About as M & P as it gets! I’ve always wanted to go on a riding trip and since I just turned 40 and finally received backpay that was due to me, I decided this was my year. It was a 6-day ride in Alentejo, a coastal area just south of Lisbon that is very undeveloped. We rode about 150 miles in all, a rough triangle from Grandola to Santiago de Cacem to the coast and back to Grandola. It was an absolute blast. Portugal was wonderful, the Lusitanos were kind and intelligent horses, the scenery was peaceful and beautiful (we went through forests of Eucalyptus, cork, and pine, as well as farms and small towns) had some great long canters and brilliant gallops on the beach.
I booked through Equitours which is a tour booker in the US specializing in equestrian vacations throughout the world. They take payment and communicate with the riding guides in the host country. They also personally go on every ride they sell (how do I get that job!?) and can give very detailed advice about the different rides. I think in theory you can book directly with the guide but most people use the booking companies. Other companies book clients from other nations. My group included 4 Germans, 3 Brits, 3 Americans, and a French woman.
I knew I wanted a “point to point” ride which goes to different spots as opposed to a vacation where you stay at a riding center. Portugal is one of the more affordable destinations, and also has good weather at the time of year I planned to travel (late October). The Equitours rep suggested this particular ride as a good fit for my experience, budget, schedule, etc.
The guide has a set itinerary including layover barns, and the ride includes hotels, meals, van transfers, etc. That means the group does have to make a set distance each day, however, the guide has 18 years experience and knows how to pace the ride perfectly. Each day’s ride finished at a layover barn; we would get the horses untacked, bathed, fed, and settled, and then get taken by van to a nearby hotel. One of the hotels (the last one) was a working farm and the horses stayed on the property there.
I forgot to answer ddsun’s question about how horses and riders are matched. Many similar rides have a “riding-in” day where you try different horses. This one doesn’t though. All I can say is the ride guide uses some kind of horsemaster’s juju to match horse and rider after talking to the rider for 15 minutes over dinner. I can’t explain it, but everyone got the exact type of horse they wanted.
harmonicamoon I only started using imgur recently, and its a little unintuitive in certain ways but I like it better than other options.
Just want to say that we liked the Alentejo also. We made a weekend trip down there when we lived in Lisbon. There is still a strong Moorish influence in the local architecture there. Did you happen to see the cliff fishermen? Made me queasy just to watch them.
Just noticed the photo of the Pasteis de Belem. We used to take the tram out to Belem just to visit the bakery where they’re made. Miss those pastries.
I am pea green with envy. This is my dream vacation, currently financially out of reach but some day . . . Doncha just love those Lusitanos? Wonderful horses. Glad you had such a good time. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Again, what is your riding skill level? I’m a dressage rider who hasn’t ridden regularly in about 5 years, but I would love to take the vacation you did. Would I be out of my depth? I looked at Equitours website–I’d love the dressage lesson package but I know I couldn’t handle all that instruction. Feel free to PM me. Paula
Wow! That looks like an awesome holiday! I had no idea there even were such holiday packages! Very cool!
I’m not a horse person, but I’m curious to know if you were doing the care of the animals or they had someone doing it for you at the farms you visited? Not the stall cleaning so much, but the saddling etc.
I used to event Beginner Novice and I would say I was in the middle of the pack skillwise. This ride is rated “intermediate” meaning the rider should be capable of controlling the horse out in the open at all paces and have some experience riding in groups. You don’t need to be riding regularly (or even recently - I haven’t ridden regularly in 6+ years) BUT if you’re not riding regularly you should be in a solid fitness program - I trained for a 5k race but doing a lot of swimming, biking, etc, would also work - there are times with lengthy, taxing, trots and canters (on mostly flat ground, very safe dirt/sand footing) and hilly parts requiring you stand in half-seat for fairly long distances; I would say this ride definitely pushed me and was on the outer edge of what I am currently capable of. However the horses are VERY good natured, they don’t make it hard on you, maintain steady pace on their own, and are very rateable and sensible. It is not, however, possible to hang back at the walk while others canter - everyone has to keep up, more or less, to cover the necessary distance.
BTW, the “Alentejo Coast” ride also listed at Equitours is the same guide, same staff, same horses.
A bit of trivia for non-Portuguese speaking folks: the ‘j’ in Portuguese is pronounced ‘zh’, instead of like an ‘h’ as it is in Spanish. So it’s allen-tay-zho for the Alentejo region, tay-zho for the Tejo (Tagus) River that flows through Lisbon, and zho-ow for guys named Joao.
Yes, we were. Most mornings they would have the horses saddled for us, but we unsaddled/unbridled our own mounts at lunch, gave them food and water (dispensed by the guide), groomed them and resaddled/rebridled afterwards and untacked and bathed them at the end of the day. The guide and van driver/grillcook/support groom were available to help if you were having trouble (the military saddles and heavy duty trail bridles were a bit different than what most people were used to), and everyone helped each other too as needed. At one of the layover barns there was an additional barn staffperson to speed things up, and the other two, there wasn’t.
That’s consistent with the level of riding that’s expected, it would be strange to me (and vaguely prissy) if riders capable at this level didn’t groom and saddle their own horse at least some of the time. Its part of getting to know your mount. I’m sure on Beginner level rides this wouldn’t be expected, or would be more highly assisted. (The fact that its expected is clearly stated in the ride description too).
This looks fantastic, happy to see you had such a good time!
I’ve done a couple pack/camping trips (they were a long time ago, in Wyoming), but still have very fond memories of those times. One horse I was paired up with was really green, and I helped train her a little while on the trails. We camped out in tents so hobbled the horses at night. This horse and I bonded a little over the two weeks and she would find my tent and stick her nose in at sunrise to get me up!
Looks like you had a wonderful vacation! I’m a definitely jealous. I have been looking up horseriding vacation in Ireland from time to time. I need to just plan an do it!
