Arizona | Big Cities | Tours | Tucson

Tucson with Kids {Houston’s Horseback Riding}

April 5, 2016
In July of 2015 we spent a week in Tucson, Arizona visiting friends. Tucson is very different from our home in Jacksonville, Florida and the kids had a great time exploring new museums and restaurants. I’ll be taking a few posts to review all the fun and exciting things we did in Tucson. You can click here to read through all of them.
Date of Visit: July 2015
Kids: Cole (age 8) & Kiley (age 5)
Length of Visit: 2 Hours
Pretty much the only thing my daughter wanted to do on our trip out west was to ride horses. Since she’s only 5, she was too young to ride down into the Grand Canyon, or even a trail in Bryce Canyon. So when we reached Tucson we started looking up places to take her horseback riding. We decided on an evening ride with Houston’s Horseback Riding, that would take us through Saguaro National Park.
Since neither one of my kids had ever ridden horses before, I was a little concerned. But Houston’s made sure they were safe and secure the entire time. Kiley (5) used a lead, which mean she was tethered to a professional rider so that her horse would follow along next to the pro. Cole (8) started out with a lead, and then was able to navigate the path on his own. The kids had so much fun. 
We wove our way through Saguaro National Park at sunset and a sprinkle of rain cooled us off, making it the perfect trip.
Cost: The trail rides aren’t cheap. It’s $60 cash per person for a 2 hour ride, and they charge an additional fee if you want to use a credit card.
Tips: Book your trail ride early, because we found that they fill up fast. Bring cash to avoid the credit card transaction fee. Pack lots of water, even riding in the cooler evening we all needed a drink after a while.
If you’re interested in other things our family did in Tucson, click here. You can also read about all the National Parks we visited while traveling out west by clicking here.