Ride Reports

I was caught totally off-guard by Colombia’s beauty, diversity and the incredible friendliness of everyone we met along the way. Highlights for me were riding through rural villages and towns and seeing local life along the way.

This ride is suitable for riders able to walk, trot and canter. They have a great range of horses suitable for different abilities and they are able to split groups to those who would like a faster or more relaxed pace. A big highlight of this ride is the wine and dining and you will eat out at a number of top wine estate and restaurants, accompanied by Louis or Ellen who can help decide which wine goes best with each dish.

There are 50 horses with about 25 suitable for guests; mainly quarter horses, paint horses and appaloosas. The horses were very well behaved and well trained.

This was an incredible trail, riding along the beach and through local villages inland. The riding can be challenging at times, scrabbling over rocks and with some steep descents leading the horses on foot. There are also a few river crossings that can be as high as the horses girth. There is plenty of fast riding with the opportunity to gallop on the beach. The horses are extremely fit and forward going, but also well-mannered and a pleasure to ride.

In May 2015 I was lucky enough to visit Ant’s Lodges during the annual Game Census. Once a year there is a census to count the game on the reserve. Over the course of the week, there are various game captures so that Ant’s can ‘swap’ animals with other reserves.

The landscape that we rode through was amazing and I was lucky enough to experience the full splendour of the Autumn colours from so many different vantage points.

Romania, and particularly Transylvania, was somewhere that’s been on my ever-growing list for some time. The thought of wide open spaces, no fences and a willing horse made me eager to visit Equus Silvania, the home of Barbara and Christoph Promberger.

A lovely friendly smile that goes into sparkling eyes always starts a trip off beautifully, and this is precisely the reception I received from Mamen at Madrid airport. I have to be honest too, it never faded throughout the whole week either, I was made to feel incredibly welcome and left feeling like I had made some lovely and kind new friends.

In June 2016 I visited Nine Quarter Circle Ranch. It was my first time to Montana and I was spending a few nights at various ranches. The scenery hit me as soon as we were near West Yellowstone, dramatic snow capped mountains, twisting rivers and forests surrounded the winding road toward the ranch.

In May 2017 I visited Castellare di Tonda and joined a four night short break. What I think is great about Castellare is that there are different itineraries to choose from depending on your level of riding and what you’d like to do whilst there.

About 68 miles and a two hour drive north of Quito is the wonderful Hacienda Zuleta. The hacienda, which dates from the Sixteenth Century, is nestled in the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 2,800 metres.

After the long flights out to Montana the last thing I felt like doing was driving anywhere. However as soon as we drove outside of the Helena city limits it was totally worth it; it was just like stepping into another time. The beautiful countryside seemed to roll on forever with dramatic mountains creating the backdrop to our journey.

My first full day in Arizona began as I was driven out of the Tucson city limits and towards Panther Peak and below it, White Stallion Ranch. The scenery was like nothing I have ever seen first hand and the cacti were absolutely massive.

As our little plane nears Motswiri camp I peek through the window and watch immense grey shapes cluster around waterholes joyfully spurting water from their trunks. A few moments later I see huge herds of buffalo seething across the plains as though one solid mass of muscle.

In December I packed my bags ready for a longed-for trip to Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Having worked in the travel industry for over 8 years, I’d learnt plenty about our camps there and always enjoyed hearing about our guests’ experiences on their return.

Having arrived the day before, at breakfast the whole group chatted over toast and jam, excited about meeting the horses we would be riding over the next week. As if she’d read our minds, our guide Maria arrived and transferred us the short distance to their stables.

Tombstone Monument was the second ranch on my visit to Arizona. Completely different to the others, Tombstone is build like an old western town which I thought looked amazing. The ranch has eighteen rooms for guests but would usually on have a maximum riding group of nine. The wranglers are a lot of fun and offer various rides out across the desert as well as lessons and team penning.

I arrived at Tanque Verde late in the evening and so after checking in I headed straight to my room to bed. I woke to a beautiful Arizona sunrise which set me up perfectly for the next three days.

We have lots of different itineraries in Morocco, from mountain rides to desert treks, but I have a particular passion for riding on the beach and splashing in the sea on horseback – so the Essaouira Coastal Trail was my dream come true!

Kyrgyzstan is an incredible country which not many people have heard of. When I was told I would be riding there, I had to check the map myself. Near China, I discovered this mountainous country to be friendly, beautiful and just perfect for riding.