Elisabeth (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) A paradise for Lusitanians lovers | The horses were brilliant school masters.
Always cooperative and in great shape.
The instructors were very passionate about their work and cared that every lesson made a difference for us in our technical improvement journey

Helen (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fabulous | For an experienced rider, this was a great holiday. Lessons challenged us. Instruction was very good and horses were well schooled and responsive. The accommodation, facilities and meals were all excellent too. My only criticism, and I shall be writing to MV directly on this, was the safety aspect out on trails. They permitted non-riders and novices on the trails which resulted on our last day in a fall. There was clearly no procedure in place and it took half an hour for someone from the centre to get to us. If the girl had been seriously hurt, this could have been fatal as there was no-one with medical training or even a first aid kit! The poor young girl who was our trail leader was an intern of no more than 20 years old who didn't have a clue. I was the only one on the ride with any experience and I could see an accident happening on more than one occasion. They need to get a proper procedure in place immediately and also, ban novices from trail rides completely as even if it's billed as a slow ride, horses are unpredictable creatures and they could have different ideas!
Otherwise it was great!
[Olwen from In The Saddle - we are glad you had a good holiday. Thank you for raising the problems which arose on your trail ride. These are serious matters and we have also discussed them with Monte Velho. They say that they will do a better rider assessment prior to going out on the trail rides. They have told me they do follow first-aid guidelines but clearly these need to be strengthened and we will be following this up with them to ensure they are.]

Nicky (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Brilliant first visit to Monte Velho! | The horses I rode were on the whole really great and I learnt something from each of them. I think it was slightly unfortunate that some visitors seemed to be able to request specific horses/trainers, which may have resulted in others not getting the opportunity to ride these horses or work with the trainers.

Having said all of this, I trained mainly with Teresa, and greatly appreciated her patience, insight and sense of humour!

Maddy who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. My third visit, another really lovely experience | Bernardo was excellent as a trainer - really went the extra mile, I can’t commend him enough
I didn't have Teresa this time
The young male trainer - I had two lessons and I think he needs more experience and better English.
Unfortunately they had a lot of lame horses (and some of the new ones are struggling to adjust to the school) so the range of horses available was reduced. However they did their best to match you with horses to improve your riding.
I loved my last two lessons on El Rei - with Bernardo absolutely excellent.
They are missing the leadership from Anne-Sylvie I feel.

Charlotte (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing | I was a bit disappointed with the trails, as we didn’t really get to encounter much — it was a real pity. The dressage lessons were really nice but it would deserve to last 1h30 as we are working one by one so 1h is a little bit short .

Katie (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Dressage paradise in Portugal | The dressage lessons were excellent. I was lucky enough to have Teresa all three days. She was a very good communicator and asked up front what my goals were. My goal was generally to improve my riding and she honed in on a few position changes quickly. The horses were extremely safe and perhaps quieter than I might pick, but I do appreciate the safety factor! They were very well schooled.

The trail ride was also lovely and again my horse for that was fantastic. I heard from riders that did multiple trail rides that the route is very similar day to day. The trail rides are probably 95% walking which worked great for me.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you for your super feedback. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your stay at Monte Velho].

Sarah who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Can I retire here? | Excellent

Clare who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Amazing | Had such an amazing time on my first trip, had to return with my daughter. All in instructors are very knowledgeable, kind and encouraging. The horses are so well looked after and a pleasure to ride. Cant wait to return in February.

Fiona who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Perfect riding holiday | Fantastic tuition. I improved so much in a week. Horses are so well trained and they have such nice temperaments.

Sarah who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Monte Velho Equo resort | The lessons are taken with two people per hour , it works well as you have a break in between and the horses have some down time . sometimes it is difficult especially in the small school to anticipate where the other rider is going .

Vicki (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fabulous | From the most beautiful location to the most stunning horses! We really couldn’t have asked for more!
It was incredible to ride the advanced dressage moves and be put on the best horses. I was like a little girl with excitement and awe! Absolutely wonderful experience!
Our room was lovely, very comfortable with a view to die for! The sunrise was breath taking!
We had the pleasure of meeting all the mares and foals all living naturally in a herd, lovely to know they grow up like that until they naturally wean themselves. If I was 20 years younger I would have stayed on as an intern!
Thank you to In the Saddle and Monte Velho for a dream holiday. We will be back!

Katie (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) You did not disappoint | The teaching was first rate and the horses so well cared for. I only ride up to Medium and thought the horses good for my level. However I think perhaps if you were at a higher level, you may not be able to practice one time changes for instance.
The horses were so well cared for and obviously loved by everyone. So lovely to be part of this.
Hacking-perhaps be easier on horses if less on track and more on the grass.

Jane (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) A Wonderful Resort. Can’t wait to return.

Jenny who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A week of fabulous riding and relaxation | My third visit to Monte Vehlo and it lived up to my previous great experiences.
The horses were better than ever with some favourites still feeling lovely to ride and a range of more recent equine recruits offering great variety.
Our group of 4 were consistently well matched to horses.
We were so lucky to arrive to beautiful weather off a wet spring which made the wild flowers and landscape truly memorable.
The ethos of Monte Vehlo is a pleasure to experience.

Mary who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Great Dressage Experience | Very well schooled horses in great condition match well to the riders.
They did everything they could to meet our individual needs and wants.

Amanda (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Lovely time in Portugal | The riding exceeded expectations as someone with no prior dressage knowledge/experience.
[Olwen from In The Saddle - I am so glad you enjoyed your holiday at Monte Velho.]

Robin who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. Amazing | This is an amazing place, bathing with the youngsters in their herd and natural environment was almost as amazing as the riding lessons. The food is great, it feels like a home from home.... We will be going back again soon.

Erica (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Surpassed all expectations | Absolutely loved everything about the 5 lessons I had. The trainers are gently challenging and push you in a safe and supportive way. My riding improved through the week and by my last lesson I was riding some movements for the very first time. The horses are so lovely, beautifully schooled and with a lovely temperament.

Sheila (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Superb experience | The welfare and care for their horses was excellent. The level of teaching was exceptional and reached beyond my expectations. The instructors were super and really wanted you to do well. I learned so much from them. I would return in a heartbeat!

Jayne who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Luxury Dressage break | Monte Velho have very good horses and excellent instructors. However, this time I noticed one particular horse was being used too often for lessons (not just my opinion but the instructors too). This horse’s saddle was also not fitting well and I believe causing some discomfort. They do need some more well schooled dressage horses to share the load. I did notice they have just bought a couple more horses for dressage lessons so hopefully this will be less of an issue going forwards. [In The Saddle replies: Thank you for your feedback and we are pleased you enjoyed your return trip. Monte Velho have indeed bought some new horses and so hopefully going forward it won’t be necessary for the very popular schoolmasters to be used so often.]

Jennifer who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Instruction was excellent

Carrie (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Enjoyable | Whilst it was excellent to ride a variety of horses … I wonder if focussing on say just two horses for the week would have enabled me to get used to the nuances of each horse and show more development over the week.

Ashley who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Mixed | Was disappointed with lessons. Didn’t meet my expectations at all. Very expensive for a shared lesson and 2 of the 3 arenas are not big enough for this. No variety of instructors , I had same one every lesson except one . Can’t say I learnt anything and expected more classical approach. Seemed to be a lot of older horses . Several were extremely stiff and in my opinion needed retiring.
Horses nose bands were so tight some of them had permanent ridges around their nose which made us feel uncomfortable too.
There wasn’t that feeling of genuine horse care .
The lady that that took us on the trail rides was brilliant though .
[In The Saddle - we are sorry you didn't find the lessons valuable and have passed on your comments about the horses. We are glad you enjoyed the trail ride.]

Celia who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous location, beautiful horses, excellent instructors | This is my second visit. It was even better than the first. The instructors either have amazing memories or more likely they keep notes of clients and horses so they know what to work on and which horses will help you improve. I joined the Pia Wellberg seat training group which was really beneficial. Pia coaches alongside the Monte Velho instructor to correct rider position, it made a huge difference to have two experts help me.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thanks so much for your lovely feedback. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your return visit to Monte Velho].

Naomi who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! | Brilliant tuition and fabulous trail rides - couldn’t fault a thing!

[Abbie from ITS replies: We're so pleased that you enjoyed your time at the lovely Monte Velho. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your holiday].

Helen (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) A wonderful oasis of calm and dressage focus | Excellent

Carol who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. I only had three lessons, one of which was only 30 minutes in the small indoor school (due to heavy rain). It is not easy to make significant progress in such a short time but even so I was very pleased with my personal progress. I have rarely ridden with double reins and rarely had the opportunity to ride schoolmasters.

My daughter had four lessons and made significant progress on the last lesson so she was well pleased.

Trail riding - quite slow, only a couple of short canters

Janet who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic | Horses were fantastic. Coaching first class.

[Abbie from ITS replies: Thank you for your lovely feedback. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your holiday].

Kate who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Wonderful riding experience & fantastic facilities | Quality horses and instructors. Definitely felt that they went above and beyond to match us with suitable horses for our abilities and goals. Highlight was a lesson with Joao Torrao, who is based there. Really enjoyed watching the training when I wasn’t riding.

Will go back and have more lessons next time. Was good to get out on the trails but enjoyed the lessons most.

Celia who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous holiday. Excellent instructors, educated horses. I can’t recommend enough, it was great | I went with a completely open mind. I had a fantastic week, instructors, horses ….fabulous

Maxine who has been on 8 In The Saddle rides. Brilliant week of training | The riding and instructors exceeded my expectations…. I had fantastic lessons with Anne Sylvie which progressed my riding skills significantly. The instructors know their horses very well, Anne Sylvie planned a riding programme and gave me just the right horse to help me achieve a lot in a short space of time…. Even some higher level skills to give me a taste of where to aim. She pushed me out of my comfort zone just the right amount and built my confidence up 100%

Juliet who has been on 18 In The Saddle rides. Horse Paradise | Excellent team of coaches led by Anne-Sylvie. All the coaches genuinely care and want you to improve, and are great at matching horse and rider to enable this. Horses are very well trained. Trail rides offer a fantastic way to relax and soak up the stunning scenery, and seeing the mares and foals is always special.
I think the fact that so many people were there for their 3rd, 4th, or 5th visit speaks volumes!