Horse riding travel guide

Horse riding vacations vary hugely. You can choose to ride across the endless Mongolian steppe for nine hours a day, dining with nomads and sleeping under huge skies; or head to Spain, saddling up for a couple of hours before kicking back in the Jacuzzi of a comfortable, country hotel. Trot through the African bush with the Big Five for company, or travel back in time with a trek in traditional Transylvania.

However, there are always a few essentials. You need to love horse riding and experience helps; there are a few trips for beginners, but the essence of a horse riding vacation is adventure, and no novice rider will canter from one side of a mountain to another. It helps to be sociable too – you’ll be indulging in a shared love with like-minded people, so their company should be a pleasure, not a pain. Lastly, the horses come first. No matter how tired you are at the end of a long ride, their comfort, food and water take priority; once they’re happy and rested, so will you be too. Read on in our horse riding vacations travel guide.

… you’ve never ridden a horse. “In the main, riding vacations are for riding enthusiasts. You can find taster courses in Europe, but our vacations are all about the journey, so you’ve got to be able to ride competently. In Mongolia, for instance, there are a couple of days where we don’t have a back up vehicle as we can only get to where we’re going on horseback, so you are very much dependent on your riding ability.” – Lulu Perry from our supplier, Wild Frontiers … you like a plan. Although you’ll be given an itinerary, a good tip is to push it to the back of your mind. Horse riding vacations rip up that rulebook in the most liberating of ways and are very much about chance encounters, secret trails and taking your time to appreciate the beauty of the landscape you're exploring. … you’re more of a lone cowboy. “Group camaraderie is a big element of horse riding vacations. Everyone has a common interest in the riding and the horses, so everyone gets along very well. The friends that I’ve made along the way – from all ages and backgrounds – are phenomenal” – Lulu Perry, Wild Frontiers