Don't go for the views
By Julia, 09/22/08
My husband and I went to Dahlonega for the first time a few years ago in the winter and thought it would be great to go horseback riding sometime in the Georgia mountains. We finally made it back and signed up for a 2 hour ride with the Gold City Corral.
When we arrived, a staff member with a bored attitude greeted us and took our money. We asked where the restrooms were, and he said "on the other side of the building," but didn't get up to show us. We wandered into the barn and walked to the back without luck and then started to walk around the other side of the barn where we were in danger of being kicked by horses. Finally we went back to where he was sitting and asked again for directions. This time he stood up and walked us around a smaller building to a few spider infested outhouses.
I remember hoping that this young man would not be our trail guide because he seemed to have no interest in welcoming us or talking to us beyond the necessities. It turned out that while he was one of the two guides on staff, we had been matched with a friendlier guide. We got a brief riding lesson (a refresher for us) from our trail guide before they matched us up with horses. The horses were beautiful animals; well taken care of and easy to handle.
Overall, the ride was a pleasant, peaceful trot, single file, on forest trails. I was slightly disappointed, however, that the trails offered absolutely no views of the mountains. The terrain was fairly flat forest, with a fair number of trees cleared out for trails, roads, and cabins.
The guide was talkative and friendly, and he seemed very knowledgeable about horses. He gave us an impromptu horseback rodeo “roping” lesson that was a lot of fun, although we didn’t quite get the hang of it. He probably should have avoided mentioning to us two or three times how boring he finds his job as a trail guide. I was also very irritated that he left his cell phone on, full volume, and the peace of the woods was disturbed several times by his incoming calls and short conversations to whoever was on the other side. At another point in the ride, he took out a cigarette, without asking if we minded, and smoked it with the fumes wafting back into my face as I rode. I’m not a big fan of cigarette smoke anywhere, but certainly when I go out to enjoy nature and fresh mountain air, I’m not expecting to get a face full of what smells like a busy Atlanta pool hall on a Saturday night.
In all, if you just want a chance to get on a horse, it isn’t a bad place to do it. But the staff could use a few pointers on customer service, and you shouldn’t go for the views.
