Riding holiday - HA!

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LittleBlossom

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Am so amused right now I had to share - My mum, who rarely rides anymore due to arthritis and getting more satisfaction these days from pampering my pones, has just returned from a riding holiday in Wales.

Despite said arthritis and getting in the saddle for an average of 30mins a month, she thought it would be a good idea to go for 3days trekking with friends.... she can now barely walk and is hobbling around like John Wayne, mumbling to herself about fat ponies.

Think it is safe to say she will be booking a beach holiday next year. Which, I must confess, is what I do anyway - I spend all bloody year in the saddle, and have no shame in confessing that I CANNOT WAIT for my week off in the sun!

Why would you want to spend your holidays with someone else's equines, when everyone knows that your own are the best in the world anyway???
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I agree, i don’t understand people who ride while on holiday, especially abroad. I hate the way they are "looked after" abroad and cant bare to see the horses stood in all that sun then they are expected to carry me for and hour.

Beach holiday all the way for me.

That said I did ride on the Isle of Skye one year and got put on a nut job because I said I could ride.
 
I had the opposite - I went once on a school adventure holiday, and me and another girl who rode were fighting over the only one that would break into a canter - complete bunch of donkeys!
 
I've been on 2 riding holidays (horseback safaris in Africa) & loved them as it was completely different from what I would do at home.
I've also taken my own horse on holiday to Deven which was also great fun as it made a change.
Not all horses abroad are looked after badly.
 
I want to go on a riding holiday, but I suppose it's different for me because I don't have my own horse! And my riding school isn't insured for hacking, so I only ever get to ride in the school, but I absolutely love hacking so a riding holiday would be awesome for me.
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I agree, i don’t understand people who ride while on holiday, especially abroad. I hate the way they are "looked after" abroad and cant bare to see the horses stood in all that sun then they are expected to carry me for and hour
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Erm, horses that live in hot countries are kinda used to hot weather and riding out for long distances...you know, like Arabs and Andalucians and such - and anywhere I have been, the horses have been well looked after, much better than other local horses.
If you mean bog-standard pony and donkey rides then fair enough, but some of the tailor-made places have very high standards of care.
 
I like my holidays hot,sunny and wet!!

I go diving
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- so I spend a week getting up a the crack of dawn to go and look at animals.
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.....just they are underwater!! Still it is very relaxing with the added bonus of losing at least half a stone and I come back with an all over tan instead of just my arms and face!!
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Ditto turkana! I've been on fabulous holidays riding very well looked after horses in places with very different horsie cultures. It's also an amazing way to see a country. Jordan (the place not the person) with Bedouin guides was incredible. I'd love to do a horse safari (very jealous of you Turkana!) but I want my OH to get more riding experience so he can come too
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Ps, the second pic in my signature is in Jordan.

Pps, I don't tan and get bored easily so beach holidays always seem a bit pointless for me!
 
justaj1ffy
Do a horse back safari of you can, it's an amazing way of seeing wildlife, we saw lion, elephant & giraffs from the horses plus all the usual antalope. You do need to be a competant & confident rider though so it's worth your OH getting a bit more experience so he can enjoy the holiday to it's fullest.
The horses were in fantastic condition.
I have thought about doing the Jordan trip but one of the South African guides put me off as he said that previous clients of his had complained about the treatment of the horses. Did you have any concerns?
I love horses & got stupidly attached to one of the horses I rode, so the thought of getting attached to a horse & having to then hand it back to people who wouldn't care for it properly would be heart breaking.
 
I have only done UK riding holidays (to improve me) but I have done a number of horsey day trips while overseas. In Australia I treked through the rainforest which was stunning, the horses were all very well looked after, although I was ever so worried when all the others were being given their standard quiet trekking horses, and they called over to another area, and said "this girl can ride, has horses and teaches in the UK, get here X' - apparently X (his name escapes me but I do know it) was an ex trotting horse, and was sometimes used for the trail guides as he was a bit sharp, but even the guides would rather ride the quiet ones, so he hadn't done much in the past few weeks. He turned out to be absolutely fantastic, bit joggy to start with, but with some neck stroking and talking to he chilled out. We trekked up for a couple of hours, stopped and had a drink and snack, then the rest of the ride continued back along the trail, and myself, a guide and one other girl who could ride went and had some fun (and convinced the trotting horse he liked cantering!) I had a great time, saw amazing scenery I would never have seen on foot, and was even offered a job when we got back to the stables!

In St Lucia I took a lovely little grey mare out, and we went swimming with them. The standard of care wasn't comparable to the UK, their feet were a little long, and their coats a little matted but they were sound, well fed, and seemed content. Had a fantastic ride, but am so glad I could ride, as some of those trails were steep and scary (and we didn't have hats!)
 
A friend of mine did the South Africa and Botswana one and I was so jealous, it looked incredible. Another year and I'll have the money and my OH will have the experience! He's a bit of a natural though won't ever win prizes for style ;-)

The only thing that really worried me in Jordan was a horse that went lame. There was no way they could get a lorry out to take her, so she had a long walk across the desert back to the road. A handler was supposed to be leading her, but we saw tracks later and I'm pretty sure there were only horse tracks (i.e. he probably got on top). Our horses were all very well looked after - lots of alfalfa and hard food, including a feed in the middle of the night when the rest of us were sleeping. Our guide's horse was bred by his father and he could track its bloodlines back for generations!

They do borrow some of the horses from local families though and I don't know if they would be so well looked after in their day to day lives. However the company pays the families to use them for about 8 weeks at a time (they do 2/3 rides then a week off) and they are checked by the vets at Brook Hospital after each week long ride. They also pay for feed for the horse for a number of months after the ride, so all in all I'd say they get a very good deal out of it. Some of the poor things we saw used by tourists at Petra didn't look nearly so lucky.

Sorry, I can talk about it for hours!
 
I'd love to go on a riding holiday. Not all of us are lucky enough to own a horse...and even when I did, I stillenjoyed riding on holiday for a change.

To say that all horses outside the UK must be mistreated is ludicous. I've always checked out the animals before I ride and have been satisfied...maybe everything isn't always perfect, and you are not going to find a big fat cob working out in a lot of countries, but as long as the animals are in fair condition, have appropriate tack, access to water etc, I think it's fine.

Probably the 'worst' thing I've done is take a carriage ride through an oasis town in Tunisia. It was part of a day coach trip, all included, and I had some concerns. The horses were all a bit on the skinny side and we went quite fast (too fast for comfort) and our horse looked hot.. first impressions can be deceiving though. on our return to base we passed the 'horse station' - a large open-sided building giving shade and inside were a number of lads watering their horses and even hosing them down with water. Our driver explained that the carriages were all licensed and regulated and that rest periods in the station through the day were mandatory. so yes, it was hot, yes the horses worked hard, but overall treatment and welfare was good for a developing country. You have to be realistic...those horses were a lot better off than most in that country.

also in Tunisia we booked up for a half-day camel/horse ride with a local guy after he tried to sell it to me every single day. he was an absolute scream - but i still interrogated him on the animals first, and thought well I can always refuse to take part if there are problems. turned out to be a big string of camels, horses, donkeys and a horse-drawn cart with seats for the wimps. all the animals looked good to me. I'm no expert on camels but they had no obvious problems or injuries, looked healthy, had good coats and to be honest looked much better than the threadbare specimens we saw everywhere else. All the horses were fine. The donkeys were positively chubby by local standards (no, not worms) and were only used for children. 3 hours work a day plodding along with tourists isn't so bad...

I also have FANTASTIC memory of galloping along a beach on a gorgeous Spanish horse when I was 14....priceless.
 
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