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).

Sean who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous riding and wildlife. | Excellent

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.]

Helle who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Great ride in beatuful Sicily | The reason I put only 'agree' on the second question was because one of the riders had challenges doing canter/gallop and this created some situations . One example- on the beach the last day he -and others if they wanted- should have been given the option to stop and get off the horse(s) before the canter/gallop. As it was, some of us in the back tried to stop because he had trouble while the front riders went on for a bit before they stopped.

As a whole , the ride was varied from snow in the mountains to beautiful spring flowers in the lowland. Because of all the rain the ground - and some river crossings were sometimes a challenge and sometimes we had to find an alternative route. The guides/owners were very good.

The days were quite long (starting 08:30-09:00 and finishing between 18 and 19 ) so riders should be aware of this before booking this trail.

Dario who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Excellent 🙂 | Excellent

Jacci (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) mixed feelings | On our first day we came down to the yard to find the horses filthy dirty, and Jenny's was covered in horse manure. We were given brushes to clean and groom them. Their accommodation was a walk in stable, where there was no bedding for them in the inside part. Consequently, they had to roll in poo. This was further complicated by the need to save water. I believe there is some pasture available, but we didn't see them turned out to it at night. I realise that field accommodation may be difficult on a mountain, in which case, bedding for the stable should have been provided. The need to preserve water meant that instructions to clean the horses varied from using a hose, using a bucket and sponge, and once on Sabine's watch, using a bottle of water with a hole in the top. No clear instructions were given on the stable rules, no list on a notice board, etc. It became a standing joke when new people arrived and asked what the routine was, or where we were going the next day, and everyone would laugh and say 'nobody knows'!

There seemed to be a shortage of staff to get horses prepared for the rides. One rider was only there for a fortnight and the other had only been in situ for 3 weeks. Sabine did not communicate much with us (ie all riders) at all.There was no communication at breakfast about the day ahead, or indeed, at any time at all. I had the slowest horse for every ride and was always last. This meant that I could never hear what was being said by the lead rider. Also, I would have liked a variety of horses, rather than being given the slowest one.

Having said all of this, we enjoyed the rides, the scenery and the young women who led the rides were very friendly and helpful.

[Olwen from In The Saddle replies - We are glad that you enjoyed the rides overall. The horses are stabled on mats and normally this doesn't cause the problems you experienced so we need to follow up with the hotel to see what happened. Sabine has now 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.]

Ellen (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Beautiful country, excellent food | Every day the terrain was different and beautiful. I was able to ride the same horse every day which gave me a lot of consistency and confidence by the end of the ride.

Cathy who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Wonderful | The horses were in very good condition and live a very natural, herd life. They are hardy and fit. The terrain was quite varied, some hills, mostly through vineyards and villages.

Lisa who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Incredible family experience | The riding was perfectly tailored to our family's experience. Our novice children (aged 6, 8 and 11) had very safe ponies/horses and were able to move on to more forward going ones as they progressed. All cantered for the first time. Children should be prepared to ride reasonably large (15.2hh) horses - they were chosen based on temperament, being more reliable than ponies! There was no problem with that at all. My husband and I loved our more forward going but very straightforward freisan and thoroughbred.
Morning ride is normally 3 hours but we shortened to 2 hours so not too much for the children when it was hot. All activities are bespoke so that was no problem.
Swimming with horses in the dam was so much fun!

Jane who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic | Fantastic horses well matched for each rider

Sue (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing | It was over and above any expectations, I was a little hesitant about my riding ability, but came away with improved confidence.

Emily who has been on 4 In The Saddle rides. Fantastic | I had a wonderful time in Crete, the riding was amazing, the horses were fantastic and the views on the rides were particularly beautiful.

Christine who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. Fabulous activities | Excellent

Sue (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Fantastic | Horses were all fabulous forward going but sensible and used to terrain - well schooled and obedient

David who has been on 5 In The Saddle rides. A ride that is not for the faint hearted | It is the environmental conditions that makes this ride hard. The weather varies from all day rain, strong winds, cold temperature, to beautiful sunny windless days. This ride covers terrain that covers cobble stone beaches, rocky headlands, swampy land, mud, river crossings, steep up and down sections, to wonderful flat sandy beaches ideal for galloping.

But it is also those environmental conditions that makes the ride so satisfying. With Adolfo and Laura being excellent guides/leaders in this testing terrain.

Even the snow on the main road on the bus trip back to Ushuaia

Anon who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. A challenging ride: terrain, weather and dirt | The horses were business like, know their work and do it well. It was important to have trust in the horse as going through deep mud, along cliff edge paths, steep slopes, over cobbles, sea edge rock shelf and through deep water they needed to be able to make their way without a rider interfering. My horse was able to pick a route through the marshes better than many. Any disappointment re the pace of ride was on account of other riders, not the staff of Centro Hipico.

[ITS replies: Thank you for your feedback. We are looking into your comments regarding pace, although this isn't a fast ride due to the terrain and use of pack-horses. We are pleased that overall you enjoyed this tough, expedition ride at the End of the World.]

Simone (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Good | Lik the people and horse

Arisa (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Very enjoyable | I was very satisfied with my lessons and the horses I was assigned to ride. The trainers were very helpful and good at instructing.

Karoline who has been on 2 In The Saddle rides. Good | Excellent

Frida (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Amazing! | I had an amazing time! Loved the teachers and horses and i learned a lot of new things!

Lucy who has been on 6 In The Saddle rides. A unique and wonderful holiday | Riding was always good, some days better than others, dependent on other guests and their riding abilities. On occasion complete beginners are put with experienced riders which isn’t ideal, however, the guides try to split up during the ride so advanced riders can at least get a canter or two.
Groups are never more that 6 guests which is perfect.

Angie who has been on 27 In The Saddle rides. I had the time of my life | I loved my horse, Maru, she was a joy to ride. Ant always takes a good ride and this holiday was no exception. The reserve is huge with varied terrain and lots of sandy roads and tracks, open grassland, challenging ascents/descents and streams. Lots of lovely long canters and opportunities to go 'off piste' to follow a variety of animal tracks. Having ridden at Ant's 4 times before, I did not doubt that my expectations would be met, they were, however, exceeded. Brilliant.

Bob who has been on 15 In The Saddle rides. Like Ants but better (if that's possible)! | Riding out with Ant most days was great. Although he was very ably backed up by Fred and Chase.
Thought had obviously been given to the horses selected by Zoe and Amanda. I rode Mashudu, who liked her own space but was comfortable and settled very well by the first afternoon. Ashanti, the most chilled 4 year old ever?! Amboseli, such an amazing all rounder. And my big boy Morocco
It was very exciting tracking the big 5 with Ant who always had safety in mind (look for your escape route).