Spain at a Gallop

Photo Gallery (14 photos)

The tour guide, Anna, runs a show jumping barn and the horses are all in great shape and in great health. I actually ended up riding a privately owned Andalusian named Muscovite whose owner is not always around and thus lets him be used for the horse trips. He was a little less fit than the other horses but that wasn't even noticeable until the last day. He was also a complete sweetheart who got along with everyone and did anything you asked him to do. I instantly fell in love and told my husband that if I had the means to keep a horse and he was for sale I'd be arranging the flight paperwork.

Anna clearly cares deeply for the horses and they were treated well...plenty of water breaks, tack off during lunch, hosing them down after the ride, etc. When Muscovite had a shoe fall off the farrier came and replaced it while we were eating lunch, but they had also brought an extra horse that I could've ridden instead had the farrier been unavailable.

he most diverse group of rides I’ve been on. You’ll obviously get to see the Segovia countryside - most of the poppies had dried up by July, but we saw occasional flowers, lots of walking through paloma fields, forests, and a few cliffs. We went through some of the town on horseback. On our second night,, we got a tour of Spain’s mini Versailles, La Granja (which is not mini-sized at all!), and on the next day we went around the garden on horseback. Some other highlights were: going into several lakes with the horses and countless streams, a gallop through a dark train tunnel, going through a few cute small towns, seeing Segovia from a distance, of course, a photoshoot next to the famous castle. I’m probably forgetting a bunch of other features. We found a few logs to jump, and on the last day, got to try the barn’s little cross-country setup.

The rides were fast - I was honestly sick of galloping at the end because my thighs were hurting from so much two-point (the downside of the Spanish horses' beautiful gaits is that their canter is quite choppy, so we were asked to stay off their backs if we could). It was incredible that the horses barely seemed to get tired at all.

This is definitely a ride for advanced riders only! You have to be comfortable in all three gaits in the open, but also be in good enough shape to do them on two point for most of the rides. I wouldn’t recommend this as a first trip if you’ve never done multiple days of riding in a row or are not sure about controlling a horse out in the open. That said, you don’t need to be a lifelong/champion eventing rider - many people didn’t ride regularly anymore or had only taken a few years of lessons, and everyone was fine! Our guide said they’ve had people overstate their experience, and they usually find a way to work with that, but obviously if you don’t think you’re ready, spend some more time taking regular lessons to not annoy the rest of the group 🙂

Most of us stayed at the Hotel Monasterio de San Antonio el Real, a 4 star large hotel that seems geared for events/business travelers. It was a pretty nice hotel, with AC in the rooms and only a 10-minute walk to the bustling center of Segovia. Pharmacy, groceries, etc were close by if needed. There were some minor things that I didn’t like - mostly that the staff were just kind of rude and not very helpful. I’d requested a room with a view of the cloisters and then outright refused, which happens a lot with hotel requests, but then I found out another rider in the same group had a room with a view, and she had arrived later than me so really it just felt like they didn’t accommodate requests. The wifi was also really bad, and some people wanted to get some work done in the evenings, but they were not helpful at all. The internet did seem better in the lobby, which had very odd hours…I tried to get a drink during posted open hours but they told me they were closed. Maybe they just didn’t like me for some reason, I dunno…

One other note is that while you’re in the center of Segovia so great for city exploration, you are far from horses. Anna picked everyone up and drove us to the stables and back every day but it’s not like some other horse vacations where you can watch horses with your coffee.

The food 5/5

Outstanding. You cannot go hungry on this trip! This is definitely a trip for foodies.

The hotel has free breakfast that has standard Spanish items like egg tortillas (their version of a frittata with potatoes), toast, meats, cheeses, fruits, etc.

During the ride you’ll stop for an “aperitivo” after an hour or two for more Spanish snacks and coffee if you want.

Then there is lunch - a gourmet picnic. You get to choose from two appetizers and two main courses, handed to you in beautiful cutlery on white tablecloths with flowers in the middle. The food was different every day, some examples were gazpacho, blue cheese salad, salmon, shrimp. It was all incredibly delicious, made by a Moroccan cook at the stable every day. There is wine if you want, and desert afterwards.

In the evening, you’ll go to a different restaurant every night, where you’ll get a 3-course dinner with wine included. Hand-picked by the guide Anna, the restaurants seemed like the best of Segovia, and I would return to every single one of them…except for the last one, but not because the food was bad; they just very graphically cut up a suckling piglet in front of us. The tour guide Anna would also do her best to make sure that we got to sample everything that Segovia was known for during our time with her, which eliminated any food-related FOMO.

Dinners were long affairs, and my only complaint of the trip was that sometimes the night would end very late, making it hard to get enough sleep and make it to breakfast before getting picked up for the next day's ride. But I suppose I need to learn the Spanish art of the Siesta before the next time (I am terrible at napping).

If you are a vegetarian or pescatarian, you won’t feel left out - since they have their own cook they will cook to accommodate you for lunch and the restaurants also have options for everyone.

The total posted cost is 1700EUR for 5 days, 4 nights, 3 days riding, plus a 200EUR single supplement. My plane ticket was around $700, but I travelled around Spain before and after, and adjusted my dates based on the air travel prices, so yours might be more expensive.

If you look at the cost per day, this is one of the cheapest non-rugged trips out there. And when you look at the quality of the horses, rides, accommodation, and food, it’s all top-notch and just incredible value. I would like to try the week-long trips offered by Eresma at some point, which I think would give you a lot more riding time for your dollar.

Of course, Spain outside of Madrid/Barcelona is a very cheap country, so you can tack on some time before or after on a small budget as well. There are usually flight deals to Madrid if you do some research, so even factoring a cross-Atlantic flight in, it’s a good price (I got mine on Iberia for around $700 with a checked bag and seat selection) - and a no-brainer if you’re already in Europe.

One note is that I do think that they expect a small tip at the end of the trip. Our group decided to pool a tip at 75 euros each (we were mostly Americans), which honestly seemed a bit high to me, but I didn’t want to argue with them.

One note of advice for US travelers I have is to arrive a few days early and check out Madrid (or even northern Spain as I did) - it’ll give you some space to get over the jet lag, which I personally think is important for such a short tip so that you really get to savor every moment of your riding adventure.