Tag Archives: travel
Hunstville, Ontario: Warm Saddle and Wandering Hooves Cure Winter Blahs
Riding across the snow-covered golf course streaked with cross-country ski tracks astride Static, a Belgian mare apparently crossed with a comfortable couch, is one of the most relaxing things a person can do outside in negative 12 degree Celsius weather. The sun is warming or at least creating the illusion of warmth as the winter trail ride experience at Huntsville, Ontario’s Deerhurst Resort.
Horsetrotting.net: New Year, new resolutions. Right?
Last year at this time I wrote about travel riding aspirations rather than resolutions: dream rides I’d love to take around the world. Well, guess what? I’m still dreaming. None on the list materialized, but I haven’t given up. Somehow, sometime, you’ll read post about the week I spent at a Spanish riding school or […]
Quebec: Cheating on horses … with a camel at the Granby Zoo
Stanley is my first camel ride. Ok, he’s not a horse, but he does have hooves and a saddle. Stanley is a laid back dude who spends his days walking in circles guided by a handler at the Granby Zoo in Granby, Quebec (about a one hour drive from Montreal). For an extra $4, visitors […]
North Carolina: Wild, Strong and Free … the horses of the OBX
Often, there’s a fine line between folklore and fact, and the truth usually lines somewhere in between. According to folklore, 200 years ago many ships carrying majestic Colonial Spanish Mustangs wrecked off the coast of The Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina. The strongest of these equine swam ashore and started the wild horse colony of […]
Selecting the Perfect Riding Holiday.. advice from Globetrotting.com
How to select the perfect riding holiday? Thanks to Globetrotting.com, a company that specializes in worldwide horse riding holidays and safaris, here is some advice: http://www.globetrotting.com.au/how-to-choose-the-perfect-riding-holiday/
Ontario: Wake Up in Ottawa … Ride in Wakefield
A visit to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, doesn’t usually include horses, unless you’re headed to the RCMP stables where the musical ride practices (though in the summer it’s on tour). Yet, there are a number of riding outlets not far from the city and that’s primarily because Ottawa, situated along the Rideau Canal and […]
Ontario: Donkey Sanctuary of Canada: visit with an equine from another mother….
Donkeys do not understand pack hierarchies. That’s why they often don’t do well in horse herds, which are dependent on a dominant leader. But that doesn’t stop them from occasionally getting friendly. It might, however, stop them from integrating into other equine herds, and that’s something not a lot of people understand. So, many donkeys end […]
Riding in Wales and Embracing the Novice Rider in Me
Living in Wales – a country defined by rural rolling hills, coastal sea towns, deep valleys and the birth place of the industrial revolution thanks to rich coal deposits in the valleys – Michael Sullivan promised himself he’d ride a horse before his 80th birthday. There are many horses and ‘pony trekking’ operations all over […]
Riverdale Farms: Rural Sanctuary in Urban Toronto
This public destination has been a not so secret retreat for decades: at 7.5 acres in size, the Riverdale Farm smack in the middle of a dense residential area in downtown Toronto, Ontario (201 Winchester Street), is a rural sanctuary from city chaos. Riverdale is a living farm museum designed to give urbanites big and […]
FEI World Equestrian Games 2014
If you are heading to Normandy, I’m jealous. The FEI World Equestrian games begins tomorrow (Aug 23 to Sept. 7). Check out the details at http://www.normandy2014.com. Eight World Championships take place during the two weeks of this event: Jumping, Eventing, Dressage, Reining, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting, and Para-dressage. At this point, Normandy is full and events […]
Part II: Overnight with Bison while riding in Saskatchewan
We spot bison, a highlight on this trail ride through Prince Albert National Park thanks to Gord Vaadeland from Sturgeon River Ranch Adventures in Saskatchewan. This is possibly the only one in North America that can claim proximity to these rare and massive creatures that once roamed this region in remarkable numbers. Today the herd in […]
Part I: Horses, Flannel PJs and all the Bannock you can eat in the Saskatchewan Wilderness
Roughing it in the Canadian wilderness with no running water or toilets is something I refused to do … until someone said the magic word: horses. Last summer, I was presented with the opportunity to ride for two days, three hours per day into the prairie wilderness, boldly going where no motorized vehicles are allowed […]
Texas: From Tang to Tomb – Chinese Horses in Art and History
Tang Emperors, from the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907), were avid horse fanciers who, according to historians, built heated stables for their favourite equines. A lot of their sturdy and well-groomed mounts (useful in battle) were imported from Central Asia and ceramic versions of these revered beasts have been found in many tombs. Many, like this […]
Toronto Medieval Times: Horse crazy date night
When a fifty-year old man is willing to wear a paper crown and is excited to get front row tickets because his 47-year-old girlfriend wants to see Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament horse show, you know he’s a keeper. And that’s how I spent my birthday this year: cheering on the Blue Night, loving the […]
Dominican Republic Part II: Riding in Punta Cana, Beyond the Resorts
The tourist trade is the bread and butter of Punta Cana’s economy in the Dominican, and the vacation landscape in this region is changing. Two luxury resorts, where I stayed, are the Paradisus Palma Real, a boutique-style hotel with a Royal Service upgrade, and the newly renovated Paradisus Punta Cana, described as a resort within a […]
Dominican Republic Part I: Riding in Punta Cana at HorsePlay, a Canadian connection
One thing I love about riding outside of North American is less worry about liability and more about experience. On a ride in the Dominican, I’m one of the few tourists in jeans and boots astride a western-ridden horse very familiar with the brush we trotting through, though having no interest in following the herd […]
Romancing Winter: a snow covered ride
Until now, fall has been my preferred time of year to trail ride. Well that, and spring in another country. Winter wasn’t high on the list until last weekend when I took my first (yes, first) winter trail ride in the still negative two degree temperature (balmy compared to the previous days’ negative 15 plus […]
Dream Ride: Where I’d love to saddle up this year
I’m a little late with my New Year’s aspirations (better than resolutions) but I’m still thinking about where, when and how I want to get in the saddle this year. My plan is to find an instructor willing to take me out on a few English pony trekking lessons to prepare me for the speed […]
Down but not out: the joys of rolling
Staring between the ears of an Appaloosa named Queenie, while riding through a conservation park in Saskatchewan, I’m listening to stories about horses spooked by oddities in the woods (like wild bison) when my own horse stomps the ground in front of us, possibly stumbling. “Watch your footing I warn her.” But too little too […]
Meet Your Food and More at the Royal Winter Fair, Toronto
Congratulations to Yann Candele, and his horse Aboard Game Ready, who earned his third title win at the Greenhawk Canadian Show Jumping Championship opening weekend of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on November 2, 2013. While the fair is all about bringing the country to the city, specifically Exhibition Place along Toronto’s downtown lakeshore (farmers still […]
Global Travel for Horse Lovers 