Los Alamos - Spain

Philip who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. The perfect balance of riding and relaxing | Because I went in June, riding was in the morning with early starts to avoid the heat. We were a large group (9) of mixed abilities. As I was one of the more experienced riders, I got some of the faster horses. Everyone got a change of horses over the week. My first horse was Harry, an unlikely looking hairy cob, who was just lovely. My second horse was Rio who was sleek and black, and looked amazing and was very fast. My horse on the last day was Sofia, a feisty mare who spent the first 20 minutes chomping on the bit and trying to get to the front. After that she settled down and was also very fast. The rides were generally quite long (about 4 hours) which consisted mostly of walking through the beautiful forest, but also some fast canters and gallops. I think everyone's saddles had seat savers, mine was a gel type. The horses were all very well behaved and looked after, and I didn't hear any complaints from the other riders. A lot of people fell in love with their horses!

Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?

The hosts were incredibly generous and provided us with some fantastic food, making sure that everyone's dietary requirements were met (I'm vegetarian and they provided me with tasty alternatives to meat). Breakfast is relatively simple and help yourself. For lunch they took us out to a local restaurant each day, which consisted of many different dishes. Evenings were back at the villa and consisted of a 3 course meal. Drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic are freely available during meals and in the afternoon at the villa. Snacks and fruit are also available at the villa during the afternoons. The hosts are from England and understand the needs the Brits, providing a ready supply of teabags and Cadbury's chocolate amongst other drinks and snacks.

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

Once again, In The Saddle provide a comprehensive itinerary of the week in a booklet that provides you with everything you need to know. Some bits that could be added/updated include: all rooms have a power adaptor providing UK power sockets and USB sockets; all rooms have air-con; all saddles have seat savers (so no need to bring your own!). The guide book talked about making your own way to the Spanish border from Gibraltar, but in reality the hosts drove through the border to pick you up. So generally everything was even better than described.

How could we improve the way we handled your booking and payment?

Don't know.

Do you have any other feedback for us?

It was easy to see why this is such a popular holiday and why people keep coming back. Los Alamos has been running for a long time, but it is clear that the hosts are constantly working on improving the experience for the guests with attention to detail. This began with the host sending me a Whatsapp the day before departing with instructions on what to do when I arrive - this was a nice surprise as usually it's me doing the reverse when I'm standing in the arrivals area looking lost. Although it was a large group (9), everyone had their own room, with no single supplement, which is rare in the holiday world. The horses were all fantastic and gave us some amazing rides (which is the main reason for going). The day excursion to Jarez added some variety to the week, with the spectacle of the Spanish horse show - again, all included. I didn't know anyone else in the group before I arrived, but we all got on. The villa offers space to socialise either by the pool or in the large dining/living area when you're not riding.