Provo Ponies

Book a horseback-riding tour along Provo’s white-sand beaches with Provo Ponies, which is owned by the affable Camille Slattery and located on the southeast end of the island. They offer two guided rides Monday through Friday (one in the morning, the other in the afternoon), while Saturdays are reserved for lessons on their properties, and horses get the day off on Sundays. Book well in advance during the busy season (December to May), as this is a highlight of many people’s holidays. Note this place can be hard to reach, so if you don’t have a car rental, choose their transport option from Grace Bay Beach for an extra $10 per person. Also expect to spend about three hours on the horse.

I’ll hop on a horse any day, even if the scene is a dusty riding ring in the middle of some midwestern state. But add a gorgeous beach as a backdrop, and you’re likely to see this grown woman do an embarrassing happy dance. Here’s how it works: The ladies who run Provo Ponies arrange for a taxi to pick you up at your hotel. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the stable. As soon as I arrived, I started asking around for a horse named “Seabiscuit,” because HOW PERFECT would that be? I never found him, but I was lucky enough to claim “Mango” as my steed for the day. I made sure to hold both reigns in one hand in an effort to hide the sad little riding novice that is myself. I needn’t have felt awkward though, because this outfit caters to all experience levels. The ride began with a mile long trot down a winding dirt road, then a short (yet exciting) trip though some underbrush. Then it was time for our ride along the ocean. Mango was a bit shy about entering the water at first (I had been warned), but soon she seemed perfectly content to half trot half swim along in the gentle waves. The setting was beyond gorgeous, and it was an experience I’ll never forget.