Cape Cod Horseback Riding Trails

While visiting Cape Cod, take time for a riding lesson or trail ride at one of the many riding schools across Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. Many stables offer lessons for all ages and riding abilities, from beginners to world-class riders. Some also offer summer-long programs for kids looking to improve their equestrian skills with Cape Cod horseback riding lessons!

Whether you love Cape Cod horseback riding or haven’t been on a horse for years, you’re sure to enjoy some of the guided Cape Cod horseback riding trails! Saddle up, brush up on your technique and trot across dunes and sandy beaches, your horse wading through the salty waves lapping the shore.

Trails wind through scrub pine forests, cranberry bogs, and beaches, giving the rider a firsthand glimpse at the local environment. Riders taking their own horses out on the beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore will need to purchase a permit for their horse. The Cape Cod Rail Trail from Dennis to Wellfleet, an off-road biking trail is also a popular spot for horseback riding!

Ridge Valley Stables offers an eleven-mile guided trip across Sandy Neck Beach in Sandwich that is particularly popular with riders. The full day adventure will take riders along the surf line on the Front Trail, then slightly inland through native grasses and cranberry bogs on the Bradley Dune Trail to stunning ocean views. (The Bradley Dune Trail is closed for the endangered shorebird nesting season from June through August.)

Several other stables also offer guided horseback trail rides and riding lessons. Enjoy scenic horseback rides through fields, woodlands, bogs, and marshes with a riding lesson or pony rides at Haland Stables in Falmouth. Meeting House Farm in East Sandwich offers pony rides, hosts birthday parties, and guided trail rides. Emerald Hollow Farms in Brewster offers lessons and trail rides, and is home to a therapeutic riding center focused on children and adults with special needs as well as programs for veterans.

In Brewster, Woodsong Farm offers year-round horseback riding lessons, but no guided trail rides.

Mashpee’s Maushop Equestrian Center provides workshops and riding lessons and is a perfect spot to host an unforgettable birthday party for a young horse enthusiast!

CJ’s Ranch in West Barnstable and Alliance Equestrian Center in Sandwich both offer riding lessons as well.

Martha’s Vineyard offers a few options for riding as well, from lessons and pony rides at Arrowhead Farm in West Tisbury to lessons in Vineyard Haven at Pond View Farm and Whitestone Equestrian MV.

If you’re in need of a horse drawn carriage for a wedding or other special occasion, get in touch with the folks at Paradise Stables in West Yarmouth for an elegant and exciting addition to any event.

Many stables also offer boarding services for avid equestrians, or regularly scheduled horseback riding lessons and coaching.