Extremadura - Spain

Jaana who has been on 15 In The Saddle rides. Very relaxing ride with excellently cared for horses and tasty food | The horses were second to none. I think only the Wild Coast in South Africa, and the Pyrenees Ride in Spain have ever had equally well cared group of horses. The welfare of the horses was also important as it was unfortunately very hot (+33 or above each day, wit blue skies), so they indeed needed some extra care.
The ride was mainly in walk because of the terrain, and this was expected. We also probably walked slightly more than usual because of the hot weather. That said, it was physically demanding not only because of the hot weather but also because we did a lot of climbing up and down on a very uneven surface.
I would definitely book a different ride with Emilio and Mamen in the future, that is how satisfied I was with their overall organisation and the horses. The group size of eight riders was also perfect.

Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?

In the Saddle needs to check the actual status of the accommodation for this ride. The itinerary does not entirely match the reality, probably because some small hotels and guest houses have gone out of business. I would say this ride was the closes to a centre based ride it could have been without actually being one. We spent four nights in the same hostel in Trujillo - two nights in the beginning of the ride, as well as the last two nights. In between we spent two nights in a 'four star' hotel which was included in the itinerary. I would say the hostel was just fine for the first two nights, but a bit hard work towards the end of the holiday, not least because my expectation was quite different based on the itinerary.
The food was fantastic quality when ever Mamen prepared it and I truly enjoyed the evening meals as well. The hostel breakfasts were obviously hostel level, slightly better than just bread and coffee but only slightly.

How could we improve the quality of pre-holiday information that we send?

You need to update the accommodation part of the holiday to reflect the actual situation. [In The Saddle replies: Thank you for your feedback, we are pleased to hear you had a great time. We are in contact with the ride operator about the exact accommodations that they now plan to use going forward as this difffered from what we had been informed originally.]