankfully I do not have to have surgery and although a long road to recovery I will be back to normal 6 to 8 months or so but for right now somebody has to help me dress somebody has to help me shower somebody has to help me brush my teeth everything that you take for granted now has to be done with assistance from somebody
I am so grateful that my eight-year-old niece was on the horse in front of me and did not witness the horrific violent fall that I still dream about nightly , my sister was on the horse behind me and saw everything she still sees it over and over in her head
There is absolutely something wrong with the management and organization of this company
We arrived 30 minutes early as we were told and that 30 minutes we listened to the manager tell all of his employees how they were saddling all of the horse was wrong and he didn't have time to change them all said that they were correct they needed to figure it out he was not happy!!
DO NOT GO RIDING At this facility they are poorly managed their staff are children the equipment is shoddy and the trail they take you on is riddled with shell casings paintball casings garbage things that you shouldn't see while you're out in the desert trying to go for a beautiful horse back riding
HORRIBLE PLEASE STAY AWAY YOU DO T WANT TO ENDURE THIS PAIN!!