Latest News and Special Offers - 10th Mar 10

Spring and Summer riding

Our riding centres in the Austrian and Italian Alps will be opening up again for the Summer season in May but if you are after an early season holiday, then head down to Southern Spain where you can ride in a t-shirt while galloping through the surf on Europe's most southern point.

Our trail riding in Chianti, Tuscany is also a good bet since it is lovely and warm in Springtime, and no crowds!

If you want to head further afield, then our new riding adventure holidays in Egypt, Argentina and South Africa are just perfect at this time of year.

Alpine Ride 'Get Together'

Still some places left on our 'Get-together' trip in the Austrian Alps for June

See the Spring flowers and waterfalls in full force. Join our 5 night ride at the Schlosswirt hotel in the heart of Austria's most beautiful national park. From Thursday 3rd June to Tuesday 8th June, costs £539 per person.

This includes the 5 nights in a single or shared room with breakfast and dinner, the return airport transfer from Klagenfurt (serviced by Ryanair from London Stansted) and 10 hours of riding which is split over four days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday). Flights and insurance are not included.

We would be delighted if you could join us!

Family offer May bank holiday weekend

Beach riding hotel in Southern Spain (Andalucia/Tarifa)

The Kroller Family Hotel and Western Ranch Alps, Austria, is a paradise for kids and adults alike. Daily rides out into spectacular landscape on Criollos, Quarter Horses and Paint Horses, ridden western style. Lessons for all ages and abilities. All day free kids' activity club (until 9pm) with huge indoor and outdoor play areas. Lovely indoor Pool. For parents: western saloon bar with live music and spa. Half day rides or by the hour. Excellent instruction for all ages.

Great kids' clubs and lots more for grown ups too !

Luxury sporting hotel in Portugal at the Campo Real: 5 * luxury resort hotel offering advanced and traditional classical advanced ie: tempi changes, passage, piaffe (traditional advanced) and classical (ie: caprioles etc...) on highly trained Lusitanos. Limited rides out, this is for people who want to focus on a riding course to learn to ride or improve their riding. Lots to do for accompanying non-riders/family, such as tennis, golf, swimming, spa. Novice dressage riders and kids welcome. Kids' club.

More details

New holidays

Polo in Argentina

We are very excited about our new holidays in Argentina:

La Sofia: First rate comfort in this Estancia run by a charming young German-Argentine couple.The polo club has two polofields always in perfect condition and they can guarantee play every day, throughout the year! Stick & Ball in the mornings after a hearty breakfast then polo games of 4 to 6 chukkers in the afternoons. For experienced players, polo tours are offered where you have the opportunity to play in numerous other clubs in the area. Although beginners are taught (you will be thrown in at the deep end and will most likely play your first chukkas on your very first day!) there is a lot to offer the experienced polo player here and there is a lot to do for accompanying non-riders. Owner, Marcos Antin, is a professional Argentine polo player and has worked in many polo schools around the world before setting up on his own with his wife (see photo!) Silke. More details

El Rocio: Luxurious colonial-style Estancia for some well-deserved pampering on the pampas! Beautiful stylish interiors, gourmet food but we expect nothing less from the charismatic French ex-pat owner Patrice and his glamourous wife Mararena ! Polo tuition for all standards, intensive courses or 'have a go' taster sessions combined with rides out. Gaucho culture is celebrated here on this small working farm. Beautiful swimmng pool in elegant garden right by the polo field. Moonlight gaucho spit-roast barbecues or on cooler nights in la matera, a traditionally-decorated stable room where the gauchos gather to share a mate drink with friends.

WIN A HOLIDAY Photo competition

Send us your best photo from any riding holiday or riding trip, for your chance to win a free holiday!

Show us where you've been. You could include an interesting background, an outstanding view, or feature colourful or intriguing details - give your imagination a free reign! You can send up to three photos, and all should have at least one horse or part of a horse in the picture.

1st Prize: Win a holiday for two ! A weekend riding in the mountains at the Schlosswirt national park hotel, Austrian Alps,
2nd Prize: 5 free riding lessons or rides out at the Post Hotel, Italian Dolomites and a £50 voucher, for two people.
3rd Prize: A £50 voucher to be redeemed against any Riding Company holiday.

The three winners will be chosen in November 2010. The best entries will be made into a special Riding Company calendar for the following year.

Send in your entries to photocomp09@theridingcompany.com Entries by email only (max 3mb) with your address, phone number and age. Don't forget to tell us where the photos were taken and include a few sentences about why you think these photos are special ! The holidays or riding trips don't have to be Riding Company holidays - you don't even need to have been abroad - maybe your usual hack out passes by some stunning scenery?

Prizes are subject to availability (and exclude peak holiday periods Easter, Christmas/New Year and August). 1st prize at the Schlosswirt is for 2 people on half-board for 3 nights with airport transfer and return flights (Ryanair Stansted to Klagenfurt) with 6 hours of riding into the national park each spread over the three days. Weekend offer at the Schlosswirt must be taken Saturday to Tuesday and be completed before end 2011.

The Riding Company reserves the right to use any entries for marketing purposes.

Another new holiday: Peru

**National Geographic Adventure - "World's 25 Best New Trips' 2009** National Geographic Traveler - "Top 50 Tours of a Lifetime**

on one of these beautiful Quarter horses, staying in luxury lodges along the way. Discover the Incas the comfortable way, away from the crowds. Great company and stunning scenery as you ride over the Andes through a high altitude pass between two sacred mountains. For intermediate to experienced riders only. Extend your stay with a few days in Cusco, the vibrant ancient Inca capital.

This is a trip for people who want an amazing adventure, but don't want to 'rough it'. Non-riders can join the trip and trek on foot from lodge to lodge.

Responsible tourism: The Riding Company is proud to be associated with Yanapana Peru, the charity founded by the owner of the Machu Picchu riding centre, which is striving to reduce poverty along the Salkantay route to Machu Picchu (where the lodges are situated) , through sustainable community development. Get in touch to find out ways in which you too can be a part of this. See a video about the various projects: http://www.greenlivingproject.com/south-america-projects/mountain-lodges-of-peru/

Machu Picchu Lodge to Lodge Program More details

Departure dates 2010 from Cusco:

May 9, May 21 - Fully booked
June 15, - just one single room share left
July 6, July 27 - a few roomsstill available
August 17 -
September 7, September 28
October 18 (female room share available)

Price per person: £1688 GBP, €1788 Euros or $2650 USD.
Single supplement £338 GBP, €358 Euros or $530 USD

Campo Real Portugal special offer

Spring short break

Great for a weekend get-away. Just 30minutes from Lisbon Airport, the impressive five-star Campo Real has a special surprise in store for riders and non-riders. With championship show jumping horses to advanced Lusitano dressage stallions and cute first ponies all ages and abilities of riders can be accommodated. At the hotel there’s a wealth of opportunities for families and individuals to enjoy from private spa, gym, tennis courts, swimming pools galore, a fabulous golf course and excellent cuisine. Kids club.

Special offer : Choose between: 5 free rounds of golf with a 7 night stay, 2 free rounds with a 4 night short break, a Complimentary Welcome dinner on the first night or one free Divine Spirit massage per person in the luxury spa (30mins). (Offers cannot be combined and are not available Easter, July and August and New Year).

Very special offer: book 7 nights, pay for 5 in a Residences apartment, (not valid for Easter, July, August and New Year).
1 bedroom with breakfast: £982 per apartment. Max occupancy 3 (with 2 in existing beds and 1 in an extra bed or cot).
2 bedroom apartment with breakfast: £1577 ): Max occupancy 6 (4 guests in existing beds, 2 in extra beds or cots).

Press coverage

Italy: Haflinger Heaven: Also out this month, is a review in Horse & Rider of our Alpine riding holiday at the Post hotel and equestrian centre in the Italian Dolomites .

Heather Blagden writes - As I walk back to the hotel, a field of young Haflingers grabs my attention. Today is my first encounter with this breed, but I’m immediately drawn in by them. They’re extremely inquisitive, and completely at ease in their surroundings. Situated in a field right next to the riding centre, they’re real people magnets. Winter Season runs from December to April where 'ride and ski' holidays are offered. Summer season begins again in May.

Austria: The Hills are alive with the sound of POLO !

Fiona Rafferty (schnapps in hand) of LOCAL RIDER MAGAZINE immersed herself in the spirit of The Dienstl Equestrian Estate and wrote this wonderful report: 'set in the beautiful surroundings of the Austrian lake district, with the medieval, Hochosterwitz Castle providing a breathtaking backdrop to the estate’s well-manicured polo fields. .. 'The ponies at Dienstl are finely-tuned and know the game inside-out. While you are still thinking about where the ball is I can guarantee that your pony will already be in hot pursuit.'. Read the full report . 5 night and 7 night beginner polo courses at the Dienstl Estate in Austria. Season begins again in May 2010.

Yoga courses and horse riding

Great Girls' pampering weekend !

Luxury award-winning spa hotel. Dressage and hacks on beautiful Lipizzaners at the 5 * Supreme Hotel in Austria's wine region. The owner is a keen breeder of Lipizzaners and is president of the European Lipizzaner society. Ashtanga yoga course with Silvia Hammerl, especially adapted to riders' needs, massages and Qi Gong with a Shaolin grand-master monk.
Contact us for next yoga course dates.
Price per person: Price is £1112 for 7 nights on half board with return airport transfer (Graz, Ryanair from Stansted) and 3 rides out on a Lipizzaner. Single room add £91
Price includes 5 Ashtanga Yoga sessions, an envigorating massage with the Shaolin monk, a sports massage especially designed for riders, 3 rides which can be your choice of dressage/group lesson or rides out, all on a Lipizzaner bred on site by the owner. A Qi Gong workout with the Shaolin monk, free use of the Ying Yang spa pools, steam rooms and saunas and participation in the hotel's fitness and activity programme (Nordic walking, biking, tennis, golf, water aerobics, Tai Chi etc).

Sponsored ride Egypt

The Riding Company have teamed up with horse charity The Brooke, to organise a sponsored ride in Egypt in November 2010 to help badly treated horses. Ride 235 kilometers across the desert - about 43 hours on 6 days !

In fact, it was in Egypt that The Brooke's founder, Dorothy Brooke, started the charity in 1930. She was horrified to see hundreds of emaciated horses on its streets, so she set up a committee and bought 5,000 ex-cavalry horses.
And in 1934, Dorothy Brooke founded the ‘Old War Horse Memorial Hospital’ in Cairo, with the promise of free veterinary care for all the city’s working horses and donkeys…the Brooke Hospital for Animals was born.

Highlights include: Visit to a Brooke Charity project in Cairo, Ride around the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza, Sleep in traditional Bedouin tents with meals under the stars, Ride to an oasis to relax by the lake, visit Archaelogical wonders in the company of our Egyptologist, shop for Souvenirs in a traditional Bazaar in Cairo.

Everyone involved can enjoy a fun but worthwhile holiday, with a great bunch of people, while they take part in a challenging sponsored ride. Together we aim to raise £20,000 for a mobile vet unit. Numbers limited so register now ! 13th - 21st November 2010. Raise £2000 (including flights, accommodation, food, transport.and all riding). For an information pack and a sponsorship form email anna@theridingcompany.com

The Brooke

The Riding Company is now supporting The Brooke - the UK's leading overseas equine welfare charity whose aim is to improve the lives of horses, donkeys and mules working in the poorest parts of the world. These animals form the backbone of the economy in many developing countries, supporting countless poor communities where many people earn less than a dollar a day.

We will be making a donation on your behalf - so your money will be helping the Brooke's mobile vet teams and community animal health workers, and their partner organisations worldwide, provide free treatment to animals and train animal owners, local healers, farriers, saddlers, feed sellers, harness and cart makers. The Brooke currently operate across nine countries in Asia, Africa, Central America and the Middle East. For more information visit www.thebrooke.org or see latest news round up on our blog. Join our sponsored ride to Egypt - see below for more details.

The Riding Company Blog

Check out our new Riding Company Blog. Here we will keep you up to date you with all the latest news and hot tips from the equestrian world. We will also be featuring some special holidays offers and details of our regular competitions. Anna Bruce is our blogger and she would be delighted to hear any of your comments and suggestions.

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