Equestrian Vacations

A few years ago I was looking for a holiday for myself and my husband and I stumbled upon a website offering horse riding holidays. I love horses and I have ridden all my life but although my husband can ride a bit he doesn’t have the same passion for horses that I have. How could I convince him that this would be a holiday that we would both enjoy?

Trot in the "lovely" weather!

Although many of the holidays stated that they catered for riders of all abilities they did seem rather too ‘horsy’ to include my husband. I abandoned the idea. Some months later when I was working on a project looking at equestrian tourism best practise I had the opportunity to visit both Portugal and Spain to see how they had become such popular equestrian destinations. Then it struck me, I could write equestrian holidays that not only gave you the opportunity to ride but that also included great accommodation, sight seeing and visits and the best of the local cuisine and wines. This would make the holidays available to everyone, those wanting to ride could do so, those wanting to just enjoy the high lights of the region they were visiting could do so.

So, one cold December night I wrote ‘Horses, Sun and Wine’ a short break equestrian holiday itinerary suitable for everyone including families! I based it in Jerez in Andalucia and included visits to The Royal Riding School, The National Stud Farm and Gonzalez Byass Bodega then I added a Flamenco Dinner plus riding with a wonderful local horseman around his vast Hacienda. The perfect combination, a choice of wonderful accommodation, great cultural visits, fabulous riding around the vineyards of Jerez on Andalucian horses and all under the Spanish Sunshine!

Soon I realised that holiday travellers are searching for something different and ‘Horses and Chocolate’, ‘Riding Holiday in Cornwall‘ and ‘Horses and Spa’ were added to my portfolio, both based here in the UK in my home county of Cheshire. We have fabulous riding here and combined with quality accommodation and some interesting local visits the female riding population can final persuade their man on to a horse riding holiday! In fact, I have been so impressed by the number of men out there who have spotted my holidays and bought them as a gift for their other half (romance is clearly not dead!) if you would like to read more about these holidays and many more please have a look on my Riding Holidays website ‘Equestrian Escapes’

One of the things that is often on peoples ‘must do’ list is to have a go at riding horses.

Most children dream about riding ponies and if they don’t get the chance whilst they are young they often think they have left it too late. This is not the case, even if you have never had the chance of horse riding before we can give you the opportunity to make that experience a reality.

We can offer you the chance to have some riding lessons, riding our safe, willing schoolmasters and learn a few basics from our experienced instructors. You will often start riding horses in the arena where you will get to know your horse which will have been carefully selected and matched to you. You will learn how to start and stop and then progress from walk to a slow trot. Later you will have the chance to gently ride out into the local countryside, taking in amazing scenery often not accessible otherwise. All to soon it will be time to go home and dream about your next trip riding horses.

For pony mad children why not join us for our pony for the day. Enjoy some lessons riding your pony and get to know a few stable management basics. Whilst enjoying your day you will also have the chance to meet other children also experiencing the magic of pony riding.

Alot of us dream about riding horses on a beach and in the sea. Equestrian Escapes can help you realise that dream whatever your riding ability. Horses love the freedom the beach offers and their enjoyment is catching. The scenery that is viewed whilst riding horses is breathtaking and the experience will be unforgetable.

It will soon be Christmas and lots of us are scratching our heads and wondering what to buy our loved ones this year and how to amuse our children during the holidays. You can solve both these problems with a short riding holiday including some riding instruction.

Why not treat yourself or your wife, girlfriend or daughter to a break in Cheshire on our Adult Intensive riding programme. This holiday offers a superb package of riding lessons for people who want to improve their basic riding skills, to others who want to have more advanced dressage lessons or jumping lessons. The programme includes riding lessons on the lunge and in the arena, hacking out and also stable management lessons to increase your knowledge of everything related to looking after horses.

If you are thinking of treating your horse mad children to some riding lessons we recommend our family riding holidays. There is something for everyone to do, Dad can play golf around the 18 hole golf course set in picturesque countryside, mum can pamper herself in the luxury 4 star spa hotel and the children can spend the day at the stables. The pony for a day is a great way for your children to have fun whilst learning lots of information about horses and meeting new friends. They will have riding lessons on the flat from qualified instructors on well schooled ponies, hack out in the forest and learn how to look after their ponies.

Perhaps Mum and Dad would also like to taste a bit of the fun and have a go at some riding tuition themselves. Even if you have never ridden before you can have a few private riding lessons in the safety of the arena on our willing schoolmasters and then you will be able to swap stories with your children over dinner.

I think Winter is definitely nearly here, everyone is starting to talk about the dark nights and cold wet weather. Lots of people are thinking about where they are going on holiday and when and if they are going on a riding holiday they need to know what riding gear they need.

This week i have had a number of people enquiring about what specialist riding clothes they need to be packing for their riding holidays and if they haven’t got them already they have added ‘clothes for riding’ onto their Christmas lists,(husbands, boyfriends and parents please take notes!)

The most important things are to be safe and comfortable in your riding clothes. When travelling to warmer destinations for your riding holiday we recommend that natural fabrics like cotton are always the best riding kit. For riding, nothing beats the comfort and protection of breeches or jodphurs but if you don’t already own a pair, cotton trousers or leggings are ok. Tops should offer some protection from the sun and low hanging branches on the trail rides. If you are travelling in the Winter or cooler months it is good to bring tops that you can wear in layers depending on the temperature. Short boots with a small heal are suitable footwear and a lightweight waterproof coat just in case! Some people also find it is useful to have a lightweight pair of riding gloves to protect their hands.

If you are thinking of purchasing riding clothes for your riding holiday there are plenty of places to go depending on your budget. To get a good idea of what riding clothes are available i suggest you have a look on the internet first. This is also a good place to find a local tack shop which sells riding clothes too. When buying jodphurs or riding boots it’s always good to try on a few different makes and styles to see which ones you find most comfortable. There are lots of different colours and shapes of equestrian clothes to suit all tastes, the only problem will be choosing which horse clothes you need now!

For more riding holiday travel tips please see the Equestrian Escapes web site

In October we went to try a new horse riding holiday in Italy; Tuscany to be more precise. The accommodation for this riding holiday is in a series of castles which provide for a real ‘fairytale’ setting. As we drove up the long sweeping drive to the ‘home’ castle we had our first taste of the truely wonderful location that we would be enjoying over the coming days. Our rooms were spacious and elegantly furnished and that evening as we feasted on traditional Italian cooking we really began to look forward to the start of our horseback adventure. On the first day we rode to Lake Bolsena, returning to the castle again in the evening. This gave us a chance to become acquainted with our horses, we also we had the opportunity to paddle along the shores of this impressive lake that sits in a volcanic crater. The following day we continued our castle riding tour following the roads laid by the very first Italians inhabitants, The Etruscans. The wonderful towns of this region are built from the tuff rock hills providing spectacular results for example Sorano and Pitigliano. This whole area oozes a rich cultural and historical heritage. We rode through the “Vie Caves”, ancient and mysterious Etruscan pathways carved out of the rock, experiencing the unchanged scenery that the Etruscans did thousands of years ago. Each day was punctuated by a wonderful picnic lunch, washed down with local Italian wines. Needless to say a seven day riding holiday was gone in a trice but the pictures of this wonderful adventure will remain with us for ever! This riding holiday was arranged by Equestrian Escapes. For this and other great horse riding holidays please visit the riding holidays website