Spain

Iberian Horse Tours

Let us take you to a place deep in the heart of old Spain, a village where the streets are swept every day and the people you meet look you in the eye to greet you, a place far away from jet streams and jet setters, a place where riding a horse marks mans nobility. You will find yourself in a world you had thought vanished, a world where we have chosen to make our second home; a world we would like to share with you. You will stay at The Herrador, an authentic village inn, recently renovated in a blend of traditional Spanish style and modern comfort. You will be made to feel at home in the busy dining room where local cattlemen and business people meet for lunch and for dinner.
From the upstairs terrace adjacent to your room, you look out over tiled roofs towards the Moorish castle, whose walls rise higher than any other in the village. Each morning, you awaken to the song of birds in the garden below and to the ringing of cow and sheep bells from the pastures that surround the village. Spring is extraordinarily beautiful in this part of Spain.
We are teaming up with local horsemen as well as experts of national recognition to make this an extraordinary journey of discovery into the horse culture of Spain You will learn from and often times with local horsemen. You will ride in the picadero of El Corralero, enclosed by an ancient stone wall right across a crystal clear creek just a few hundred yards from the village and you will go for rides.on roads and trails that radiate in all directions from the village and have been in use for centuries. You will watch cattle graze in fields of spring flowers and storks nest in the trees tops, ride through villages on cobblestones streets and you will discoverr creek beds and lakes. You will visit several breeders and be taken out to see the mares and foals in the pastures in a carriage pulled by a purebred stallion. You will visit a modern AI station.
Nathan and Elly bring an extraordinary life experience to this. They made their home in northern Spain back in 1965 in a house they built out of rock and recycled bricks. They travelled extensively with a family of gypsies in horse drawn caravans, then sold everything in 1969 to follow a dream to roam the Americas on horseback. *Riding Into the Wind* is the story of their four and a half years on the trail. A wilderness homestead cabin then became home for Nathan and Elly, their Spanish dog Chaco and the four horses. Wilderness pack trips, logging the forest with Belgian draft horses was all part of the life journey toward ST Stables, an equestrian training center perched on the side of a mountain, surrounded by thousands of acres of rangelands.
For the past thirty years, summer horsemanship camps for girls have been a focal point at the ranch. With the establishment of El Corralero in Spain, here at long last is the chance for the grown-up horse lover to take part in the adventure! Lisa Hurlong will be your co-host. Lisa is a classical guitarist who has lived in Spain for many years. Lisa is very well connected with the best breeders and trainers of Spanish horses. She can help you find just about anything. International horse transport is her businesses. The only thing that we ask is that you come to this jounrney with a love for horses, a desire to learn, to see, to experience new things; that you come with an open mind and heart. The Iberian Horse tour is a centered, in-depth experience and in this we build on our Wildernes ranch model that has had generations of girls returning summer after summer
We are there to help you get the very most out of your Iberian Horse experience. We ask of you what we ask of our summer students; please let us know what you want to get out of your journey. If there is something you would like to see happen, let us know about it! If you want to learn to drive a carriage, for example, let us know about it; we can make it happen. Your experience will be centered around El Corralero, the village, the local horsemen. Your days will be full but not rushed. We will make visits to breeders of note, to local saddle makers and travel by horseback, or carriage.
Participation is limited to ten people.The cost of the tour is inclusive of airfare, taxes, ground transportation in Spain, use of horses, instruction, accomodation and all meals. Trip cancellation and health insurance is your responsibility, Our travel agent is set up to work with you on this. Price is based on double occupancy. There will be a surcharge for single. Please note that airfare is negociated in Canadian dollars, all other pricing is in Euros. The exchange rate when we receive your payment will determine your exact cost in Canadian dollars. (We are still working on final pricing and are not quite ready to publish total price - if interested call us and we can give you an estimate.)
We have booked flights to Madrid, leaving Vancouver International on Thursday March 22, 2007 at 2:pm. Our route is Seattle to Copenhagen, Copenagen to Madrid with Scandinavian Airlines. SAS is one of our preferred airlines that offers great service and direct routing. You will be greeted by one of us at Barajas Airport. and we will be staying the night at Torre Hogar, a four star hotel belonging to Yolanda and Maximo, top Andalusian breeders whose farm you will visit during your stay.	The following morning, a mini bus will take us to the village where you will meet our co-host Lisa and settle into the Herrador, your home for the duration. April 3 return to Madrid via minibus. If participants wish, we can make an early departure to have a day for sight seeing in Madrid. We will stay the night at the Torre Hogar. Return flight leaves Barajas at 11:am on the 4th, arriving Vancouver International at 7:pm. Please phone or e-mail us to find out more! Elly and Nathan Foote 250-694-3521

e-mail STStable1@aol.com