Colombia horse riding holiday

Planet

Unfortunatly as with all travel there is no zero carbon way to get to Columbia. We ensure our travelers note the Responsible travels comments on airline travel. Once in Columbia what more zero carbon way to travel than on the back of a horse, a mode of transport that is also sensitive of the environment it moves in.

The stables we use do have sustainability and environmental policy including recycling. We try to avoid single use plastics as much as we can, by supplying rigid plastic bottles to riders to refill with water. They have planted 40.000 trees in a plantation in Oiba, near the starting point of Ride. This was in an area that had been deforested, the impact has been that animals and life re-emerged in what had been a desolate area.

As for the horse welfare, we are frequently asked how we select our partner stables, and we do indeed have an Assessment Document that runs to a dozen-plus pages. But actually it’s usually a pretty immediate task and your nose leads the way! A ramshackle stable building with uneven flagstones doesn’t necessarily mean bad husbandry; it means a restricted budget. What counts more is how the place smells! There is no excuse for that whiff of ammonia and there is a direct relationship between the smell of a stable and the quality of horse husbandry. Get the basics right and the foundation is set. Over the centuries there has been dilution of many breed standards and we search for in-country stables that support their local breed, where feasible. Joining a ride and using the local breed puts income directly into the right hands to achieve this aim.

People

We deal directly with local people: the food, the horses and accommodation that you will use throughout your itinerary are locally owned and purchased, in local currency.

Local people are employed on all aspects of this ride from guide to stable hand. We want a local person to lead a trek through their own backyard and to tell you about the folklore and local stories of the area. Local people are of course paid, so once again, money is passing directly to grassroots level.
A particular feature of this ride is that you have lunch along the way at locals homes. It is difficult to tell who enjoy it the most the riders or locals (most of them if not all have never met somebody from another continent speaking a different language before !).

We issue Field Manuals out to our riders before their departure. These provide an introduction to the country they will be traveling in as well as the itinerary. Any customs to be observed are mentioned as well as an outline of responsible travel.