By Kim J. Harmon

Looking outside – seeing the icicles hanging off the gutters and dripping resolutely to the ground; seeing the freshly fallen snow pockmarked with the tracks of dogs, cats or even foolhardy birds; seeing the way the snow has turned a dark brown by the roadside – isn’t it a perfect time to envision a vacation?

An equestrian vacation, that is.

Somewhere in the United States (Texas, New Mexico, California or even Nevada), Africa, Australia, Austria, England, Indian, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, France, Great Britain, Spain or even Portugal there is an equestrian vacation to be found.

Now, you can do it all yourself – calling the hotels, the tourism boards, the airlines, creating the itinerary and figuring out a budget for the whole thing – or you can go to one of several organizations that create and offer equestrian vacations around the world.

The most popular – and most well known – outfit to provide a wide range of equestrian vacations is Cross Country International. But there is also Eastern Trekking Associates, Ricochet Ridge Ranch, and Spatsizi Wilderness Vacations to name a few. Some focus their attention worldwide while others have more specific locales as their specialties.

And there are so many different types of equestrian vacations – with, of course, all the itineraries and planning already taken care of – all that is left is for the horse enthusiast to pick out which one sounds the best.

For instance, let’s take a look inside the Cross Country International brochure . . .

Killarney & the Ring of Kerry Trail

County Kerry, Ireland

Gallop along the beach of golden sand at Rossbeigh and trek past Comasaharn Lake, see Ross Island and Ross Castle, travel over the Windy Gap Trail. This is a fascinating and heroic part of Ireland where knights, Vikings and smugglers once ruled.

Kinnitty Castle Trail Ride

County Offaly, Ireland

For hundreds of years, Kinnitty Castle has stood in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountrains as one of the three fortesses guarding the lands of the powerful O’Carroll family. Each day, venture out into the vast 60,000-acre Kinnitty Forest preserve and travel among the deer, pheasants, badgers and foxes. See the Leap Castle, called “the most haunted castle in Ireland,” and the runs of the Saint Kiernans Abbey which dates from the year 839.

 

Argyll Trail Ride

Country Argyll, Scotland

Rides through the hills and glens, across streams, along lochs, and past ancient ruins. It is formidable terrain, but the Scottish hunter, native Highland or cob horse will be more than up to the task. On a clear day, take a look at the Hebrides Islands lying just off the west coast.

Exmoor Trail Ride

County Devon, England

Venture out into Exmoor National Park (the moors are beautiful during the day and eerie when the sun goes down) and maybe catch a glimpse of the wild ponies that have lived on the moors for thousands of years. Visit the village of Dulverton, which has existed since the 11th century.

Epona Training & Trail Ride

Andalucia, Spain

One of the thrills of the week is a brisk canter along the beach with the sea to one side and the beautiful Andalusian countryside to the other. See the acrobatic horses of the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre perform. Stay at Epona, a beautiful, sun-drenched, 18th-century hacienda located between Carmona and Sevilla.

Malvarina Trail Ride

Umbria, Italy

Spend four full days in the saddle. Ride through mile upon mile of olive groves to Assisi, a charming town most famous as the home of St. Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of animals). Travel into the mountains, passing many Roman ruins into a beautifully-restored village and castle.

Loire Valley Trail Ride

France

The Loire Valley runs along the banks of the Loire River from south of Paris to the Atlantic Ocean. Ride along the vineyards which produce the area’s wines, ride through the forests where the kings of France amused themselves and their entourages with a wide variety of sport, visit chateaux and castles that most tourists miss, visit the Chateau de Menetou-Salon, ride through the Sologne area which is famous for its forests and wildlife, and picnic on the banks of the River La Sauldre.

Portugal Trail Rides

Portugal

The Alentejo is a vast, sparsely populated area of heath and rollings hills punctuated with stands of cork and olive trees stretching from the Atlantic Ocean beaches to the border with Spain and as far south as the low mountains of the Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region. With the Serpa ride, visit the Pulo do lobo, a well-known gorge on the Guadiana river where legend has it a wolf once jumper across the wide chasm. With the Atlantic ride, pass through cork tree forests, Alentejo farms, pine forests and along the beaches and, in the distance, see the fishing villages of Zambujeira do Mar and Vila Nova de Milfontes.

Costa Rica Trail

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Explore the west coast of Costa Rica in the sparsely-populated province of Guanacaste, along the Pacific Ocean. (an area formed by the eruption of volcanoes more than 60 million years ago). Venture along the beaches where pirates once stashed their loot and weapons, ride along country trails lines with Sangre de Toro trees, see the nesting areas of giant turtles, macaws, parrots, and finish it all off with a swim in the Pacific Ocean with your horse.

And inside the brochure of the Eastern Trekking Associates . . .

Steiermark Mountain Resort

Austria

Follow ancient carriage paths connecting villages, see castle ruins, ride across a border only recently opened between east west, from Austria into the Czech Republic, visit historic Bohemian towns or any of the 64 castles and castle ruins in the province.

New Delhi, India

From the Nagaur Fair near the Royal Camp, a tented camp set up within the walls of the 12th-century Megrangarh Fort Museum, proceed through the countryside and, at times, close to the fair to get a good look at the hectic proceedings of the camel business. Enter the gates of Royal Castle Khimsar, visit the sand dunes of Tapu and the Osian home of the famous 6th-century Hindu and Jain temples, and venture inside the famous Kumbalgarh Fort.

Great Rift Valley

Africa

Take a ride deep in the heart of the Great Rift Valley, where there lies a dormant volcano, Mount Longonot (9,111 deet above sea level), which is derived from the Masai word O-Loo-Nong’ot, which means “of the valleys.” Straddling the slopes of Longonot and bordering Hell’s Gate National Park to the west (which a million years ago formed the dramatic outflow of fresh water from Lake Naivasha) is Kedong, a private ranch of 80,000 acres, just 65 miles from Nairobi, Kenya. See the eland, giraffe, zebra, impala, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazel, warthog, hyena jackal, bat, eared fox and spring hare which roam freely over the open plains. Maybe catch a glimpse of the cheetah, leopard and Cape buffalo as well.

The vacations listed above are but a small sampling of the many different varieties of equestrian vacations available from a wide assortment companies (all available on-line somewhere) and about the only thing someone itching for an equestrian vacation needs to do is pick the best one.