Maybury Riding Stable Offers Trail Rides, Pony Parties, and More

Maybury Riding Stable, located in Maybury State Park, first opened in the early ‘80s. Over the years it’s been run by several different people. In September of 2007 Kim and LeRoy Hone assumed ownership.

Kim grew up with horses. As a child she learned to ride on a pony named Cocoa. At 18 she bought her first horse, a mare named Whisky, and has been riding ever since.

“Whisky was a joy,” she said. “She taught all my kids how to ride.”

After high school, Kim worked on a thoroughbred farm in White Lake, then at Michigan Horse Auction. Hone, who grew up in Waterford, never liked the city way of life. By the time she was 21 she had bought a 10-acre farm in Howell, where she kept Whisky and a couple of other horses.

LeRoy grew up on a 200 head cattle farm in Manchester. His family bought and sold horses, and he broke a lot of colts.

The pair met at a horse sale, married, and turned their mutual passion for horses into their work. They owned Highland Riding Stable for 16 years before coming to Maybury, and own 40 horses.

Jen Werthmann met the Hones in 1993, when she was still in college. Werthmann had ridden horses since the age of seven, and got a summer job as a Highland trail guide. She worked there for 15 years: every summer throughout college, then, after graduating and getting an office job, on weekends and holidays.

“They are very conscientious,” Wethmann said of the Hones. “Safety is their absolute biggest concern.”

Werthmann described how the Hones get to know their horses before letting the public ride them.

“It’s a rigorous process,” Werthmann said. “Kim and LeRoy ride the horses for awhile on their own, then let the guides try them out. Trail guides are the first to ride them with a group, to see how they are with other riders.”

The Hones match their horses to the renters, depending on age, size, riding experience, and other factors.

“Kim and LeRoy know their horses so well,” Werthmann continued. “It’s a great skill, their ability to match them with people. It makes the ride more enjoyable.”

Jasmine Coppola celebrated her 10^th birthday by bringing friends to the stable for a ride. Before saddling up, their trail guide explained how to hold the reins, how to position their feet in the stirrups, and other riding information.

The children mounted their horses from a platform with the assistance of the Hones and their staff. Then the horses gathered around a watering trough, where they drank up before riding.

While Coppola rode with her friends and the trail guide, her sister Adrianna, not quite two years old, rode a pony around the corral.

The Hones have three children and live on a farm. They like to stay close to home and take care of their own horses.

“It’s a pretty simple, low-key way of life,” Kim said.

Maybury Riding Stable offers hourly rentals, lessons, pony parties, hayrides, kid’s programs, and more. Helmets are available for riders. The entrance to the riding stable is on Beck Road, south of Eight Mile. Vehicles entering the park must have a Recreation Passport, the new permit for Michigan State Parks.