By:Susan Lin
The stretch of houses on Eagle Avenue in West Hempstead appear peaceful and nondescript. Evenly spaced trees grow from square patches of dirt along the sidewalk, and the houses are just far enough apart to allow small yards in between.
There would seem to be little reason to stop on Eagle Avenue, unless you live there. But hidden away on one of the blocks behind a simple office front is a 45-horse stable named the Lakeside Riding Academy. The institution offers horseback riding on the trails around Hempstead Lake State Park, among other activities.
"Don't think you're in the wrong place," Suzanne Benedict, owner of the Lakeside stable, warned visitors who might not expect to find a commercial enterprise amid a residential area.
Wearing a wide-rimmed hat made of lace, and a long necklace of blue stones, Benedict could pass as a recent transplant from the West somewhere. But actually she's from Long Island: Benedict grew up in Farmingdale and moved to West Hempstead in 1984 when she opened Lakeside Riding Academy.
"[Working with horses] was something I've always wanted to do," said Benedict, who convinced her parents to take her to riding classes for the first time at age 9.
"You see how horses behave, the things they do, and there's always something to learn from them. They teach us how to be," Benedict said.
Lakeside Riding Academy houses about 20 privately owned horses, which are just there for boarding. The rest -- including six spotted Appaloosas, and four brown or black quarter horses, and even a formerly wild mustang -- are all available to the public for riding.
Most times, people can pick which horse they would like to ride. The only exception would be tenuous beginners and small children. For them, "We use an older, quieter horse," Benedict said. "They're more reliable than ponies." She explained that ponies, though they might seem more harmless, are "not as nice" as horses. "People think that because they're small and cute, they're good for children. But they can kick. They can bite," Benedict said.
For more advanced riders, the guides might take the group off trail or ride faster, Benedict said. She said that a group can even split up midway so that people can ride with others at their skill level.
For advanced or intermediate riders, most of the horses at Lakeside Riding Academy would be fine. All of them have been "imprinted," Benedict said, which means they saw human beings on the day they were born. Imprinted horses grow to be people-friendly.
Last week, Larry Solomon of Long Beach took two friends visiting from out of town to Lakeside. "We've never done it," he said, explaining why they decided to go horseback riding.
Solomon, who went on a group ride on a park trail, said the ride was safe, but maybe too so. "The horses never went on a canter," he said. Even though he was a beginner, Solomon would have preferred to ride a bit faster.
Other visiting riders, Benedict said, just want to be out in nature. She said that at dusk, horseback riders have seen rabbits, squirrels, fish and swans.
"It's like a little bit of the country here," Benedict said.
Horseback riding by a lake
Lakeside Riding Academy
633 Eagle Ave., (two blocks off exit 18 Southern State Parkway), West Hempstead
(516) 486-9673
Hours:
Fri. to Mon., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tues. to Thurs., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Trail rides:
$24/hour on weekends
$21/hour on weekdays
*rides leave every hour
Lessons:
$26/private half-hour, or group one-hour
Recommended attire:
A hard-soled shoe like a loafer, or a boot with a slight heel are better choices than sneakers. Riding pants or jeans that are a bit loose are better than sweatpants or shorts.
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