The riding was fantastic, an excellent way to do a safari. The horses knew their job inside out. You could stand on buckle end and watch the game, wander across the floodplains and in and out of trees on a loose rein and gallop across country with ease. Bernard, our guide, knew the land exceptionally well - this allowed fast gallops, short winding canters and weaving through the trees watching the game - and we had full confidence in him that we were safe to do so.

Loved the saddles. All three horses I rode were great. Loved the beaches and long canters along grassy tracks

The horses were all lovely, really well cared for, and because were riding twice daily, we had different horses over the course of the week, so that they were fresh and not over worked. Riding in the Bush was a new experience for me, but the horses ‘knew the job’ perfectly. The tack was fabulous, in every way,; clean, well fitted and the saddles were comfortable.

The riding at El Bronco 100% met my standards, the horses are happy, incredibly physically fit, well behaved and sensitive. I was matched with a palomino quarter horse called Jackpot and as cheesy as it sounds I really felt like I had won the jackpot! When I had to describe the kind of horse I would like for this holiday, I had written that I know I am a competent rider but that I’m not always confident. By the time the week was over I felt so confident, content and joyful. Even though I ride regularly at home I felt like I was falling in love with riding all over again!

On top of the horses, the instructors and guides need a big mention. This was my first holiday by myself and their attitude made me feel relaxed and safe. I felt comfortable to ask questions, have a joke and really learn form them. I don’t like going on holiday and feeling like a tourist, I prefer to feel like I fit in, this certainly was the case at El Bronco. I would happily go back again and again.

I also loved that Nelson gave us a riding lesson before our time out on the trails - he's an excellent teacher and was able to assess our skill level and no doubt helped with us matching up with the best horse for us.

The riding mostly met my expectations - beautiful trots and canters along dirt paths, blooming hydrangeas, lantana, and ginger lilies all around. I do think my skill level wasn't up to par, so I wasn't comfortable at a gallop, as most of the others were.

Yann's horses were all in excellent shape and of great temperament.

I overestimated my fitness and experience level, so the Green Island Trail that I signed up for proved to be too much for me. Christina was absolutely wonderful when I confessed this - she cheerfully made special arrangements so I could still ride, but at a more suitable pace for my skill level. The horses were beautifully trained trail horses and were cared for so well. And the countryside is beautiful!

I thought the participating riders were more experienced. There were a few that didn't always have full control.
The horses matched perfectly with what we had requested.

The Andalucian Arabs were amazing, sure footed and fast, the rides were so much fun and the views amazing, loved the terain of the forest. I’ll be going back again.

Yet again the holiday exceeded all expectations. Riding was superb horses excellent Rachel, Jose and Roberto were thoughtful and matched me perfectly to the horse.

Excellent

I was assigned a horse that I requested; one that wasn't too hard for my back and one that was forwardgoing. My request was fully fulfilled, but I would have liked to try a Spanish horse or an Andalusian. Just to try it. [ITS Comment - we were very pleased that you were able to ride the horse that you requested. I'm sorry that on this occasion there wasn't the opportunity to 'try' another guests Spanish horse].

It was a very exciting and challenging terrain. However, the terrain also only allowed the pace to be in walk most of the time. Could have been nice with a little more trot or canter.
Very good saddles and tack. Thorough introduction to how they wanted us to get the horses ready and tacked for each riding.

I had a lovely horse and a great trip.

The horses were spectacular--rock solid even in traffic, forward, responsive and clearly well-loved.

The ride is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, sweeping views of the island. I do think the way the itineraries are set up on In the Saddle leaves one with the impression that choosing the Green Island Trail will put you with more advanced riders and more forward riding. To the contrary, you will ride with those booked for the more beginner programs and the farm will add unevaluated day-trippers (in tennis shoes) to your full-day rides, with the result that we were really only able to have real canters on one day. The last day we were sent out with ten riders of wildly varying abilities and one guide for a full day. The guide was basically superhuman but that is too much to ask of anyone and needless to say there were none of the "lovely canters" advertised in our itinerary.

It was truly enjoyable as a mainly walk-trot riding holiday, but as the forward horses, the chosen trails and itinerary seemed set up for faster riding, it was a bit frustrating. Particularly as it could have easily been bettered by splitting up into smaller groups or more careful evaluation of riders.
[ITS Comment - Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is unusual feedback and certainly not the norm. We are speaking with our partners in the |azores to ascertain why this occurred during your stay]

I loved my horse! Phil changed after the first day for a horse with a ‘bigger engine’ and was very happy. My saddle was hard but was given a sheepskin which was great. The tack was all good although some of the bits looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned in ages so were a bit on the rusty side..

All the guides were really helpful and hard working. The horses were great and the cantering through the flowers was spectacular. Also I quite enjoyed the feel of the endurance style stirrups.

Excellent

Difficult to rate when things are so different from what you know :-). But things and conditions fine - absolutely nothing to complain about.

Excellent

What an amazing way to see this beautiful country. This is a challenging ride that is mostly in fast trot and allows for lots of long gallops across the Steppes. Everything about this trip was perfect from start to finish. Our support team were incredibly attentive and were great fun, the equipment was good, the food was amazing, the horses were well suited to each person in the group and the riding exceeded all of our expectations. We cannot thank the team enough and will definitely be back to see more of the country.

The riding completely surpassed our expectations - the horses were absolutely just want we requested and more - very well schooled and looked after. As for the holiday itself .... it was
everything as described and so so much more. We had assurances from Sarah (Dale) that it would be an amazing holiday and it was........ the abundance of wildlife was unbelievable - we saw just about everything... Elephants, Lions (including mum and two babies), Hippos (the stay by the river was one of the real high lights if we had to pick) Crocs, practically all the Antelope and Zebras (1000's of!) Giraffes........ i dont feel like missing any of the incredible animals out but safe to say it really was a holiday of a lifetime!
if theres anyone out there thinking of doing this holiday then just press that button!
I will just say how brilliant the guides, Gordie,Felicia, Pete and crew were as well.....absolutley faultless!

Very impressed by the quality and variety of the horses and the care they clearly receive. From talking to the guides the horses get good long breaks between rides which is great to see compared to some places I've ridden. They are obviously well fed, watered and groomed - which is an impressive task in the African bush!

The saddles were very comfortable and it's nice to see simple bits and bridles. Only slight criticism would be that as I had the smallest horse (Million - what a superstar!) His breastplate was uselessly big so David had to adjust the saddle at every opportunity as it would slide back. My stirrups leathers were also mismatched and couldn't be shorted to quite my liking.

The riding more than suited my ability however one member of the group was only used to riding Western Style and struggled. You need to be comfortable riding at speed on hard ground. 3 of the horses were competition endurance horses, fast and very fit. Just putting a western saddle on a horse does not address the very different styles of riding.

Horses were very sensible, light in the mouth but responsive. The tack was of a good standard and didn't need the seat saver provided. The horses were in excellent condition and well looked after, perfect match with Heston who was very good looking as well. The heat made the ride a little hard going at times, but gave me a good work out with alot of trotting up and downhill, lovelly long canters as well. You would have to ride regularly and be riding fit to enjoy this ride, due to the amount of trotting. The ride was well organised and all safety aspects considered.

Excellent

The horses were all in excellent condition, the saddles very comfortable, the horses were schooled to an ok standard, some of them could have done with martingales - was surprised that no account was taken of height/weight when allocating horses. I ended up on a large horse and people much taller than me ended up on smaller horses which seemed a bit odd. The riding was absolutely excellent and could not have been better, loads of gallops and a lot of hours in the saddle, fast paced, great fun.

My riding experience was somewhat compromised by travelling companion Jill's stupid request for a none brown horse 15hh plus, having spent the first full day getting to grips with the horse I was allocated, I then felt obliged to swap with Jill when she admitted she couldn't manage her mount's paces. Though by the end of the week she had persuaded herself that I actually wanted to ride her horse. I have previously lead rides in the U.K. & know how difficult & potentially dangerous the job can be. The group was too big & took 2 days to sort out due to some ignorant, selfish and potentially dangerous riding resulting in one very predictable fall. Given the overall cost of the experience I personally would prefer to pay more to GUARANTEE a smaller, therefore safer group able to crack on from day one.[ITS Comment - thank you for advising us that the group size was 9 guests. We had been led to understand that if this was the case, two smaller riding groups would go out from camp. I am sorry that this didn't happen on this occasion]

Truly and equestrian paradise! Castle Leslie did not disappoint. We were hoping for a luxury "adult riding camp" feel and it was exactly that. Beautiful grounds, superb accomodations and of course, fantastic horses and riding. We expected the riding to be excellent (so many acres and so many interesting cross country fences), but the icing on the cake was the friendliness, expertise and high level instruction given by the equestrian facility staff. They pushed us to try more, corrected bad habits, all while making sure every minute was fun! Absolutely terrific staff that takes excellent care of their rider and all the wonderful horses at the estate.

My horse was Zenobia, the current national endurance champion. She was simply outstanding and I loved every minute.

Excellent

Lovely selection of horses to suit ability and age. Some riding experience is necessary but the guides are very happy to adapt the rides to suit the group. Horses were all very well behaved out on the rides but also responsive. Instruction excellent with private lessons often available on request after the evening ride.

Lovely horses & great instructor/leader - Vladimir.