morris's shadow mountain stables

Don't go there! Horses are extremely skinny. Horses look sad. Vertical projections on backbone and ribs are easily visible for most of the horses. Place is full of poop and in bad condition. I wish my children hadn't seen this (visited place in June).

like most of the reviewers on here, i found this place through the groupon 90minute trail ride. a peek at yelp gave me second thoughts about using the groupon but i've found yelp reviews to be wildly inaccurate and amusing in the past so i thought i'd give it a chance and post my own review if i found it to be different.about the venue:first and foremost, the place is a very active, working farm and it shows. if you've never visited a real working farm before, be prepared to get muddy, dusty, and wet (since it is the pacific northwest). all of the animals seem to be well cared for, well fed, and well mannered. for the younger kids, there are chickens, turkeys, pygmy goats, lambs, pigs, ostriches, and even a peacock. all of the horses were gentle and friendly. hairy animals shed, so you'll likely get animal hair in/on your clothes/hands, especially if it's shedding season. despite the apparant hectic abundance of animals, the place is tidy, orderly, and as well organized as a farm can be. if you're an urban cowboy, don't forget to wear your boots as you'll be stepping in a lot of mud and poop since this is a real farm and not a city zoo.about the 90minute trail ride:when we arrived for our noon appointment, all eight of the horses were already saddled up and ready to go. they had us fill out a quick questionaire and disclaimer form, then matched the riders to the horses based on height/weight and experience levels. i had only been on a horse once before in my life but have been around horses enough so that i wasn't a complete beginner. they matched me to Road Afleet, who is a retired black gelding race horse. Road Afleet turned out to be a very gentle horse and seemed to be well cared for. i've read that most ex-race horses are slaughtered for meat, so i thought it's great they're providing an entertaining and easy retirement for this one.after saddling up, they provided instructions on how to ask the horse to go, turn left, turn right, and stop. they also mentioned i should keep my horse at least 8 to 10 feet behind the horse in front of me. after everyone was saddled up, off we went on the trail ride. as we were riding through the barn, we passed some bales of hay which some of the horses tried to stop and eat and required some tugging on the reins to persuade them to continue walking. this of course is normal behavior for a horse as they are grazing animals and spend most of their days munching on something. this was also obvious when sometimes we would pass blackberry bushes on the trail and some of the horses will nab a bunch in their mouths and chew on it. again, this is normal horse behavior and is to be expected.the ride was fun and the actual ride was over 90minutes. due to urban development in auburn, the trail intersects city streets so riding on some pavement is necessary to get to the continuation of the trail. despite the urbanization, most of the ride is on dirt trails. the horses were very sweet and gentle and due to the beginner level of the participants, most of this ride was at a walking pace. i would recommend the trail ride for those with at least some riding experience. if you have never been on a horse before, i'd recommend taking a lesson first, which they also offer.about the hosts:animal fanatics tend to be socially awkward and horse enthusiasts seem to be even more so. if you don't believe me, check out the film 'best in show' and you'll understand.they are polite but direct. don't expect a red carpet and balloons welcome when a simple 'hello' will suffice. conversation is generally kept to a minimum and there may be some moments of awkward silence. when you're done, don't expect a lengthy chit-chat or philosophical ponderings, this isn't a coffee shop and the animals need to be tended to. thank the host(s), enjoy the other animals if you like, and be on your way.in conclusion:other than being a one-time groupon customer, i have no affiliation with this place. yet i had such a good time on this trail ride i tipped them $20. thank you bonnie for making this possible! i would definitely do this again!

I had a very nice ride today at Morris's shadow Mountain Stables. Bonnie was our guide and my friend and I had a private ride. When we got there the horses were ready to go. We have some riding experience and both enjoyed our horses. Mine was a real sweetheart and happy to be out on the trail. He was easily controlled and responded well to my commands. I brushed him after the ride and he had a wonderful personality.Bonnie was easy going and we enjoyed talking to her about her farm and passion for her horses and animals. You can tell how much she loves them and they love her. We went through the trails and fields and she asked us several times how we were doing. Yes. we crossed a small ( no traffic) street and rode to where there will be a development but it wasn't a problem at all. The horses seemed used to the terrain and not bothered by it. The trail was well kept, pretty and nice for being near an urban area. We stopped at few places to have our picture taken. She also had a very nice helper working there who was super friendly.I also really enjoyed all the animals at the farm. There was an Emu, a llama, little ponies, a donkey, goats, chickens, kitties, and sweet Newfie. All the animals were very well taken care of and were sweet natured. It was definitely a down home farm feeling where you can tell the animals get attention. Even though the premises isn't a big, fancy horse farm, the barn and arena is large, clean and real nice.I will definitley go again!

The girls all had a lot of fun. The Lady that ran the class was very nice. She made sure all the girls listened to her as she went over the rules for safety. She made sure they all had helmets on that fit properly. The girls all learned how to brush the horses before saddling so the horse would be comfortable. When my daughter got scared on the horse she went over to make sure she was ok. It was a nice place. They had many different animals to see. Lots of chickens, ducks, geese ect. The mini donkey and Llama were adorable. Huge rabbits! Even an Emu :) baby kittens and a big friendly dog.The undercover arena was wonderful, especially here in Washington. All the horses were beautiful and looked healthy to me. Our group had a very nice time for the 2 hours we spent there.

The horses are not well taken care of and the pastures are over crowded.They are not excercised and no grass.

I hate to complain about a business, but my gosh this place is scary!!! I had never been there before and I saw a today deal on groupon for the petting zoo area of the stables. I thought that this sounded like a fun place to take my two and a half year old. When we got there, I couldn't even get out of my car without big ants swarming my feet and biting me. Then I did not even know where to go when I got there. I went through a gate and waited a while until a staff member showed up. I asked her where I should pay for my ticket since I had purchased a groupon vocher already for my son. She asked me for the voucher and told me to wait there. She took the voucher and went away for a while. Then a little girl came and asked me to give her money and sign a liability release. The staff member that I gave my groupon voucher to made the little girl ask me to pay for both my son and I even though the girl was only charging me for my fare initially. I paid the girl anyhow and did not dispute the fact that I shouldn't have had to double pay for my two year old as I had already paid for the groupon... Then the staff member took us in into the main petting zoo field and showed us around the place. then we were free to be on our own. I took my son back into the gate to the main petting zoo field and immediately I am swarmed by an angry sheep named Stuart and a pushy pig. The rest of the animals seemed fine. The sheep was mad at me for not petting it enough I guess so it began to ram me very hard from a full on run. I screamed, and it backed way up and rammed me again! It felt like a car hit me and I have bruises now. I was in fear for my young son so I grabbed him and carried him across the field to safety. The owner came out and apologized and said that stuart might have to be evicted from the petting zoo soon since he was aggressive. She blamed it on too many people petting its head. I told her I had to get my son out of there before he got hurt. If that sheep hit him he would have had serious injuries I am certain! It is a large sheep and very dense. So I took my son out to see the bunnies ( they were safe ). Eventually when Stuart was busy eating hay that the owner brought I took my son just past the gate to the field so we could get out quick if needed. I got my son and I in the fence ( just barely ) and a bully pig tried to push past me to get out of the fence. I tried to keep it in the fenced area while shooing my son out to safety once again and the damn pig got pissy and bit my leg! We left the farm since I feared for my son's safety there. Who has a petting zoo with evil animals anyway. The other issue I have with the farm is there is no sink with soap and water to wash properly. There were two randomly placed purel dispensers though. So, now my son is freaked out of pigs and sheep thanks to Morris's shadow stables petting zoo. And I am all bruised up from the damn sheep! We will definitely not be back.

We had purchased a group on for a trail ride. Being an experienced rider, I was looking to introduce my boyfriend to riding. We arrived and had the "search" for the entrance to yard that apparently held the barn. When we entered horses were having shoes put on and stood there for a few minutes before being acknowledged. We introduced ourselves and found the owner to be a little rough around the edges, she couldn't remember that we had a reservation or who we were. That being said, the surrounds were dangerous for horse, human and all other creatures. It was like trash had been pushed to one side in hopes no one would notice. The horses were thin and kind of sad looking. Being an experienced rider (I used to own a horse) I was keenly aware that trail horses have are built a little different- but these guys were THIN. The ride itself was a disappointment. We walked about 200ft on a busy road, mounted the horses off of rocks and proceeded through some urban trails onto urban roads and then to a housing development that had stopped building. If I would have paid full price for this I would have been ticked! Don't waste your money here, this woman thinks she knows what she is doing, but the condition of all her animals is deplorable.

The farm has nothing just a few rabbits and for $12, you even don’t get pony ride or animal feeding. We were there today and the business owner let us wait for 20 minutes because she is busy with horse riding customers and then nothing happened.We just left, this is ridiculous, even they pay me $12, I wouldn’t have my family go there, it’s completely waste of time(we drove 40 miles to simply see some rabbits)

Having read reviews here and on another rating site, I was prepared for a tumbledown facility, filthy, ill-kempt horses and a careless owner.What I found was an unusually clean working farm, healthy animals (horses, chickens, ducks, geese, goats, etc.) a friendly dog and cat, tack in good condition and horses that were as suitable for beginners as can be outside of a pony-ring (where the riders have no control at all and the ponies have no choice but to shuffle along at a walk). It is a *working farm*, not a petting zoo or pet store. It is not spotless, it is not antiseptic.Bonnie and her staff made sure everyone was on a suitable horse. When she saw that two children who had come along were on such excitement overload that they couldn't safely ride on their own, she changed plans and she and her assistant walked alongside leading those horses so the kids could still ride. The kids had a great time and were all smiles at the end of the ride. The younger of the two was behind me, and I heard her chattering and laughing throughout the ride.We had one moment of excitement when one of the horses spooked a bit, but that's all it was: a moment. It happens. It won't happen everytime, but can happen anytime. An outfitter who tells you his horses never spook is lying.We rode out from the arena, along roads, woods and sidewalks, then back into the arena. No one (aside from Bonnie and her assistant who were both on foot) had to dismount and walk at any point. I would guess that from departure to return we were out for about an hour and 20 minutes. We were passed by cars when we had to travel on or next to roads, but the horses are clearly very used to that and showed no signs of distress or fear over the cars passing by.

The "trail ride" includes riding quite a ways on paved streets where a bunch of new houses are being built. You first lead your horses on a busy street to a place where you can mount; at the end of the ride, you dismount & lead them back to the stable. Cars are whizzing by & it's dangerous. You ride for awhile thru' trees & on real trails, but then you come out into this area where you ride on the streets, in a neighborhood complex, with kids on bicycles & pedestrians. On the ride I took with my friends, two people fell off; fortunately, not on the pavement, but it could have been bad. One horse jumped a ditch & my friend fell off. The other horse spooked & the rider fell off. Riding on pavement for block after block is just not safe at all. They encourage beginners to come & ride but the riding conditions & the horses are not good for beginners. I certainly will never go back. It's a wonder she hasn't been sued before now. You sign a waiver before you ride, but you do this assuming that you'll be riding in a safe environment.

I have a daughter who, when we started with Bonnie, was a beginning rider. When you first pull up to Morris Shadow Mountain, you arrive at Bonnies House. We arrived to a home and yard never maintained. We decided to not judge a book by its cover and proceeded to the back of the house where lessons are taught. Bonnie, even after two conversations had forgotten we had a lesson. I had even called and confirmed the day prior, But after she finished the one lesson she was on, made an effort and apologized for her confusion. We just started 20 mins late. We then paid cash for the six lesson deal in advance. On the following Saturday lesson, Bonnie was no where to be found. We waited again for the lesson which was over 20 mins late and then she didnt even give us the alotted time for the lesson we paid for since she had another after us. So at this point we were frustrated, but hoping things would get better. On the third lesson, we arrived and NO BONNIE. A neighbor little girl was there working and helping out and had no idea where Bonnie was. We waited an hour, tried knocking on the doors, calling, ect. Bonnie had forgotten to call us an cancle since her other lessons did, she was out running errands. We told her about our frustration and told her we wanted our remaining lessons and over $150 credit refunded. She agreed and apologized, but never refunded us.In otherwords, we should have listened to our gut and realized that with her house, yard, and farm so disorganized and filthy, that she would be disorganized as well. There is other places to ride of the same prices and that are clean, organized, great the kids, and very professional. Dont waste you money!!