Horse Riding Holidays in the Auvergne, France

The Haute Loire was recently voted by the main trekking and endurance magazine here in France as number three out of all the fifty departments in France. The main reasons were that hardly any of the paths here are barred to horses, combined with the comfortable temperature of the mid mountain plateau during the summer months. The moyenne montagne as the French call it, is wonderful for horse riding as it is accessible to horses, yet gives wonderful views and routes which are interesting rather than totally scary! Long canters down forest tracks together with the interesting local villages and farm paths give a varied and interesting riding holiday.

We are a family who have been on riding holidays from America to Africa so we know how important it is that guests have a good quality, well-cared for horse. Our horses are either our own, or come from a respected local equestrian centre.

Riders need to be experienced – we are sorry but we cannot cater for novice or intermediate riders. We expect you to treat our horses with the same care and respect which you would your own horses at home. Riding here is sometimes slow, with some stony tracks, so speed merchants wanting to gallop everywhere need to look elsewhere!

We have detailed maps and itineraries for riders wishing to do one hour or several days, with an option of multi-centre stays, which we are happy to advise and book for you. You also have the comfort of knowing that you have 24 hour English speaking help on hand, to deal with anything which might occur.

If you want a guided holiday and speak some French we thoroughly recommend Daniel Boudon (www.adboudon.com) from St Paulien, who has been a guide for over 20 years, has wonderful horses, and who runs a number of excellent riding holidays with very well thought out routes throughout the year