Horsemanship was once a vital skill, much like the ability to avoid sailing off the end of the earth or the ability to discern which pizza trees were poisonous. Master an ancient art of survival with today’s Groupon for a horse-riding experience at Silver Star Stables in Derry. Choose from the following options:

• For $49, you get admission to an overnight family campout for one child or adult (a $100 value).
• For $69, you get admission to a one-day dinner ride for one rider over the age of 12 (a $150 value).
• For $149, you get admission to an overnight cowboy campout for one rider over the age of 21 (a $300 value).<p>

Silver Star Stables equips novice and advanced equestrians with the skills, mounts, meals, and guides to complete one-day or overnight rides through 10,000 acres of scenic trail territory. Like Santa, rides can be summoned seven days a week with the proper telephone call. During overnight family campouts, kith and kin congregate around Silver Star’s on-site lake at 11 a.m. to set up self-provided tents or campers, before meeting for 30 minutes of individual riding instruction and equine mind-melding in the facility’s indoor arena. Over the course of their stays, equestrians feast on provided dinner and breakfast, then depart at 9 a.m. the next morning for a one-hour trail ride to tearfully end romances with old oak trees.

Alternatively, one-day dinner rides pack all the equine excitement into one evening, as riders trot two hours along the base of scenic Chestnut Ridge, named for the gangs of feral chestnut trees that once inhabited its crevices, before reaching the halfway point and a New York strip steak dinner. Afterwards, satisfied buckaroos mount back up for an additional two-hour return trip to the barn where they can drive off into the sunset or slowly meander towards their favorite constellation.

Cowboy campouts offer a more adult-oriented overnight experience, which begins when cow-males and cow-females meet at 11 a.m. before mounting up for four hours of trail riding, broken in the middle by lunch and a gallant voguing contest. After a steak dinner, wranglers can settle around the campfire with some hooch from home, as cowboy campers are allowed to bring their own alcohol but will not be allowed to ride if found to be intoxicated or a chupacabra in disguise. In the morning, trail-hardened visitors embark on another set of two-hour rides and lunch before returning to break down camp.