Horseback Riding in Siem Reap

Need a change from the temple tours? Go Horseback Riding in Siem Reap.

Horseback riding in Siem Reap

The Happy Ranch Horse Farm is a quick tuktuk ride from the city center. We scheduled our ride for 9 AM, left our hotel at 8:30 and were still there 15 minutes early.  We were greeted promptly and escorted into an office to fill out some paper work – liability releases and a three question survey on our riding ability. I was also given a waist pouch for my cell phone and water (free).

You also pay in advance, in cash. Our one-hour ride was $28. They also have 2, 3, and 4 hour trail rides and a cart ride if you’re not comfortable astride a horse.

Horseback riding in Siem Reap

The horses are on the short side compared to American horses. Cambodian horses are the size of our ponies. The owner, Sary Pann, started with 2 injured horses when he returned to Cambodia after the war. He bred them to increase their height and the farm now has over 50 horses.

Sary says he does it for the love of the horses and you can tell by the high level of care they receive. The stables are first rate and the horses are very healthy. He hires many orphans from the countryside to work at the farm.

They require all riders to wear helmets. This actually helps keep the sun off your head. You might want an additional hat with a visor to wear underneath to shade your face.

We rode along the road for a short distance. Then we turned into some fields and rode through the country side. Our ride took us through a village and through some muddy areas.

After the ride, they gave us cold water and we sat in the shade while we watched them wash our horses.

I strongly recommend doing this in the morning. It gets really hot later in the day and bugs come out in the countryside in the evening.

For more information about horseback riding in Siem Reap, go to their website: https://www.thehappyranch.com/

For more to do around Siem Reap, check out these posts:

many faces of Bayon
The Many Faces of Bayon

 

 

 

 

 

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