Gettysburg Horseback Riding

The best place to go for Gettysburg horseback riding is the National Riding Stable at Artillery Ridge Camping Resort. You can bring your own horse or use one of theirs to take a one or two hour tour with a trailmaster. The tour rides across the battleground from day 2 and day 3 of fighting, approaching from the Union side.

Gettysburg horseback riding is on my wish list! I've never ridden a horse, other than pony rides at fairs when I was little, but I think this would be the perfect way to try it. The horses are used to being ridden by various people, they know the trail, and there's the trail guide there to help you if you have problems. My only problem is finding a friend willing to go with me since no one in my family will!

They say the guided horseback tours are a popular experience, so you need to make reservations well in advance. Call (717)334-1288 or toll free 1-877-335-5596. There's a weight limit of 240lb. for riders. No riders under age 8 are allowed, and those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Any one under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign a waiver, just like when you go snow tubing.

Why ride a horse at Gettysburg?
Officers surveyed the situation and made decisions on horseback. Couriers raced across the fields on horse to deliver important messages. Horses played a key role at Gettysburg, and many died in battle.

"Wherever man has left his footprints in the long ascent from barbarism to civilization, we find the hoofprint of a horse beside it."
John Trotwood Moore

"We have almost forgotten how strange a thing it is that so huge and powerful and intelligent an animal as a horse should allow another, and far more feeble animal, to ride upon its back."
Peter Gray