Griffith Park Pony Ride

I love this place as an adult and when I was a child, I had even more fun taking my kids now… the people are nice and the prices are unbeatable

AWFUL ANIMAL CRUELTY & CHILD ENDANGERMENT! Do NOT support this facility!!! The poor ponies look dirty and poorly cared for and we actually witnessed them being wipped to go faster which resulted in ponies taking off with small children on them! It was just awful and disgusting to be there, one worker was especially harmful to the ponies and was wipping them multiple times and yelling at the poor animals. This establishment is both unsafe for children and a site of harm to animals. The chuck wagon ride is equally bad. I will never get over what we witnessed at this facility. I have been around horses my whole life and if they follow each other they have no reason to speed up or take off, however when one takes off the others will do the same which is extremely dangerous to the small children riding. As a physician and a mother I will never put my child in this amount of danger or extreme risk. I would give this place no stars. NEVER GO HERE!
If anyone knows a working number to report this place please post!

It’s a great place to bring the kids for their first time. The only reason why I give it 3stars is that I feel bad for the horses (they look a little neglected) and the guys that saddle up the kids don’t give them instructions on what to do or not do.

You still get the full package of fun, even if you want to stop before it’s over. Not adequate personnel.
There are two lines: slow pony rides for 3.5 y o and under, and medium pony rides for those above 3.5. When we tried to get a slow pony ride just to give our 5 y o a nice and smooth Introduction to the fun of pony riding, they said he can only go to the medium pace line.
My son was excited and was looking forward to the ride so we decided to take it anyway. He looked happy at first, but then the pony started fast trotting, and he got scared and started crying.
We were standing behind a fence, listening to our boy weeping (one could hear that from afar really). Due to safety reasons we were not allowed on the field, which is reasonable and understandable, so we expected that someone from the staff will take care of our scared little man, and we were just helplessly waving at him and letting him know it’s ok and it’s almost done. When the circle was almost over and the pony started slowing down, one of the staff members approached the pony with a whip and started hurrying it to the second circle.
My son was obviously not eloquent enough, and his explicit despair was poorly interpreted as «why does this fun has to stop so soon».
By the end of the second circle we got a shaking, out of breath, disparate child and the staff member that was handing him to us said «don’t worry the pony would never hurt him».
No words for that, he can definitely interpret ponies way better than children.
The situation was not under control. This was weird, the personnel just kept those ponies going. You get your two circles and then you’re out. Next!

This place always have the same going on. this is always the same train ride, nothing has been change in there or remodeled for many years. now talk about the snacks each other it’s very plain nasty and not healthy choices. the poor horses and ponies may have there are always being hurt and mistreated by the workers. this place is fun for kids to come too but sad to see the animals get hurt .this place is cheap the rides are $ 3 each even on the train ride is $ 3 the four horses even know their ponies to look really old. like if they don’t get enough food and water or sleep there at all tired out from writing so much in force in people forcing them. There bathrooms are nasty.

So sad! I brought my 2 year old here hoping give her a fun adventure riding a pony– just like I experienced when I was her age. I don’t know when they did this but the slow slow ponies that walk in a circle are now enclosed in a cage! They all look so sad and dirty. We saw one that was drooling uncontrollably and looked very sick. My daughter refused to ride them and I didn’t blame her!
I have photos of myself riding these ponies in the 80’s and there is no cage around the slow ponies and they all look well groomed and happy. Nowadays these poor ponies are in bad shape. Their hooves are all messed up and they look sick.
Please, do not support this facility!

I am so sad with this facility right now… After standing in line for what seemed like forever, it was finally my 8 year old’s turn for the big pony. For the first time since we stood there, they weighed him, informed him he was too heavy and let him know he could get his money back. I completely understand rules are rules, and had my son not been 92 pounds last time I weighed him, I would never have expected him to be able to ride. My issue is #1 they should weigh and measure children when they buy tickets, so they don’t waste their time in line. #2 they need to enforce the weight policies with all staff, not just the diligent ones. I know if my 8 year old passed the weight limit, the girls that looked like they were 15, and boys that were a foot taller than my son, definitely should have been checked. (My son is not an overweight child) Also, I watched as one mom handed over 5 tickets for a child that was already on a horse, in other words, be prepared to wait forever for your child’s turn, even when they are not extremely busy.
This was the first place my son rode a pony, and we have had many fun times there with my nieces as well. It is bittersweet for my children to now be «too big», I just wish we didn’t have to waste so much time, only to leave disappointed:/

How you could give this little slice of Americana anything other than 5 stars!
Such a sweet little experience. You will pay $ 3 and then your child will pick slow or medium horses. Then the staff will get your child strapped on a horse and they will go around two times.
The crew pays attention. If you stand on the left of the ring, you’ll get some great shots of your budding equestrian!

This place is awesome I take my 7 year old daughter here and she has a blast every time not to mention that the tickets to ride the pony’s are only 3 bucks so its a opportunity to have a good outing with your kid and not break the bank.

This place is a disgrace. I have to say I am surprised something like this still exists in LA, considering some of the laws in place for the protection of animals.
The ponies are dirty and often made to stand in the sun all day long. None of this makes it seem like they are being treated any better once the public is gone.
On top of it all, the place is mostly run by teenagers who are more interested in screaming jokes at each other than in their job. No hi or bye or thank you. Just barking orders. Again, not great for the animals or the children.
The premises are also dirty and uncared for. If somebody has a number for the city’s animal welfare, please post. The one I found does not work.

I came to bring my kids for pony rides and did not realize they only accept cash. I was 8 cents short for 2 tickets for mike and the guy made me drive on my own outside of the park to go to a gas station to get cash for the proper amount 8 cents! The guy was rude when I said I guess there’s no karma! I would rate zero if I could. Won’t b coming back ever.

My 3 & 6 year old had so much fun! The memories will last a lifetime and the pictures I took still make me laugh. This is the sort of place that kids dream about. My kids scream with glee… can we go again?! Of course! I had so much fun watching them. They can’t wait to go back which is awesome.
I read the reviews before I went and saw the complaints about the staff but I didn’t think it was so bad. I wasn’t paying for an entertaining staff person — I was paying for a person that would keep my babies safe. They made sure to find the parents before your child disembarked the pony and they made sure your child got back to you. They ran after rogue ponies… they kept the kids safe which was good. I was a happy mama and so were my babies.

This place stinks in more ways than one… as «Rich G» touched on in his earlier review: the staff could care less about your toddler or child. But I guess why should they? Working with ponies even if you don’t like kids probably beats washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant for them.
In our son’s case it really truly showed they could care less. One worker would barely look at me as I was addressing my complaint. We got there around 3:45PM on a Sunday and bought a ticket for our 5 year old, and then went and bought tickets for the train ride for all of us to ride. And we decided to get the train ride over with first since they both close down at 5PM. At his age our toddler likes to show his independence when possible — so he insisted on holding on to his green little raffle ticket (pony ride ticket) as he was so excited!!! After the train ride while running to the pony ride he lost his ticket. It was a bummer but the ticket wasn’t that expensive so we tried to buy him another one but the ticket line had just closed. We tried to let the workers know what happened and even with a cute little boy being so sad about what happened — these insensitive workers could care less. One did point over to the side at the «manager» but this Hick could care less also. He tried to actually tell my wife to try and bum a ticket off of another parent !!! He tried to go on and say that the law states the horses need their rest. (This was at 4PM and I watched people still get on for the next hour.) We live in Orange County. Any operation, independent operator, major amusement park would not «punish» a child for what had occurred. They would use their logic and make a better judgement call, and just let the kid have his 2 minute ride!!! This imbecile obviously had no logic, and no care for children just like his crew. Each one of the crew members were like mini wanna-​be thugs, lazy the way they carried themselves, and no sparkle, body language, smiley gestures or anything like that towards any of the kids they were helping. It is truly amazing what a shocking difference driving an hour northeast can be compared to the Disneyland feel of Orange County and the pride of people who work with or around children there. ULTIMATE FAIL — we had to explain the difference and level of class of people to our child today. To punish and make a kid feel bad for losing a little insignificant raffle ticket that the establishment clearly had no real accounting system for… (It’s not like they keep each cheap little raffle ticket they used and turned it in to an office and cross reference it with the sales on an Excel spreadsheet.) It’s a cheap PONY ride you idiotos!!! And even if they did cross reference these cheap little raffle tickets to the amount of sales they had, they would then see that they had one more sale than rides given out. What a bunch of idiots.

My daughter had so much fun. They have 3 levels of riding: slow, medium fast and for taller kids.
The pictures and videos taken of my daughter having so much fun is priceless.
The employees assuring the kids have the system down. They are courteous and experienced.

Disappointing to see the horses completely exhausted by mid day. The level of care for these horse are to be questioned. There are about 4 horses locked up in a cage with no room to move, their legs keep twitching from exhaustion but unable to move rather just stretch its legs or try to stand on one leg. There was one falling asleep as it stood chained. I’m no horse expert but I can surely guarantee that an expert would say the same and more. There should be more care for these horses. IMO these employees don’t seem so caring for the horses rather than themselves. These horses need help fast.

Horrible! Animals are clearly mistreated, are actually hit with a whip to make them go faster, they look exhausted and you can tell they are just not very well taken care of. The people working there look miserable and do not seem to really be animals lovers. The lines are long, the animals are mistreated and the people there are shady looking. Do not go here! For a better experience, go to the Griffith Park Equestrian Center to ride a horse. They are much better taken care of.

«Yo homeboy get off the phone and take my $ 3,» should’ve told him this! But I didn’t. I kept quiet and waited a good 5 minutes patiently. I turned around and peered at the slow vs fast pony ride option. Baby Mo was about to ride his 1^st pony ride ever.
I was scared, letting him go by himself. But I reassured the mama bear in me that he was brave and he would be okay. He was just so serious the whole time. But he loved it.
We stood in line waiting together for his turn. We went early and there were only 4 people ahead of us. Thank the Lord. So his turn had come quickly. He’s a real trooper. We had fun!!!

The concept of pony rides are great, however, I feel a little mixed on this place.
The price, $ 3/​ride. When your child is on the pony, you can continuously give more tickets (one by one) to the staff and keep your child on, without having to wait in line again. That’s a great idea, instead of the usual, ride once, get back in line ordeal. The staff is pretty efficient in getting the kiddies on and off in a quick, yet safe fashion. For the «medium» pony rides, there’s a bit of a gallop, so just be sure your kid can hold on tight enough, just in case.
Onto the ponies and my reason for the mixed review. The ponies look tired and kind of dirty/​slightly unkept. I went midday on a Sunday, so that could’ve been it. The lines were pretty long and it was fairly warm out. I do hope behind the scenes, they’re cleaned up and treated well.
I’d recommend going midweek to avoid the lines and hectic crowds. Perhaps you may find slightly less weathered ponies as well.

It’s great for kids. Wait isn’t long 5 – 10 minutes. Also really reasonable price $ 3.00 just for one ride is great.

Another G.P. tradition, the Pony Ride. So jumping right in… this is a tough one as it’s plain to see that the Pony’s are saddled up and being subjected to a constant stream of toddlers and little ones daily. The staff run through the line with a numbness abandon. It’s kids on, ride or trot around the rink and kids off. There is no banter, no personality and no charm to the process. On the positive It is organized and very affordable and safe way to allow a young child to get their ride on without being at the local county fair.
It does have an assembly line feel to it, no connection whatsoever from the «handlers’. The kiddos are whisked onto the pony’s, with little or no real interaction from the staff. A smile now and again would help.
Sure it is safe and sure their are loads of smiling children ridding on the backs of these creatures but I couldn’t help but feeling sad for the ponies.
All of that being said my 4 year old loved it! From the anticipation and the subsequent short trot around the circuit she could not stop smiling. Couple this with the train ride next door and it made for a «mini“adventure that she really enjoyed. There is a lot to do and see within the Griffith Park confines and certainly this mainstay has it’s pros and cons. I think each parent will have to decide ultimately if this is a one time deal or something worth a re-​visit. I think we may just stick with the Zoo :)