Patrick and Jill Maier have owned and operated Mountain Trail Horse Center since 1982.

Pat received a BS in Recreation and Resource management from Slippery Rock University, with an emphasis on wildlife and forest management. His experience includes working at a ranch in South Dakota, and taking a professional guiding course. Pat also worked for three seasons for an outfitter in Colorado, starting as a wrangler and moving to foreman, which included managing a crew of up to ten men.

After leaving a career in social work in 1989, Jill devoted herself full time to Mountain Trail. She manages the home and office, and also guides and drives the wagon when necessary.

Mountain Trail provides an outdoor wilderness experience on horseback that utilizes a large tract of undeveloped and rugged country.

Pat's practical knowledge, strict procedures, and excellent horsemanship skills are talents he used to develop Mountain Trail into an operation that enables riders to experience a true wilderness adventure, with a high margin of safety.

In 1998 Patrick Maier was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Governor's Travel and Tourism Partnership to represent outdoor recreation in the state. This council is the first official tourism group to include representatives from both the public and private sectors. It includes representatives from the state's visitors bureaus, private sector tourism sites, members of the General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council, Department of Conservation, and Natural Resources and several other state agencies.

Pat enjoys showing the great outdoors to his customers and sharing his vast knowledge of animal and plant life. He's comfortable telling tales and is happy to tell you his opinion... Pat has a joke for most any occasion. An avid hunter, Pat is also an artist who enjoys creating useful and decorative items from organic materials, metal, and wood.

Trail Guides

Rachel Booz – Trail Barn Manager

Rachel has experience from Wyoming to Pennsylvania and manages all aspects of the trail horse portion of the business.  Rachel was born and raised in Bucks county, PA and educated Lock Haven university majoring in ecology and art. She then spent over fours years living in Colorado and exploring the western states which is where she was introduced to and fell in love with horses. Rachel has a real talent for for outdoor photography and you can find her images of the many of the horses for sale at the barn and the Coach Stop Inn.

Her wealth of outdoor knowledge coupled with her passion for hunting and fishing make Rachel a truly skilled guide.  She manages over sixty head of horses, including training, feeding and their health care in addition to managing the staff at the trail barn.  She also leads many of the trail rides and is often out on overnight trips, taking good care of the guests.  In addition to all that, Rachel also helps out at the wagon barn as a driver for the covered wagon rides.  Hardworking and dedicated, Rachel is a great asset to the overall operation. 

Kylie Maier – Trail Guide

Kylie has been riding horses literally as long as she can remember.  An incredibly skilled horsewoman, she is a former 4-Her, barrel racer and attended Hocking College majoring in Ecotourism and Adventure Travel.   Kylie has trained many of the horses in the string and has a way of sharing her knowledge with our guests so that novices can understand and feel comfortable around horses.  Kylie has a joke or story for almost any situation and keeps the guests highly entertained and laughing.  She is most often found on the trail leading rides, but also helps out at the wagon barn as a driver.  Kylie has covered tens of thousands of miles in the saddle and is a deeply valued member of the team.

Don Bezdek – Trail Guide

A native of Ohio, Don has worked on ranches in charge of 300 head of cattle on 3000 acres and he’s trained and shown horses for western pleasure, halter, lunge line and cutting.  He attended Lamar Community College in Colorado for Horsetraining and Management and he’s a former bullrider, serving as an alternate on his college rodeo team for roughstock events.  Don leads trail rides and trains horses to be trustworthy mounts for our guests. His friendly manner, skill with horses and love of the outdoors shine through when taking visitors on horseback treks into the PA Wilds.  Don has been an invaluable addition to the staff.