Horse riding inside Toronto — the stables at Sunnybrook Park offer lessons and trail rides through 220 hectares of ravine park. Beginner trail rides through Don Valley on horseback are one of Toronto's most surprising and delightful urban activities. You're 15 minutes from downtown and you're in the forest on a horse.
Neighbourhood: Leaside / Sunnybrook · Address: 1132 Leslie St, Toronto, ON (Sunnybrook Park stables) · Hours: Lessons: seasonal, by appointment — check facility website
Why Visit
Sunnybrook Park lets you actually ride horses within city limits, with real trails winding through vast Don Valley forest. It’s legit outdoor adventure without leaving Toronto.
What Makes It Unique
Unlike most urban stables, these guided trail rides put you deep into forested ravines rather than an arena or paddock. The scale is surprising—220 hectares of natural parkland, minutes from Yonge and Eglinton. Most locals have no idea there’s equestrian life this close to the subway.
Sunnybrook Park's Equestrian Centre in Leaside provides one of the most unexpected Toronto outdoor experiences — horseback riding within the city limits, in a valley park adjacent to Sunnybrook Hospital that somehow accommodates a functioning equestrian facility with lesson horses, riding instruction, and the pastoral aesthetic of a country riding stable despite being completely surrounded by urban Toronto.
The Sunnybrook Stables facility offers group and private riding lessons for all ages and experience levels — from complete beginners who have never been on a horse through intermediate riders who want to develop specific skills. The lesson format introduces riders to the basic vocabulary of horsemanship (mounting, walk, trot, basic steering and stopping) in a safe, structured environment with trained instructors and school horses accustomed to nervous first-timers. Children's programmes are particularly popular, and summer riding camps fill early.
The park's ravine setting provides the context that makes Sunnybrook Stables feel qualitatively different from a suburban riding school — the trails through the Sunnybrook Park forest and meadow system allow horses to move through genuine natural landscape rather than arena circles alone. The combination of arena instruction and trail riding gives the Sunnybrook experience a completeness that pure arena schools don't provide.
The surrounding Sunnybrook Park system is one of Toronto's largest and most underused parks — extensive trail networks through the valley, the Sunnybrook hospital and veterans' memorial grounds, the E.T. Seton park area to the north, and access to the Don Valley trail system. A riding lesson followed by a walk through the valley park is one of the most distinctive Toronto weekend experiences available to people who live in the Leaside, Rosedale, or Lawrence Park areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can beginners take riding lessons at Sunnybrook Stables?
Yes — Sunnybrook Stables offers beginner lessons from the ground up, with school horses appropriate for first-time riders. Private and group lesson formats are available, and children's programmes including summer camps accommodate young riders at all experience levels.
How much do riding lessons at Sunnybrook cost?
Group lesson rates are typically $60–80 for a one-hour session; private lessons are higher. Summer camp and session packages are available at discounted rates. Contact Sunnybrook Stables directly for current pricing as rates change seasonally.
Where is Sunnybrook Stables?
Sunnybrook Stables is in Sunnybrook Park in Leaside/North York, accessed via Eglinton Avenue East at Leslie Street. The Don Valley Parkway's Don Mills Road exit is nearby. Transit access involves the 51 Leslie or 56 Leaside buses from Eglinton station on Line 1.
Do I need my own horse to ride at Sunnybrook?
No — Sunnybrook Stables provides school horses for lessons. Personal horses can be boarded at the facility, and horse owners in the greater Toronto area do board at Sunnybrook, but lesson riders use the stable's own horses throughout their instruction.