CENTRE BASED RIDES

For anyone who hasn’t been on a riding holiday before, a centre based riding holiday is a great start. Your accommodation for the duration of your holiday becomes your ‘home from home’. You will often have the same hosts throughout your stay and at many destinations everyone, guests, hosts and guides, will eat together. As well as becoming part of the family, when you’re not moving on each day your holiday can be much more flexible. If you are in need of a rest or would like to sunbathe next to a pool, riding can easily be opted out of. Obviously, as with any riding holiday, the riding is a highlight and another advantage of being based at or near the stables is being able to try out a number of different horses. However, it isn’t uncommon for our guests to fall in love with the first horse they sit on, many telling us how they’d like to bring their favourite home in their luggage.

There are centre based riding holidays all over the world. In fact the most popular riding holidays are all centre based – Quinta da Terça in the Azores, Los Alamos in Spain, Macatoo in the Okavango Delta, Botswana and Ant’s Lodges and Horizon in South Africa. For Western riders there is El Bronco in Hungary, Castellare di Tonda in Italy as well as ranches in North and South America. Riding instruction is available in Portugal, Ireland, Poland and Italy.

WHAT TYPE OF RIDER DO I NEED TO BE?

Each holiday is different: some can take all levels of rider; others are only for experienced riders, either because of the pace of ride or the wildlife you might encounter. If you are unsure you have the appropriate riding experience, please do ask. One of the great benefits of a centre based holiday is the flexibility to skip a ride and just relax. Staying right at the stables means it’s normally possible to ride different horses throughout your holiday until you find the perfect match.

WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT IT?

Staying at one base allows you to settle in and really get to know the guides and your hosts. We often receive feedback about the family friendly atmosphere, and guests requesting their favourite room when returning to destinations such as Los Alamos or Quinta da Terça.

Useful Tip: Follow our packing list recommendations but do check the weather forecast just before you go, in case some unseasonal weather is forecast.