Anon who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Horse riding | I have been riding in this region for approximately 10 years. The variety of rides offered is excellent, with stunning scenery around every corner. There is ample opportunity to ride at all paces. Riding along the beaches is truly exceptional.

Liz who has been on 18 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous again | Always a great experience we all keep going back as it’s such a fabulous holiday

Allison (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fabulous holiday experiene | Yes the riding met expectations.

Very slight negative was that there was a small choice of horses at Bushwillow. There were only two large horses which were taken by the two tall girls in the group, therefore myself and one other girl had the small horses to ride but we were both used to riding 16.2 + and sometimes found our feet touching the top of the ponies legs! Admittedly one horse was poorly, one had thrown a shoe, some were not suitable for clients yet etc. so the options were a bit limited. However the horses were well behaved and safe which is more important.

Natalia (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Horses are great and well taken care of, the ride was through the beautiful scenery of Sierra Nevada mountains, around 5 hours in the saddle each day.

Jane who has been on 22 In The Saddle rides. Great rides on beautiful horses | The horses at Los Alamos always meet my expectations. The riding was as great as ever.

Angie who has been on 27 In The Saddle rides. Another fabulous week at Los A | Having been over 10 times I knew exactly what to expect however I feel that the pace of some of the rides has increased, definitely for the better.

Brian who has been on 8 In The Saddle rides. Exhilarating Ride | The horses are Arab stallions and different to other horses I have ridden but the guides gave excellent tuition to ensure I was able to handle them safely. The riding was fast and exhilarating with multiple beach rides with long gallops.

Tina (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fantastic, amazing experience | Excellent

Tessa who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Crete 21 - 27 April | I was given a lovely forward going horse to ride. The countryside was beautiful. Some rides were slower than others. I preferred the faster rides. There were some steep trails to navigate.

Abhaya who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Beautiful Toscany | Riding among wine yards, oliven trees, in the forest on narrow paths, passing abbeys, monasteries, castles and the beautiful landscape of Toscany

Janet who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Beautiful scenery, lovely horses and I liked how Donatella keep us informed about what to do | It meet every expectation.

Debs who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. BRILLIANT - EXCEEDED ALL MY EXECTATIONS ! | The riding was, for me, the perfect combination of :-
Distance per day - enough riding without being overtired - and not feeling like "oh, I wish we could have gone further......"
Terrain - Varied and truly beautiful. We rode to the top of mountains to take in the stunning vistas and along remote tracks through many vineyards. The profusion of yellow flowers & red poppies growing between the rows of vines was a 'kaleidoscope' of colour. Skylarks sang in the air above our heads and other birdsong followed us where-ever we went. You could stop, breathe-in these peaceful moments and truly feel alive. The rush of modern-day life ebbed away.
HORSES - were the star-of-the-show. Sure footed, gentle spirited with a strong work ethic. Their unique fast walk, covered great distances with speed and in a smooth gait. They were fit, hardly ever broke a sweat and always ready for some exhilarating canters. Some of these were very fast. But I never felt unsafe as the guides had a great way of balancing great fun and safety.

I was very sad it was all coming to an end on our last day. I WOULD DO THIS RIDE AGAIN !

Bridget who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Amazing!! | We had an absolutely wonderful time. Great hosts, great company, food and wine!! The horses were perfectly matched to me and just the type I enjoy riding. They were very well cared for and in tip top condition.
I would highly recommend the holiday to experienced riders.

Deborah who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. A thoroughly enjoyable week. | Riding was superb and varied - largely as advertised. Some good long canters, long trots.
Sadles comfortable and in extremely good condition
Rode same horse all week so really got to know him ( splendid horse called Hassan)
Only sadness is we were unable to ride abreast as other riders not confident / able enough.
Ability well managed e.g. on a couple of rides one rider was advised not to ride as pace was faster. Spare horse was led on the ride by guide.

Alpha riders worked well as a team a well oiled team both regarding horses and the ground support. (ITS comment: We are delighted that you enjoyed your time in Bulgaria.)

Karen who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Everything was wonderful. | The riding and horses completely exceeded my expectations. The experience, as a whole, was by far the best riding holiday I have ever been on.

Nicole (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Excellent | I was very impressed with how our hosts made sure all was well with us and our horses.
They never rushed us through preparing the horses or the rides.

Michael who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Rode a fine Anglo-Arab.
Good variation of walk, trot and canter - Fast gallops – not so much canters
Stirrups a little too tight for my riding boots with steel reinforcement

Sarah (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Wonderful hospitality | It was so kind of Bushwillow to organise for Lorraine and I to borrow horses from Ants Hill to ride to find the rhinos.

Jackie who has been on 14 In The Saddle rides. Great for lovers of fine wines and food along with excellent riding | Plenty of variety from climbing hills to faster paces along tracks lower down around the vineyards.
Horses were all well mannered.

Tine Anette who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Got help to correct the gel pad with 2 lambskin so my "sit nodes" were fine.
It's a bit hard on the knees to just walk or canter. A little trot in between would "exercise" the knees a bit more.
Super cute horses that are very easy to ride.
A bit annoying that the back up guide found it necessary to bring a speaker on the horse ... I like to enjoy the peace and nature when I'm on horseback
Impressed by their focus on safety... thank you for that

Jill who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Amazing | Horses are very well cared for, not over worked with good rest days . Rachael knows her horses inside and out and has a knack of knowing the right horse for you .

Arlene who has been on 14 In The Saddle rides. Super | All horses are well fed and get downtime to re over

Mette who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. I think we were all challenged - in a good way.
there are a lot of walking and then some good fresh canters.

Linda who has been on 22 In The Saddle rides. Brilliant week in the Okavango Delta at Macatoo camp | So much care is taken by Mod to match horse and rider. My reduced capabilities must be quite difficult to accommodate but my two horses for the week - Zorba and Thorne - suited me perfectly. I had ridden both before so knew what to expect. So pleased I got to canter through the Delta again after my hip replacement last year. It was also amazing to have so much water around thanks to the rains. The game was spread out because of the amount of water but we still had great sightings including a couple of unplanned lion encounters!
It was also wonderful to be able to go out on the boat for sundowners while spotting hippos and elephants in the water.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you for your superb feedback. We are so pleased that you enjoyed such a special trip back to Macatoo].

Louise who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A trail ride to remember - Dionysus Trail | Horses were exceptionally well cared for and were in excellent condition and very fit for the level required for the trail. My pony was quite small but certainly coped with with the speed and terrain.

Richard (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Excellent holiday, everything catered for , wish I had found it earlier.. | The outlook , the views from the saddle , all great . Some of the climbing and descending were arduous but rewarding. Rides were of a perfect length in time and distance . I used my Equilab tracker and we covered 52 miles during the 6 days riding .. excellent ..(ITS comment: We are delighted that you enjoyed your riding holiday).

Adam who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Horseback Safari Adventure | We had been 2 years ago and found that they were even better than we remember. (ITS comment: We are delighted that you really enjoyed your riding holiday).

Cathy who has been on 54 In The Saddle rides. Dancing with Horses | The stables were immaculate as were the horses for every lesson. In 9 lessons I rode 8 different horses. What a joy they were to ride, soft mouthed, bendable, sensitive to the rider's aids. I was pushed to achieve in the lessons which is what I had asked for, my thanks to João and Joanna. As a non horse owner who rides once a week at a riding school to be able to work on collection and extension, to achieve Shoulder in and out, Halfpass, Passage, and (with help) Piaffe, this was a real treat and such a privilege. You have the same saddle throughout your stay, it was very comfy and fitted all the horses well. I learnt to ride in spurs and mostly with double reins. The indoor school is large and has mirrors, the outdoor has a roof to keep the sun off. The rider's lounge is a pleasant way to watch the other riders.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you for your lovely feedback. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Quinta do Rol. It sounds as though you made fabulous progress!].

Ali who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Breath-takingly beautiful | It was such a complete privilege to ride such noble stunning horses, through the unspoiled mountains of the Sierra Nevada. The fresh air of being 2,000 metres up plus the smell of the herbs as the horse passed through them was so magical.

Dallas, Mordechai, Jeanette and Blossom were excellent guides, they brought humour and fun to our rides, whilst ensure everything ran smoothly and safely. Our picnics were delicious and the locations perfect.

The horses are beautiful, I was fortunate to ride the very lovely Dilar who thoroughly looked after me. She was incredibly safe on some very tough terrain and not your typical trekking horse- we had fun.

Thank you to Becky for recommending this trip, it was such an adventure and one I will never forget- truly stunning in so many ways.
[Becky from In The Saddle replies: Thank you so much for your lovely feedback. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed your holiday - Dallas's horses are truly wonderful.]

Jenny who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Very Mixed Feelings | The horses lived in small stables with a little hard standing outside. The stable had rubber mats but no bedding so on the majority of mornings the horses had been lying on the mats in the manure. The horse I rode on the first day was covered from head to foot in dried manure - not exactly what I had expected when the information said that I would have to brush and tack up my own horse. I made this clear to the person in charge of the yard that day but I was far from satisfied with the care and attention given to the horse. The horses came back sweaty and it was frowned upon for us to wash the horses down with either a bucket of water or the hose pipe. I appreciate there is a water shortage. However, I did wash my horse down after the first day.
[Olwen from In The Saddle - the horses are stabled on mats and normally this doesn't cause the problems you experienced. Some of the problems may have been due to the extreme weather conditions and sandstorm in the week prior to your holiday. We will investigate and thank you for raising it. Sabine has now told us that unfortunately she was ill that week with bronchitis and she apologises for not being around. She acknowledges that the guide did not prepare the horses as she should have and she is no longer working at the hotel. Sabine is glad you enjoyed the riding but is sorry that the stables and horses were not as she would have liked you to see them. Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.]

Lyndsey who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. The riding was great, one thing to consider when gauging clients riding experience is whether they are experienced in English or Western tack as though I am a very competent rider in English it was difficult to transition to Western (for cantering).
One of the wranglers was quite rude to me on several occasions during our last day and ride, which I found upsetting. I was shouted at twice, though none of the other 6/7 wrnaglers had had any issues with me/my riding (I assume) and we had ridden at least twice each day up to this point. This ruined the last ride for myself. My partner really enjoyed the rides and as someone who has never been faster than a walk absolutely loved the cantering by the end of the week.
[Becky from ITS replies: Thank you very much for letting us know this happened and we we certainly follow this up with the ranch. I'm sorry that it affected your last day of riding.]

Fiona (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Lovely hotel with the best food | No communication from riding host - first morning arrived expected to clean all the shit off horses and they were covered in it as have no bedding - guide then took 8 of us up the mountains on a whole day trek - no getting to know me as a rider or getting to know the horse- no guide at back to navigate bikes and quads or stagglers !
Every day we had to guess where we were going and on what horse no discussions or options .
Guides were lovely but new to area .
Horses didn’t seem to get days off or turned out onto grass so at every opportunity they were trying to snatch a mouthful en route .
Felt quite sad for the horses and wanted to bring mine home !
[Olwen from In The Saddle - we are sorry to read that things weren't as they should have been during your holiday and we are following it up with the owner. Sabine has told us that unfortunately she was ill that week with bronchitis and she apologises for not being around to brief you each day. She acknowledges that the guide did not prepare the horses as she should have and she is no longer working at the hotel. Sabine is glad you enjoyed the riding but is sorry that the stables and horses were not as she would have liked you to see them. Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.]