Has the excitement of American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown sparked your interest in horses and you want to know what to do and where to go on Long Island for everything horsey? Well, hold your horses; this is the article for you. Whether you want to go for a ride on the beach in Montauk, go on a day-cation tour to different equestrian centers or learn about holistic horse care—we have it covered.
For the Love of Horses, hosted by Destination Animal Sanctuary, is a day-cation adventure tour across Long Island where horse lovers and wine lovers can hop on a bus and go to two different, yet equally amazing, nonprofit horse organizations and a winery. Tour guests will get a hands-on equine experience, a gourmet lunch, wine tasting and even pick up local produce at a farm stand stop on Long Island’s bucolic countryside—all while being chauffeured around for the day.
The first stop is Pal-O-Mine Equestrian Center in Islandia, where attendees will get a hands-on experience and learn what amazing work Pal-O-Mine does. The second stop on the tour is Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard and Horse Rescue, in Baiting Hollow. Guests will soak in the countryside for a gourmet lunch, a wine tasting and then take a tour of a horse rescue and sanctuary on the premises. There are two separate dates to choose from: Thursday, July 23, or Thursday, Aug. 13. The cost is $120 per person (www.destinationanimalsanctuary.com).
If you are interested in watching horses compete, we are fortunate to have many areas to watch polo—which is incredibly exciting to watch, and you can tailgate at most polo games. You can find polo matches every Sunday, June through October, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Polo at Bethpage State Park (www.bethpagepolo.com); at County Farms Polo in Medford, open to the public on the third Saturday each month, May through September (www.country-farms.com); and in Bridgehampton at Bridgehampton Polo (www.bridgehamptonpolollc.com), on Sundays starting on July 19.
The Hampton Classic (www.hamptonclassic.com), at the end of the summer, is an eight-day long jumping competition in Bridgehampton at which you can watch these amazing horses jump. During the week-long event they have children’s day, animal rescue day, luxurious vendor booths and so much more. Horses jump literally right in front of you.
Pony-swim anyone? In Southold, there is a group on Facebook called—aptly so—Pony Swim, where horse, pony and donkey owners get together and take their horses for a swim. It’s an incredible sight to see, and if you love to take photos of horses this is a unique way to capture the majestic strength, beauty and loyalty horses have.
Lastly, one of my personal favorite places to go for a trail ride is Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk for a beautiful ride through the woods onto the beach.
Nancy E. Hassel is the founder and president of American Pet Professionals, LLC (www.americanpetprofessionals.com), a business networking group for the pet industry, uniting pet pros across the USA.
