The Paddocks has 447 reviews on TripAdvisor and 232 more on Facebook. Here is where to read them in full, and the three things riders keep coming back to.
Every figure on this page is a public total. Nothing here is collected by us, moderated by us, or paid for, and none of it lives on a page we control.
Three reviews are quoted below, word for word. We could have quoted forty. Three is enough to show the pattern, and writing a fourth ourselves would defeat the whole point of the page. The rest are on TripAdvisor and Facebook in full — including the ones that are less kind, which is where you learn the most about a yard.
“Breathtaking views over Dublin from the top of the trail. Our guide walked beside my daughter the whole way.”
“So kind and patient with the kids. My five-year-old was nervous for about two minutes.”
“The horses are so well trained and behaved. A proper family-run yard, not a tourist factory.”
The walkout goes out the back gate and climbs through the forest until the trees stop. Then the bay opens up — Howth on one side, the Wicklow hills on the other, the whole city underneath. People book a horse ride and go home writing about the view.
The mountain walkouts →
Needs pro shootMost children who come here have never sat on a horse. Instructors work at the pace of the most nervous rider in the group, and at Pony Play a parent stays beside the pony for the full hour. It is the first two minutes that parents write about afterwards.
Pony Play, from age 3 →
Needs pro shootMore than thirty palominos, kept for temperament and schooled for people who have never ridden. Well trained and behaved is the phrase that keeps coming back, and it is the one we would rather earn than advertise.
Meet the herd →Ranked #16 of 208 outdoor activities in Dublin. Sort by date, filter by family, couple or solo — read them however you like.
Read all 447 on TripAdvisor5,500 people follow the page, which is also where camp dates, cancelled slots and the odd foal are posted first.
Read the Facebook recommendationsA review takes two minutes, and it is the reason a stranger books a walkout on a wet Tuesday in February. Write the true version — the weather included, and the horse by name if you remember it.
If something went wrong, tell us before you tell the internet. Ring the yard or send an email and we will try to put it right. If we cannot, write the review anyway.
An hour in the arena or an hour up the mountain. Hats and boots provided, no experience needed. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before.
