Donna who has been on 37 In The Saddle rides. Ultimate Uruguay | The riding wasn’t very exciting, but was pleasant once you got used to the riding style. It was a fantastic way to see the country and very laid back.

Vivien who has been on 38 In The Saddle rides. Beautiful country. | It took me a day or two to adjust to the Uruguay gaucho style of riding (different from other gaucho/western riding I've done) but it was a great way to see a beautiful country. The beaches, especially in the Rocha province, were absolutely stunning and we did the most chilled out, relaxed canters I've ever done on a beach.

Kate who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Best family holiday of my life | The rides were great, the guides chose the best times of the day to avoid the real heat of the day and to ensure the horses were cared for.

Linnéa who has been on 23 In The Saddle rides. Perfect. | Excellent

Rachel who has been on 23 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous riding in Spain. | The horses are a dream, beautiful Spanish horses perfectly matched to each rider, Rachel is a genius at knowing which would suit you best.

Jane who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. Mixed | The riding was described as pacy with jumps. It wasn't which gave us one extremely awkward day when the issue was raised and dealt with aggressively and in a very confrontational way by the owners.

I am unsure exactly what happened but to me that day...on an expensive holiday …. was wasted and deeply unpleasant

I don’t expect hosts to shout at their guests! I do expect a holiday to match descriptions

Nicky who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. Wait A Little | The horses were amazing and extremely well cared for.

The pace was a lot slower than advertised in the holiday description….. Although we did eventually get to canter along the tracks there was no fast riding or jumping.

[Olwen from In The Saddle adds - gallops are rare and the only jumping would be should there be a small log in your path. We are sorry if we misled you on this].

Ray is a very different guide to Rusty who no longer works there and so the style and pace of the riding has changed dramatically. This is fine but it may be worth changing the description so people know what to expect. Had we known this in advance then expectations of a very fast ride would not have been so high and the whole problem might not have occurred.

The animal sightings from the horses exceeded all expectations and our guide Ray was amazing- such a knowledgeable young man with a total love of all things in the bush- I learnt a lot and it was really interesting riding with him learning about tracking and all the animals.
In no way am I complaining about Ray as a guide- he is awesome and I’d happily ride with him again any time, But as I said above he is a lot slower than Rusty!)

Gill who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. Wait A Little | The riding is different as the countryside is dense and careful riding is required. I felt that we were treated like learner riders with little thought of the fact that we may know what we were doing and that we did have considerable past knowledge behind us. The guide is a young budding natural horseman and is keen to impress and the follow at the rear girl is a student keen to pick fault as she is a budding dressage rider/showjumper, unfortunately with no knowledge of cross country riding. Rather spoils the feel of the ride. The discription in your itinery says long fast canters and that they can be long in duration so require to be fit. Ray our guide did not like more than a walk we did canter very short canters but because they were start stop it became untidy to keep organised.

[Olwen from In The Saddle writes - we have spoken to Wait A Little about your feedback. They have told me that there was a lot of rain prior to your holiday which made it very slippy in the first couple of days and so made faster riding impossible. Wait A Little have also explained that their impression was that some of the group were very happy with the slower pace.
Everyone has commented that Ray was a great guide and that you had amazing sightings, which of course would not have been possible if you had been going very fast].

As a guide Ray was amazing, maybe a chancer with the wildlife but we learnt an awful lot from him.

Angus who has been on 10 In The Saddle rides. Charming, rustic, great. | This ride has varied terrain and pace. Adolfo had the perfect combination of safe rider restraint without being overly controlling. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride experience.

Kirsten (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing scenery, horses and guides made for a spectacular holiday | The riding was a good combination of slow and fast with a bit of climbing thrown in for good measure. Excellent. Good to have had the same horse for the whole trip as that builds a bond and confidence and allows for more independent riding which gives an amazing sense of freedom.

Annette who has been on 10 In The Saddle rides. Wow! | The only thing I did not like was how the horses were tied nose to tail 🙁
They were so good they could run free rather than being dragged around. This did upset me and one received a nasty kick to his chin.

Cathy who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A great varied trip | Definitely to be recommended

Graham who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. Excellent | Instruction was brilliant. You often are asked to do things whilst riding, carry your hands at a certain height, sit on this or that seat bone, but not often are the effects of the aids explained in detail. George was excellent at doing this. I enjoyed his and Renato's lessons very much and look forward to a return visit.

Andrew who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Another wonderful experience at Ant's Nest | As with our previous trip to Ant's, the riding was exceptional - varied and exciting. The guides were engaging, entertaining and knowledgable. The quality , variety and preparation of the horses was outstanding and the team went to great lengths to match horses, riders and groups to ensure we all got the best from our rides.

Anna who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A fantastic adventure | This is a fantastic ride with a good amount of time in all paces. Some brilliant long canters on lovely terrain, the horses on our ride were all strong, sure footed, polite and trustworthy - total heroes.

The landscape is beautiful and different every day - with good, clean and comfortable accommodation every night, even when basic.

The team were amazing - absolutely nothing was too much trouble - friendly and welcoming (I am a solo traveller and never felt at a loose end), excellent company and a lot of fun. The guides were very knowledgable about the country and its history (I learnt a lot), about the mountains and about the horses. They looked after the horses brilliantly.

Flynn who has been on 18 In The Saddle rides. Excellent holiday | Excellent

Rosa who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Los Portreros - a little luxury within a warm welcome | All of my riding experience is in the English style and this holiday requires a very different riding style which it took a bit of getting used to. I'd encourage ladies to take advice on sports bras seriously. The Criollo horses were a little bit bouncy for me (I'm about 7 and a half stone) so it can be difficult to screw myself into a saddle, but the Pasos were wonderful.

The riding was at a varied pace and the mix of activities (standard hack / herding cattle / herding horses / gaucho games meant that it was kept interesting.

Louise (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Superlative horses and hospitality | Excellent

Tracy who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Fun riding, superb food | Early in the week we found the riding a little too focused on long canters and then over an hour of walking. However, once we mentioned we would prefer shorter canters and shorter periods of walk changes were made and the result was superb. Plenty of close up animals and fantastic riding.
[Becky from In The Saddle replied: It's great to hear you enjoyed the riding :-)]

Sue who has been on 14 In The Saddle rides. Surely one of the best trail rides in the world! | My mare Tatum was perfect for me...kind, forward going and polite - a real credit to the training given by the Wild Coast team. All the group seemed really happy with the horses they were matched with. These horses are fit and clearly love their job.
The riding, whether on pristine beaches, crossinf rivers, through the hills and valleys or in villages, was perfectly paced with plenty of long fast canters and loads of photo opps. The tack was comfortable and in good condition. Our guides Mel and Tertia, plus Chelle in support, couldn't have been better - safety conscious, caring of the horses and super fun.
Julie-Anne spent time with us at meals on the first and last days which was lovely. She is deservedly proud of her operation. I've done many rides all over the globe and this is one of the very best!

(Claire from In The Saddle comments: We are so delighted that you had such a great riding holiday.)

Michael (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Holiday of a Lifetime | Super horses, well cared for and well led.

Good variety of riding experience from ambling walks to exciting canters. Appropriate rest periods and refreshments along the way.

Great tack and stabling.

Linda who has been on 20 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic week-long trail ride along the stunning Wild Coast of South Africa | Expectations fully met. Our second visit to the Wild Coast - a longer trail this time. Julie Ann's horses are amazing, clearly very well loved and cared for, sure footed, fast when you want them to be, with brakes, and with the stamina to go for 30 - 40 kms a day and still be up for fast canters or gallops . The riding is varied and interesting (who knew horses could climb rocks?), fun and fast on the endless beaches, challenging at times when negotiating rivers and steep inclines inland and up and down to the beaches, relaxing to meander through the villages. I love the Leon Liversage trail saddles that are used - comfortable and secure. Troy is one of the best trail horses I have ever ridden. Guides Mel and Tertia worked extremely hard to look after all of us and made sure that everyone's needs were catered for. All done with a smile even on the day that rain peed down on us for 6 hours!! They were also very good hosts at meal times. Michelle provided great back up and was also a fun, cheerful companion at meal times.

Vicki who has been on 3 In The Saddle rides. Incredible beaches, great horses and a wonderful holiday | The riding was varied and at times quite fast paced. Given the size of the group (9 riders plus two guides) and bad weather at times, the guides did incredibly well to keep within everyone's limits while keeping things interesting for those of us who like to push ourselves a bit more.

The horses were lovely - forward going but manageable and reliable - and were obviously very well looked after.

Cheryl (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Stunning location good horses | Excellent

Jackie who has been on 13 In The Saddle rides. Exhilarating | Yes, our leader, Mel, did a great job of keeping us moving at suitable speeds to match the terrain and keep us safe

Caroline who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic | Excellent

Veronica who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Truly memorable. | Please add any further comments on the riding e.g. did it meet your expectations: I rode two trail horses and four arena horses (we had a trail ride and lesson each day). The only blip was my very first trail horse, Conquistador, who is the biggest trail horse, i.e. the smallest, lightest (43kg) person was on the biggest striding horse! I was OK but then slightly anxious about later horse matches. However, my first lesson was on trusty Xico so all was well. I haven’t had arena lessons for many years and never Dressage lessons. I enjoyed the lessons more than I thought I would and the instructors deserve a medal for patience! The experience exceeded my expectations.

Pauline who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Fast | Los Alamos has fabulous well bred and trained horses.

Trisha (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Los Alamos | I loved the riding but could have ridden for longer, but realise it is hard work in the sand for the horses.

Michael who has been on 9 In The Saddle rides. Excellent, interesting and challenging | Yes, a good variety.

Rosemary who has been on 43 In The Saddle rides. A relaxing and fun week of riding and wildlife viewing | Horses are lovely. I rode four, all very acceptable but one of which particularly took my fancy. A lovely little Arab called Xia Xia , keen, with a bit of 'personality'. The other three were absolutely fine too but it's always good to have a favourite.
We were especially pleased to have some faster paced riding with some long canters with Moses, among others. Obviously we spent a lot of time just walking and watching the wildlife and it's a pleasure to be able to get so close.
[Becky from In The Saddle replied: Thank you so much for your lovely feedback and I'm so pleased you enjoyed your return visit to Ant's Nest]

Bridie who has been on 14 In The Saddle rides. Game viewing extravaganza. | The terrain was not as varied as I have experienced in other parts of the world. However I was very happy with the riding and the dedication of the guides. The horses were amongst the most happy and contented that I have met anywhere. They are not only very well cared for but also enjoy a great deal of freedom to behave naturally. They are valued as individuals and appear to have a wonderful work/life balance.