Castellare di Tonda - Italy

Bob who has been on 13 In The Saddle rides. Wonderful views, horses and wine! | Western riding is not for everyone as it is very different to English riding. I thought I had ridden Western previously but obviously not properly! Ailsa was an excellent teacher.
The horses and tack were in excellent condition and very comfortable.

Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?

My accommodation was a bit tired and in need to a bit of a freshen up. Although it was very clean.
Breakfast was excellent and so were the packed lunches. As a non meat eater, dinner was fairly limited especially on the barbecue night.

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

You can't! You are all so helpful and efficient but friendly too x

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

As above

Do you have any other feedback for us?

Although I enjoyed the holiday, I would not return.
This is probably because my last 7 holidays with ITS have been at Ants! And I have been very spoilt with every ride being different because of the wildlife. The price point for the holiday is similar but with a much cheaper and shorter flight!
Ailsa did a great job of mixing it up as much as possible. The picnic rides were lovely and the woods were magical, especially near the monastery.
Ailsa was very easy to talk to and a great instructor and we will stay in touch.
One thing I did not consider as a solo traveller was the evening meals. My previous holidays (Mongolia, Patagonia, The Azores, Africa) have all been purely riding holidays where you all eat together. At CDT, the riding is a very small part of the resort. It doesn't bother me to eat alone and I found some friends, but some may not be comfortable.
I was surprised that you didn't get at least one free glass of wine with dinner, given the location.
It is remote but I found things to do (running up some killer hills!) The spa was lovely with great views.
The taxi transfers were expensive so I would recommend getting as close as possible by train.
All in all, a lovely holiday. The staff were great and Jewel made a fuss of me in the evening :).