Sierra hopping and a parador stay in Spain
Known for their fortitude and amiable nature, Andalusian-thoroughbred cross horses are ideal partners for this adventure in the Sierra de Gredos west of Madrid. Fit, experienced riders can expect up to seven hours daily in the saddle, with plenty of pace. The guided trails follow the route of the Tormes River, taking in pine forests, plateaux, ravines and villages. A support truck delivers aperitivos and picnics, including table and chairs, leaving time for a swim and siesta, before returning to the Parador de Gredos each evening.
From £1,200 for four nights including rides and meals, next departure 16 April, blacksaddle.com
Horse-drawn Gypsy caravan in Cumbria
There’s no choice but to slow right down on this Gypsy caravan camping trip. The wagon is harnessed to two mares, Meg and Biddy, who are led at a gentle walk by proprietor Barny down quiet country lanes to an off-grid site in the Eden valley, which links the Lake District to the north Pennines. Barny sets up a fire pit and canopy and tends the horses, returning to break camp after a night or two. The beautifully decorated wagons are insulated and can sleep a family of up to five. There’s a hot shower, cooking is on open fires, swimming is in streams, druid circles can be explored. Travel light and spare the horses.
From £960 for four nights, year round, wanderlusts.co.uk
Horse whispering in France
Just under an hour from Paris in the Rambouillet forest, Le Barn is a former equestrian farm that has been turned into a stylish and welcoming retreat where every room looks out on to meadows. It shares its 200 hectares (500 acres) with Haras de la Cense, a world-famous school for equestrian skills. There is plenty of riding on offer (as well as Nordic baths, yoga, cycling, swimming and even a dog to pet). But the magic is the weekly Whisperer’s Experience, a masterclass in learning how to forge a connection by working on foot with a free horse and using your body language and exercises to communicate with them and build trust. Be warned, it’s emotional.
From £165 a night for two B&B, including whispering and all other activities, lebarnhotel.com
Learn to ride in Crete
The Greeks have known the value of riding since Hippocrates, medicine’s founding father, spoke about its “healing rhythm”. Where better to learn to ride than the countryside of Crete, with views over the Lagada valley, reliable horses and ponies (for kids aged five and over), starting with a bareback introduction in an enclosed ring, progressing to walking, trotting and possibly cantering through the olive groves by the end of the week. Guests stay in a 12-room, stone-built boutique hotel set in a couple of hectares in Avdou. Saddle-sore beginners can recover by the infinity pool or on the sandy beaches of nearby holiday town Hersonissos.
From £935 for seven nights including meals and daily rides, year round, unicorntrails.com
Take your horse to stay on an Exmoor farm
Take your horse on holiday and enjoy the company of red deer, native ponies and soaring buzzards as you ride the heather- and gorse-covered moorland, woodland and trails of Exmoor national park. At the self-catered converted stone barn on private rolling farmland, there’s stabling and grazing for three horses. Host Louise is on hand as a guide. Saunton Sands is a four-mile beach open to riders year round – a gallop from one end to the other takes 15 fantastic minutes.
From £135 a night, horses from £12.50 a day, guiding from £50, year round, hollacombefarm.co.uk
Traversing Transylvania backwaters
For confident riders, this circular ride of about 75 miles over five days explores unspoilt Transylvanian backwaters where locals still use horses and carts for transport. Starting at Count Kálnoky’s restored guesthouse in Miklósvár, riders head north, enjoying views of the Carpathian mountains. They pass through villages and the Hatod region’s forests to the slopes of the Olt River. Accommodation is in modest farms or guesthouses, including a retreat near Zalánpatak (also called Valea Zălanului) owned by King Charles III, 60 miles and a far cry from Dracula’s Castle. Horses are lively and well mannered crossbreeds, Lipizzaners, and robust Huzuls (also known as Huculs).
From £1,225 for six nights including riding, accommodation, guiding and meals, from April to October, rideworldwide.com
Sleep in a stable, Lake District
A family-run farm and horse sanctuary high above Cartmel valley, just south of the Lake District national park, is the setting for an unusual B&B experience. Guests checking into the Grade-II listed barn at Greenbank Farm get to share their living quarters with a friendly friesian horse. On one side of the barn are bunk beds with heated blankets, cobbled floor, kitchenette, and wet-room. On the other side of a half-height transparent divide is your equine room-mate, whose noble face appears delightfully over the top bunk the minute you’re installed, seeking snacks and invading your space. Come dawn, he’ll gently snuffle you awake for breakfast. Or you could choose to spend the night with a shetland pony, who will share your own side of the stable. Cartmel village and racecourse is next door.
From £360 for one night, sleeps up to three people, year round, thefriesianexperience.org
Saddle up for the northern lights in Iceland
What Icelandic horses lack in stature, they make up for with superpowers: strength, apparent immunity to the cold and an extra gait, the tölt. Daily rides (with kit) across Iceland’s largely uninhabited north-western area, just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle, take in meadows, the slopes of Reykjafjall mountain, the hot springs of the Gufudalur valley, and the glacial River Ölfusá (a landscape so extraordinary that Nasa astronauts prepped for lunar landings here). Evenings include restorative dips in warm geothermal water, hot tubs amid snowfall and, possibly, the northern lights. A farewell minibus tour includes the famed spouting Geysir geothermal area, golden waterfall Gullfoss and Thingvellir national park.
From £995 for three nights including rides, meals and guesthouse accommodation, next departure 10 March, equestrian-escapes.com
Volunteering in Portugal
Experience first-hand the powerful bond between horses and humans by volunteering at an equine therapy centre on the outskirts of Porto. The project is designed to help people facing physical and mental challenges. Mornings are spent helping out with a variety of tasks, from assisting with therapy sessions to patrolling local forests on horseback to assess fire risks, tending the vegetable garden and caring for the horses, as well as the farm’s goats and pigs. Afternoons are free for volunteers to explore the cobbled streets, cafes and river cruises of Portugal’s second city.
From £1,095 for six days (additional weeks cost £400) including meals, dorm accommodation (private rooms an extra £50 a night), year-round, responsibletravel.com
A canter through Sicily
Guests staying at the 150-year-old converted barns on this farm, in the Madonie mountains on Sicily’s north coast, are as much a part of the family as the horses grazing the surrounding paddocks. The host leads daily morning trails for competent riders on well-behaved warmbloods and Sicilian crossbreeds. One route includes a ride to his friend’s house for a slap-up lunch. Afternoons are for walking tours of the beautiful town of Cefalù or surrounding medieval hills towns, dinners are in traditional restaurants. And, with year-round village feasts, fairs, and shows, there’s plenty to do here for non-riders too.
From £930 for five nights including full board, riding and sightseeing excursions, year round, farandride.com