The Devetaki Plateau
26 October 2024
The Riding
The Accommodation
Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?
Accomodations were very adequate for this type of riding and considering the remoteness of the area. In some guest houses the food was served cold, which did not seem to be intentional but rather out of lack of attention to detail. On this occasion the waitress microwaved the food after being asked for it. The food that was served during lunch by the team was flawless. In general the lunch breaks were always in great places and I felt very well taken care of.
Before Your Holiday
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There are two points that distinguish this riding holiday from the best riding holiday experience I've had so far (The Miyak Tribe Trail in Northern Macedonia). The first one is the fact that here in Bulgaria the group was pretty much split in half, as approximately half of the group was British (or at least very fluent in english) and the other half was french-speaking. Although most of the french speaking riders could also speak english, they mostly talked in french which created a strong language barrier. For me personally that was not a big problem, as I speak french as well. But because of this the group didn't bond as much as a whole, but rather within the two sub-groups. It wasn't a big problem as we still socialized with everyone, but on the previous trip I had where everyone was very fluent in english we bonded properly as an entire group.
The second point is concerning the guiding. In Macedonia the guide would always tell us stories about the paths we were rinding on, the stories that were told in that area and the local customs. That gave the entire ride an adventurous spirit. I missed that a bit on this ride. However, this is again a very minor point that without the previous experience in Macedonia I wouldn't even have noticed. The riding in Bulgaria was excellent as well, and it was still all in all an amazing holiday!
Jan (this is their first In The Saddle holiday) Great riding in beautiful landscapes | The riding and the horse I was assigned did absolutely meet my expectations (10/10). As this was the first time I sat in a saddle after a years break, I was a bit nervous when starting this riding holiday. But, I was matched with the perfect horse (Makarov) who was impeccable, absolutely reliable but still forward going. The riding itself was the perfect mix of walks, trots and canter on great open fields. A minor point I could mention is that the guide horse was rather slow. In the canter this resulted in us sometimes falling back to trot as we tried to stay behind the guide horse. Towards the end of the week my back was increasingly unhappy about that. But this is a minor detail that does not take anything away from the amazing riding I've had!