Vision Quest Equestrian Center

I have to agree with the other reviews. This place kinda depressed me a little. I LOVE animals and being a Leo, Lions are my all time favorite. First of all thank god the tour was only $ 10 a person because if my date had paid more I would have felt horrible. I entered this place with excitement and couldn’t wait to see this «rescued» animals in a «happy» environment. Now maybe some of the animals are better off where they are, but man the cats seemed so depressed.
First off the tour was super speedy, a ot of the animals seemed sedated or just plain sad. The lion didnt even move when we walked over. The king of the jungle just layed there, that was the ONE animal i was stoked on seeing and I couldn’t even get a good pic of it. UGH. The lionesses were beautiful but were in this tiny cage. Same with the other cats, the jaguar, cougar, lynx, tigers, leopard, all them… TINY cages. They were pacing, which means they were nervous or just plain fricken antsy. How the hell could cat that size be kept cooped up in a cage like that most of their days?!! The elephants, ostridge (however you spell it) and zebras had TONS of room. So these guys I didn’t feel bad for.
The bungalows looked pretty cute and I had originally planned on goin back to maybe stay over night. But honestly I left feeling so down I’m not sure I’d want to go back. They take these animals out on a fricken leash to get their exercise… are you kidding me? Now maybe I didn’t get the fulls story. maybe these huge cats have a larger area they get to go play in and run and be somewhat the wild cats that they are. I hope to god I am not fully informed and their only time out of those cages are NOT walking on a damn leash. They seemed like they loved the people that worked there but were dying for attention. They wanted to be petted and i would have loved to have touched them… but the cost for a more advanced tour where you get to touch the animals was fricken $ 900!!! Um…$ 150 maybe even $ 200.ok but $ 900 …good lord.
Everyone here seemed really nice so it’s hard to diss this place, but seriously as a cat lover… it didn’t leave me with a good feeling. =(Even the zoo’s have larger cages than this place. Not very nice. =(I mean it was nice to get out and do something different but because it made me sad I can’t give it more than 2 stars. And the second star is only for good measure… because maybe just maybe there is something I’m not getting about this place. The animals didn’t look unhealthy so maybe they are ok after all.

I’ve stayed at this facility several times and have recommended it to many other people who have done the same. All feel as I do, that it is a true gem amongst privately owned animal facilities and B&B’s in the country. One walks away from this facility having learned so much more about animals and their individual personalities then they will from any zoo or sanctuary. The animals at Vision Quest Ranch relate to all that they are happy, healthy, SAFE and completely trusting of their caretakers. They respond to their trainers with happiness, not fear. They are true ambassadors to their species thanks to their training and ability to interact with others.
I could not disagree more with the opinion posted 6÷11÷07 by Robin G. of San Francisco, Ca. Coincidentally; I returned to the facility after she posted those remarks and asked the owner of the facility to respond to her comments. He walked me back and measured the smallest of the cat enclosures at the facility which was two hundred (200) square ft. Robin, NOT 20! Neither of us could find where anyone suggests the facility is a «huge preserve» either. I took the opportunity to engage in one of their full contact tours and although it wasn’t inexpensive, it was worth every penny for I saw first hand how their animals really do spend quality time out of their enclosures. No, their tigers are not in natural style enclosures (like S.F. Zoo) but they are happy, healthy and SAFE in their 600 square ft. homes. Falsely suggesting they don’t put enough money back into their animals was reckless and false! Compared to the $ 300,000+ salary of the S.F. Zoo director, Mr. Sammut doesn’t even take a pay check for his efforts! Every dime goes right back to the animals and he is currently working to find funding to rebuild the facility with even larger more natural style enclosures.
You would have known all of this Robin had you simply did what I did, ASK. It is you Robin, who should be ashamed of yourself for attacking a facility you knew so little about and in doing so, hurting the animals who are housed there.
I can not recommend the facility enough to any and all but please take the time to learn all there is to learn there — there is so much. Couple this with the incredible and unique comforts of the B&B and you can save yourselves the thousands of dollars a trip to Africa might cost you.

I stayed here recently, it seemed like an amazing idea — Elephants delivering breakfast right to your doorstep… a perfect trip for an animal lover like myself.
The reasons I was charitable enough to give this place one star:
*The fact that some of these animals were rescued from «worse» futures (euthenasia, animal shelters) and routinely given vitamins and supplements to help their health;
*Our view of the elephants from our bungalow was super cool;
*the bungalow itself was adorable;
*the ostrich performed a mating ritual in front of me and my sister, repeating with encores when encouraged by applause;
*the abundance of stars in the sky — something I don’t see as a city girl;
*the fact that the elephants had more than 10 square feet to walk around in, which leads me to…
The reason I only give this place one star:
You guys are lucky you got one. The treatment of animals there is abysmal. We read the brochure, watched your promo video and heard your stories behind this huge preserve — a preserve that supposedly spreads 50 acres.
During the tour, a group of us was led around to various cages, each housing a trained animal retired from various stints in movies, commercials, calender shoots, etc.
Each animal was given about 20 square feet to live in — barely enough room, in some cases, to complete an entire stride, much less walk fast or run. The cages the animals are kept in have no greenery, no dirt, just concrete floors (easily to hose down, I presume).
I had a difficult time believing the lions, jaguar, alligator and other creatures actually lived in these tiny cages — so I asked «where do they get their exercise?» I recieved a vague response: «oh we take them out regularly».
Take them out, regularly? How thoughtful of you.
These animals have a right to clean, attractive spaces that allow them to move freely and enjoy their lives.
At least the elephants got a nice big acre. But what about the rest of these gorgeous creatures?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. Spend some money and provide these poor, lovely animals a real home.