Vanessa who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Fit horses in rocky mountainous terrain | I was perfectly matched with my horse. I had asked for something forward-going but that you could ride on a loose rein. The mare I was assigned, Carmen, was exactly like that. Great, fit horse that was extremely sure-footed in the mountain terrain.

Dawn who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Decent trail ride, good food and accommodation. Would recommend. | Most of the time was spent in walk, which can feel a bit tough on the joints (after several hours). I suspect this was due to the terrain - road work for some of the time, then hilly and rocky for the rest - meaning opportunities for trot and canter were fairly limited. Near the end of the week we did have an incredibly long canter (lots of fun), the others were significantly shorter.

My horse (Seleni) was young, keen and fit. She had a tendency to fling her head up when excited, but this settled as the week went on. The horses were ridden in a set order on the trail, which perhaps limited the variety of conversation between riders. It was also a very big group (12 including the guide).

Leslie who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic Ride | The ride provided a great representation of the beautiful and varied terrain of Crete.

Liz who has been on 10 In The Saddle rides. Excellent holiday in all aspects | The riding was at a faster pace than I expected considering the terrain but was very happy with the pace.
We were not allowed to change position in the line due to the horses temperaments and speed.

Nicky (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Wonderful | Lovely treks. However there were 11 riders. Also I was in the middle of the group and my horse was a very fast walker and would have been better placed at the front. Pecking order was not able to be changed due to some unfriendly horses. However I moved up in thevlast 10 mins! Should have asked earlier!

Karen who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Excellent all areas! | Fit, obliging horses. Just the right amount of time in the saddle. Really enjoyable. Rode through places I will never forget. Lovely.

Lisa who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. A great way to see the Island of Crete | I was a little disappointed with the riding as the terrain was really rocky with lots of walking single file in an order set by the ride leader. Although we had numerous opportunities to canter it was not on good ground.

Liz who has been on 13 In The Saddle rides. Greek odyssey to the sea | A challenging trail. The exceptional heat we experienced on several days made the riding tougher.
Picking fresh fruit (pear, apple, grape, pomegranate) along the way was a delight but of course swimming with the horses was the highlight of the trip.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you very much for taking the time to leave us your feedback. We are glad to hear you enjoyed the expedition in Crete.]

Debby (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fantastic | Excellent

Giselle who has been on 17 In The Saddle rides. Lassithi Trek - a mountainous adventure | Yes it did meet expectations - if anything, more forward going than I had expected. Olwen advised me before I went that the terrain is very rugged and rough and that horses in the UK would not cope with it but that the horses there are used to it. And indeed they were - they have been properly acclimatised, so I knew what to expect but it might be an idea to reflect that more in your brochure so that people are not taken by surprise because the other riders (none from In the Saddle) were taken aback to start with.
Vladimir, the guide was excellent and duty of care to rider and horse was always paramount.

Jackie who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Wonderful | I just wanted to say a big thank for another super holiday! We had the best time, Velani was amazing, horses great, food was delicious, weather was lovely, the staff, guides everyone were brilliant. To top it off, we had the most amazing group, who all got along so well. The scenery was spectacular and we were mostly totally off the beaten track well away from roads, tourists, people

Alison who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. On the first morning Sabine sat down with the group and asked us about our riding experience and what type of horse we wanted to ride. She then matched us with our horses and we had a three hour introductory ride to get to know them. We were all happy with the horses and no one wanted to change. My horse was a lovely mare called Iris who was forward going and enjoyed a canter but she also felt very safe.
The riding met my expectations - there was lots of ups and downs as we crossed the mountains to and from the south coast but we still did plenty of canters, including a couple of long canters on the flat. The ground was uneven in places but all the horses seemed fine with it. We had to walk our horses on a few downhill sections but not for very long at a time.

Anabel who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Incredible trip with amazing horses across the best landscapes Crete has to offer! | Really fabulous trip, I had a great time and created some memories that will last forever. Everything was really well organised, the hosts were very attentive, delicious food always provided and the horses were wonderful and very well cared for and looked after.

Tracy who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. We certainly were not short changed on riding experience - it really is 5-6 hours per day in the saddle. To make this holiday even better it would be lovely to have a day or half day off in the middle (and swim in the sea more maybe!). However the whole experience was just fantastic and it was so nice to get out our country despite the covid rules. Strangely the large earthquake during our first breakfast turned out to be a great group bonding moment and did not faze our hosts or disturb our ride.

Donna who has been on 40 In The Saddle rides. Crete- Lassithi Trek - great holiday! | The horses were really well cared for. Despite the heat and dry terrain, all had a good covering and were fed three times a day whilst out on the trail. The ground, as we had expected was very hard and stoney in places which we cantered and galloped over. The horses clearly used to this, coped very well although we wouldn't have entertained fast riding on this ground back home!
Tack was well maintained and the safety system adopted for tying the horses at lunch times and evenings was well thought out and worked well.

Claudia who has been on 11 In The Saddle rides. A very pleasant riding trek, perfectly organised, lovely horses and good guiding. | Crete is a very rocky country. The riding was very much strongly ups and strongly downs - in the heat and in very rocky area. Having made it once was nice, but I would not do it a second time.

Alex who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic time in Crete | As I had been on the Panorama ride before I had a favourite horse from last time which I requested and got allocated for the trek.

Emily who has been on 25 In The Saddle rides. Lassithi Trek - A lovely trip exploring the beautiful island of Crete on excellent horses. | My horse Pluto was very nice to ride; he was forward but kept his pace and I didn't need to fight with him. An excellent match.

Geoff who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. Lassithi Trek | A highly enjoyable trip with very good horses, an excellent guide who was knowledgeable, considerate and great fun. The riding provided much variety and a great opportunity to experience the 'real' Crete off the beaten track. Our hosts Sabine and Manolis at Velani were excellent, creating a 'house party' atmosphere at the hotel, with fellow guests enjoying each others company. I cannot recommend the ride highly enough.

Only reservation was infrequent watering of horses on the trek, but I can honestly say that they did not appear to suffer as a consequence, hence overall I think they were well cared for.

Abbie from In The Saddle says, "Thank you for your feedback. Please be assured that the horses are always watered again during the evening".

Gordon (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Hard Work | The riding terrain was really not suitable for horses. How they managed amazed me. At times it was dangerous bordering on negligent. Riding across the site works of a new airport with big plant and machinery is not acceptable.
[In The Saddle note - we are sorry you found the ride challenging. We have visited this ride and had many clients join it. The ride operator is very experienced and has been providing this demanding trek of some 200kms for 20 years. The horses are fit and well suited for the terrain and also safe if they encounter working equipment. It is true, and is indeed the case on many riding holidays, that we see horses cope very well over terrain that we wouldn't ask our own horse to do].