Trail riding for beginners

1st day:

After your arrival in Gheorgheni, we will take you on an adventurous off-road ride: In our van we will take you to our Hipparion Ranch, which is remotely located in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. With a little luck we might spot a deer, a capercaillie bird or even a bear. Once you have arrived on our ranch, you can unwind after your long journey by immersing yourself in the warm salt water of our Hot Pot. After having familiarized yourself with our horses and moving into your room, our cook Brigitta, will indulge you with an original Szekler dinner, in our rustic log cabin.

2nd day:

After a rich, local breakfast we go to the meadow to get the horses. Here the first lesson already starts: How to easily catch and lead a horse. Back in the yard you will learn about the most important anatomical features of a horses body and the basics of handling a horse. 

We will tell you in detail how to brush and saddle the horses in an animal-friendly way. We lead the horses through the alpine meadow to the close riding grounds, where you will sit in the saddle for the first time. In a relaxed, stress free environment you and the horse will take the first steps together. Different exercises will help you to feel more and more comfortable while riding. At the end of the one hour lesson you will already feel safer in the saddle than before. 

On a small riding tour around the meadows of the farm, you can apply your new knowledge from todays lesson. Back on the yard we unsaddle the horses, give them their last cuddles of the workday and let them free to join their friends on the meadows. Now you have time for yourself to process your first hour of horseback riding. We will meet again for dinner at the rustic log house and discuss the schedule for the next day. 

Riding duration: 2 hours

3rd day:

The beginning of the day sounds like the day before, with tiny differences: delicious breakfast, where you maybe already have your favorite kind of jam; getting your – now familiar – horses from the meadow, saddeling the horses (yourself) and leading the horses confidently to the riding grounds. After another hour of learning more basics about riding and communicating with your horse, we have a lunch break and afterwards prepare the horses for a small tour outside the farm grounds. We ride to the valley of Balan where we often find fresh bear tracks. On a romantic narrow path we follow a mountain creek and reach home after 1,5 hours riding. 

In the meantime our good soul in the kitchen, Brigitta, will have cooked a tasty local dish for dinner, which waits for our return. 

Riding duration: 2,5 hours 

Todays lesson will contain how to handle the challenges that riding in difficult terrain brings. After all you need to be trained for the tour through the mountains tomorrow. With simple tricks and using our body correctly we can help the horse manage even the roughest parts of the paths. Sometimes that even means, for the lasting health of the horse, to lead the horse correctly at difficult spots. Of course we will teach you how to mount and demount the horses gently and easily. 

After our relaxing lunch break we saddle our horses again and ride a longer tour to the summit of ‘Magas Bükk’ (1350 m). At the granite rocks we enjoy the panorama of the valley and the main ridge of the caparthian mountains. Soft forest paths are leading us back home. 

When we get back from riding, the Hot Pot will await you with its warm saltwater for muscle relaxation. 

Riding duration: 3,5 hours

The big day finally arrived! After breakfast we saddle the horses and start todays tour to the main ridge of the carpathian mountains. The rocky steep paths uphill will demand peak physical performance from our horses and concentration from us. But the view at ‘Lo Havas’ is worth the hard way up. To our feet we will see the scenic Bicaz canyon with the legendary ‘Red Lake’. The next stage will be a bit easier for the horses, on sandy paths we can let the eyes wander and discover more and more beautiful panoramic views. We enjoy our saddlebag picknick on an alpine meadow where we and the horses can eat, rest and snoozing in the sun. 

The way back has a few steep passages downhill, where we will need to lead the horses and hike a bit. 

After an exciting day in the saddle we reach the ranch in the afternoon, where the dinner preparation is in full swing. The bonfire will be lit and in the evening trouts will be cooked for dinner over the fire. The day fades away with the warm gleaming fire and maybe planning future riding holidays? 

Riding duration: 5,5 hours

6th day: