Day 1
Riding: No riding.
Arrival at Malaga or Jerez airport and transfer to Los Barrios, the starting point for the ride.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 2
Riding: 5 hours
After breakfast you will meet the horses and begin your riding adventure. Here you will ride through history, trotting down the roads that were made by the Republican prisoners between 1931 and 1942, before World War II began. The route offers a splendid view over the Valley of Ojén, where you’ll be able to witness the great contrast between the cattle pastures and the leafy cork tree forests. You’ll also enjoy the particularly striking view of all kinds of birds resting on these valleys.
Day 3
Riding: 5 hours
This morning you will cross the mighty mountains. Let your imagination take hold as you ride the same tracks where bandits once lived and looted carriages loaded with items from the landings in Gibraltar. The views are spectacular and your sure-footed horse traverses the terrain with ease.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 4
Riding: 4 hours
Today you will be riding in the coastal territory once populated by the Phoenicians, where the Romans took advantage of the settlement to install several factories of sea products, as well as to establish a small colony that slowly grew into a rather important one back in the second century BC.
You will continue your ride for Punta Paloma through a pine forest along the Atlantic coast, enjoying splendid views of the African continent. The Atlantic coast of Tarifa that you'll traverse as you make your way back to the hotel mostly runs through fine sandy beach trails, perfect for long canters.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 5
Riding: No riding.
Today is a special day, when the group will head into the town of Jerez de la Frontera to watch the famous horses of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art Foundation, renowned worldwide for “How Andalusian Horses Dance”, a unique show that both exhibits and summarises in a seemingly natural way all the work that the institution has done since its foundation.
This will be followed by lunch and a flamenco show to complete the authentic traditional experience.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 6
Riding: 5 hours
Today's ride is along the southernmost route of the Iberian Peninsula, which runs parallel to the coast through an old livestock trail. The entire route constitutes a splendid natural viewpoint to the Strait, Morocco, and the colony of Gibraltar, with the other pillar of Hercules, the Djebel Musa, forever standing opposite. The Djebel Musa was a mythological element in the strait of Gibraltar. It was the boundary of the Greek World until, according to Greek historian Herodotus, Colomo Satos breached it in the 7th century BC. Enjoy a picnic lunch before riding on to the next night's accommodation.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 7
Riding: 5 hours
Your ride this morning will follow an ancient path that has been used for centuries and historically was infamous for highwaymen and bandits. The voyage to Cadiz along the coast seemed full of dangers, due to the continuous attacks of the pirates, but the alternative route in the inland was also not without difficulties.
La Trocha was a bridlepath, only negotiable by horse and impossible to pass with carriages. The road was used by those who were brave and those who dared to take the road, because by taking this road they saved a day travelling on their way to Cadiz. Frequented by smugglers it was a complicated crossing because at the time, according to the travellers, any encounter raised suspicions.
It is a hidden area of the Natural Park of Los Alcornocales, and you will enjoy one of the most beautiful and wild landscapes of Andalusia. Shadowy slopes, cliffs, ravines, and deep gorges crossed by streams where only the murmur of water is heard, under the green cloak of cork oaks where you can enjoy a picnic lunch before continuing on to your hotel.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 8
Riding: No riding.
After a hearty breakfast it is time to say farewell. Transfer to the airport will be according to the earliest of the group's flights (not before 7am).
Note: All programmes and itineraries are weather dependent; in the face of adverse, or unexpected, weather conditions reasonable attempts will be made to provide equivalent riding. All programmes are accurate at the time of writing. However, the team may adapt or modify details, whilst aiming to provide a similar experience.
