Monte Velho - Portugal

Jo who has been on 7 In The Saddle rides. Dream Dressage Experience | The riding experience was excellent. The horses were beautifully trained, varied and a pleasure to ride, and the instruction was of a very high standard. Bernardo, in particular, was outstanding! I may have developed a holiday romance for a chestnut stallion - THE best lesson I’ve ever had!

I had 6 lessons on 6 different horses and worked on flying changes, travers, leg yield, shoulder-in, passage, piaffe, tempi changes and more!

There are just a few suggestions that I think could make the experience even better. It would have been nice if the lessons had been split more evenly between the covered arena and the outdoor school. Five of my six lessons took place in the covered arena, and it wasn’t until I specifically asked that I had the opportunity to ride outdoors, while some other guests had already been using it.

On a couple of occasions, one rider in the group understandably required considerably more support from the instructor. This meant there were periods of around 20–25 minutes where I was waiting with little or no instruction, and by the time the lesson returned to me it was quite difficult to pick up where I’d left off. As a result, I felt I only received around 15–20 minutes of meaningful tuition in those sessions. We mentioned this to the team at Monte Velho during the trip, and they were absolutely fantastic—very understanding, accommodating and keen to improve the experience.

One additional suggestion would be to have a short consultation with each rider at the beginning of the week. Discussing individual goals, strengths and areas for development before the first lesson would help tailor the training from the outset and make the experience even more personalised.

[Olwen from In The Saddle replies - we are so pleased that you enjoyed the instruction at Monte Velho. We have also forwarded your very constructive comments to the team at Monte Velho. I know they already try to do everything you suggest but it is good that they are reminded. Thank you].

Do you have any comments about the accommodation and food?

A better gym would be nice

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

Nothing to improve, outstanding as always!

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

None noted.