Help & Ride Holidays

Great Value Riding Holiday

Join us on our help and ride holiday and enjoy a two week-long adventure helping bring our horses back into work after their winter break. These holidays are an economical way of enjoying a riding holiday by helping care for the horses. During your time here you will enjoy superb horse riding and the wonderful Spanish climate. We are based on the edge of a forested national park, with fantastic beaches close by. On our help and ride holiday there is riding every day through the forest, with at least one unforgettable day ride spent on the beach.

Time Period

Our help and ride holidays are for two weeks periods during winter and spring. There are two places available per starting date.

How you will help us

Our two week self catering holiday is mostly riding based helping us bring the horses back to full fitness after the winter break. This is a relaxing holiday, and each of the ten help and ride days starts at 08:30 and finishes at 14:00, with two riding sessions of 1.5 hours spent riding through the forest. You will help us feed the horses and prepare your own horses to ride, in total five hours each morning is spent with the horses. The afternoons are always left free so that you can relax and explore our beautiful area.

Requirements

Guests on our help and ride holidays must be able to ride and handle a horse confidently. You will also need to be reasonably physically fit. We have a weight limit of 13 stone (182 pounds, 82 kilos) and a minimum age of 18 but no upper age limit.

Aparthotel Playa Barbate

Our self catering help and ride holidays allow plenty of flexibility to explore the area while you are here. Your accommodation during the holiday is in the two star Aparthotel Playa Barbate, sharing with our other help and ride holiday guest. The hotel is located right on the seafront of Barbate and only a few minutes walk from the town centre. The apartments have a fully fitted kitchen, bathroom, lounge, two bedrooms, and terrace with a side sea view. You will have your own bedroom with bedding and towels provided. The hotel is fully air-conditioned with free wi-fi, and each apartment has a tv installed. For meals you can prepare your own, or alternatively there are plenty of cafes and restaurants in town offering takeaways. You would also be welcome to join our weekly guests and eat out in the evening if preferred.

Barbate

Barbate is perfect for a horse riding vacation. It is a medium sized town with a busy fishing port and a population of 22,000. The town's beach is a beautiful expanse of golden sand and runs for almost 2 km from the River Barbate to the Marina. It is overlooked by a wonderful promenade which has plenty of lively bars and restaurants in which you will be made more than welcome by the local people. Barbate has a lovely town square that has the town hall and the church at either side.

Horse Management

While you are here with us you will gain a practical knowledge of horse care and management in a holiday environment. We are all very experienced equestrians here and have a large pool of knowledge to share.

Skills Covered On The Help And Ride Holiday

As well as exercising the horses you will assist with the feeding and routine health care of horses. For those less experienced, instruction will be given on basic veterinary skills, tacking up, fitting and care of tack, and our feeding regime.

Non Riders

Non riders are welcome, and the town is a good base to explore the local area using local public transport or with a hire car.

Additional Opportunities

During your stay you will experience a different culture and lifestyle to the full. The area is ideal for many other sports, such as surfing, cycling, golf, etc. You can also go whale watching nearby at Tarifa. Nocturnally, beach bars offer a nice atmosphere to have a drink and listen to music or the sound of the waves. The Royal Spanish Riding School and Gibraltar are interesting day trips. Other nearby places worth visiting are Cádiz, Tarifa and Vejer de la Frontera. Also due to the close proximity to north Africa, a day trip to Tangiers can be arranged.

Airport Transfers

Help and ride holiday guests will be met at Malaga Airport at 14:30 to start the holiday and returned to Malaga airport arriving at 10:00 at the end of the holiday.