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Holidays on horseback
by Nikki Racklin
Activity holidays are a wonderful way to get the maximum out of a trip - relaxing but challenging, they also offer the chance to meet other, like-minded people. For horse-lovers who have some experience of our equine friends and are not afraid of the great outdoors (and a sore behind!), there are a wealth of riding holidays to choose from in lots of exciting locations. Here is a taste of some of them.
Cowgirl's delight in Wyoming
If you've always harboured a secret desire to live out the cowgirl fantasy, Wyoming is a fabulous place to ride. This wild and beautiful region is typical of the Rocky Mountains States, and the rides have names like Eagles Eye Ride, Cattle Drive, Blazing Badlands, Bear Fair and Rodeo Ride which are sure to fuel your imagination. Riders spend the first and last day of most rides in a ranch style house called Renegade in the town of Ten Sleep, nestled in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains. On other nights you'll sleep in large tepee tents. Look up at the stars and imagine cowboys of old who have done the same. Wyoming-bred, endurance trained horses will carry you safely over long distances at a fast pace. Or you can ride a Morgan or Morgan-Quarter crossbreed - unless you feel brave enough to take on a former 'wild horse'. Yee-ha!
The Compleat Traveller
Tel: +1 215 659 3281
Email: info@ridingholidays.com
Ride a white horse in the Carmargue
La Camargue is the wide, marshy delta of the Rhone river, down by the French Mediterranean coast. Large parts of the area are Nature Reserves or privately owned properties, but this trip gives the rider carte blanche to step into countryside that is completely off-limits for tourists - what a coup. Your partner for the trip is the white horse of La Camargue - strong, kind and easy to ride, not to mention able to canter through mud up to its belly. It's one of Europe's few remaining original races, and is still used for cattle work today. Riding is mostly Western-style and guests stay in a small hotel in the middle of the village Les Saintes Maries de la Mer and at a farmhouse in the depth of La Camargue. Riders are accompanied by a Gardian - that's a local French cowboy to you. So if you want a bit of France and a lot of oomph, this is the place for you.
Walking on the Moon in Iceland
For something really unusual and other wordly, head North, my friend. Iceland's breath-taking open landscapes, glaciers, geysers, and slumbering volcanoes make it a stunning choice for a riding holiday. Riders stay in small guesthouses or mountain huts. All rides take at least twice the usual number of horses along to prevent exhaustion in the rough terrain. So you'll change horses several times, while the rest of the herd will run freely between the front and end riders, which promises a real visual treat. When the Vikings first came to Iceland (about a thousand years ago), they brought these horses with them - small but strong; friendly, willing and docile. They will carry a heavy rider day after day, up and down rocky slopes, through rivers and across fields of rough lava.
Akureyri Destination Iceland Ltd
Tel: +354 591 1020
Email: travel@dice.is
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