Andalusia -
Epona Riding Center
UNIQUE TRAIN & TRAIL RIDING

Come and completely relax for a week and let someone take care of you and all your activities on a six night, five day holiday -  designed for those who share a passion for horses. The combination of "trail and training" is ideal for riders who believe that trail riding is one of the best ways to have fun, make new friends, relax from the stress of modern-day lifestyles and see Spain from another angle, while devoting some time to improving your horse riding skills so that your confidence in, and enjoyment of horses, will increase greatly over the week.
This picturesque riding center provides trail riding in the morning, and afternoon instruction - enjoy the countryside around Seville on scenic trail rides and at the same time ride a sensitive, honest Andalusian in his forte - dressage school work.
Epona has horses and instructors that are prepared to cater for guests of all levels.
Stay in a unique 16th century Hacienda out in the country but still close to the City of Seville and the oldest permanently inhabited city in Europe, Carmona.

IT-SPSR30
Rates include accommodations, all meals, 5 riding days with morning trail rides and afternoon training.
7 days/ 6 nights  $ 1,835    Single: +$360
Children under 12  25% OFF
2008 Dates: weekly from Sunday to Saturday, except in August
  reservations &  availability

Meeting:   Seville
Transfer:   A free transfer service is offered between 3.30 pm and 8.00 pm. After these hours the service will be charged.
Level:         All levels
Tack:          English
Horses:      Andalusian and cross
Pace :         Walk, trot with some canters 
                   - 4 to 5 hrs of riding per day
Max Riders: 14
Max weight: 220 lbs
Non Riders: $ 1,070 (based on sharing)
Note:
Riding helmets can be supplied (mandatory)
Ticket to Jerez riding School Euro 23
          Flamenco Show  Euro 33
Also see Dressage Clincs with R.Soto

Accommodations and meals:
You will be living in an authentic 16th century Hacienda which is divided in two wings: the family house and the guest accommodation built around two connected patios (courtyards). The main courtyard houses the family residence, guest sitting rooms, office, tack-room and three double guest rooms and the family guest room, all with en-suite shower rooms. The working court-yard contains three further guest rooms all with en-suite shower rooms and the carriage block. Both patios are connected. Single accommodation is possible, but a small supplement will be charged.
The rooms are comfortably but not luxuriously decorated, mostly with furniture that has been in the hacienda for years and from the Garcia's family. You will find a tea and coffee tray, mineral water, towels, hair dryer, air conditioning and fan in each room.
You will also be able to enjoy the large lounge that used to be part of the live oil mill, where you will be provided with free wine and sherry. A smaller sitting room with TV, video and internet connection is also at your disposition. You will find an outdoor swimming pool and plenty of garden areas where you can sit and enjoy a good book. In the late spring and summer most of your meals will be outdoors under the shade of our unique kiosk designed by Fernando. The rest of the year you will be in the small cafeteria with views of the schools where there is usually something going on whether it's lessons or horses playing.
Fernando has been working at Epona full time for nine years and will be serving a variety of Spanish and international dishes including a delicious sea food paella on the last evening. He is also prepared to cater for special diet requirements as vegetarian, gluten allergy, etc.
We serve continental breakfasts: juice, tea, coffee, toast, cereal, yoghourt, cheese, etc; no cooked breakfasts.

The riding program:
The immediate countryside allows for miles of open, slightly rolling land in which frequent trots and canters will be possible. Fast gallops are not possible, as we do not have turf. You will be riding through fields of wheat, sunflowers and olive groves, and orchards of orange and peach trees. This peaceful sight, where the only sound you will hear will be the horses hooves, the birds and the breeze rushing through the wheat, will let your mind roll back to when the Romans cultivated this land 22 centuries ago and Cervantes rode these same tracks, when collecting olive oil taxes. You will be riding in a different direction every day so the rides are varied.
The program offers enjoyable morning trail rides to interesting places including a beach ride to the Donana Wildlife Refuge. It caters to complete beginners and to the advanced riders. Groups are divided so as to keep the levels similar and these usually are of 3 or 4 riders (in some occasions the groups could be of 5, in which case, the duration of the lesson would be extended). Although it is more dressage oriented, there are over 10 jumping horses from schoolmasters for beginners to National C competition level.
The dressage work that you will be doing will mainly concentrate on riding your horse in a correct outline, straightness, balance, transitions, lateral movements, flying changes (depending on your ability) etc. High School work on the stallions for advanced riders will be paid separately as private lessons.
Option: Intensive Training
Trail rides or hacks are replaced with lessons and two lounging sessions will be added. A visit to the Royal Andalusian School in Jerez is included, not the beach ride. A Diploma will be presented to all participants.
extra charge:  add $305 to regular rate

The excellent facilities including a large covered school will make your lessons more enjoyable.
It is also designed to give excellent opportunities to experience and appreciate the fascinating culture of the area. This is an excellent destination for non-riding companions.

Horses:
There are over 60 horses of different breeds, shapes, sizes, levels of training and temperament, so we can match each guest with the ideal horse for the trail rides, dressage and jumping lessons. (Please note that although we have so many horses we keep our groups of guests small). Most of our horses are Andalusians or Andalusian cross breeds but we have lots of others breeds such as Warmbloods (Hannoverian, Holsteiner and Oldenburg), Anglo-Arabs, Thoroughbreds, different breeds of ponies and others. But most importantly we would like to emphasize the good nature and willingness of these horses. We have no kickers or biters and besides their training and work, we think they are all special in their own way; they are all individuals and so they are treated as such. Our horses are a part of our family.

The instructors:
All the instructors are British Horse Society qualified and speak fluent Spanish and English, so safety and knowledge are guaranteed, this way your lessons will always be fun, interesting and helpful.
Jane, who runs a BHS certification program at Epona, is a regional dressage judge and has trained numerous Andalusian Championship medalists. She and her daughters Caty and Vivi, are BHS and Spanish Federation certified instructors. While they teach all disciplines, they specialize in dressage and training students who plan to make teaching their profession. The instructors are particularly good with beginners and nervous riders. Caty, and at times Jane’s students of the BHS certification program, give the afternoon instruction. Many of Epona's Andalusians and Anglo Arabs are trained to a high level for the more experienced riders but the family is also especially good with beginners and nervous riders.

        see Slide Show

Itinerary
Day 1:  Sunday
Guests arrive in the afternoon (after 4.00 p.m.), earliest arrival time, either by pick-up in the airport or train station in Sevilla (10 - 20 minute drive) or by means of your own transport. Meet your hosts and get to know your way around. You may appreciate a dip in the private pool, or perhaps discover the pleasures of the Spanish afternoon "siesta" after a tiring journey. In the evening, you will be escorted to the nearby town of Carmona, one of the famous white villages of Andalucia. Carmona, is the oldest continually inhabited village in Europe and as you stroll through the narrow streets of the old town, inside the ancient fortified walls, you will feel and breathe the spirits of ancient cultures, Iberians, Visigoths, Phoenicians, Romans, Moors, in the innumerable examples of their architectural influence in the churches, towers, palaces and mansions as well as in the inherited customs. Later, possibly under an indigo sky or in the interior of a centuries-old olive oil mill, you will savour the delights of the local cuisine which still makes full use of ingredients which compose the famous healthy Mediterranean diet, olive oil, garlic, onions, vegetables and fruit.
Day 2: Monday
Guests are welcome to join and groom the horses if they wish, or simple enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Mount up for the Old Hacienda Ride a relaxed hack around the immediate countryside, through olive groves and eucalyptus trees. Depending on the season, you could see fields of sunflowers, wheat and cotton, as well as melons and water melons in late summer. The ride takes you past impressive 16th and 17th century Haciendas and Cortijos, which have stood here since the days when Cervantes rode these same trails, collecting olive oil taxes. Return to Epona for lunch in our own cafeteria where you will have your first experience of typical Andalusian home cooking, courtesy of our resident cook and sample our excellent local house wine.
AFTERNOON can be spent by the pool, or if you are feeling in need of culture, take a bus into Carmona to explore the old streets, the archaeological sites or the Roman Necropolis, the second largest in the World after Rome itself. Equitation lessons will take place in the late afternoon when life is a little cooler. It's a great chance to improve your school work, dressage or jumping. EVENING: Dinner at Epona, followed by a glass of cool fino or wine over table games or TV in the lounge.
Day 3: Tuesday
ROYAL ANDALUCIAN SCHOOL OF EQUESTRIAN ART
Early breakfast at 8.30 a.m., leaving at 9.00 a.m. for Jerez de la Frontera, in the province of Cádiz, one hour away by car. Jerez is intemationally renowned for its production of sherries and brandies and your trip will include a visit to a famous wine shop where you will be able to sample some of the different local varieties. However, the main attraction of the day will be the visit to the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre, an equestrian performance titled, "How the Andalusian Horses Dance" (Ticket Price: 23 €). Here you will be priviledged to see the magnificent Andalusian stallions at their best, at home in the breathtaking setting of their 18th Century palace and the riding hall. They will be performing piaffe, passage and the airs above the ground (courbette, capriole, etc) in a spectacle of light, music and colour, only to be compared with the famous Spanish Riding School of Vienna. Fernando knows many of the World famous riders and you might also have the chance to see his younger daughter Vivi in performance. She is one of an elite group to be selected, in her fourth year as a student in the school. Return for lunch at Epona, followed by lessons in the afternoon.
EVENING: Dinner at Epona. Collapse with a book or board game.
Day 4: Wednesday
After breakfast saddle up and set off across country for the ROMAN BRIDGE. Depending on the time of the year you could be riding through fields of sunflowers, wheat, cotton, oranges or peaches, through olive groves with ancient trees still carefully tended and nurtured. It is a countryside where there are very few fences. A landscape rich with patchwork of different crops, still rotated year by year as they have always been, with wide headlands of uncultivated land separating one field from another and providing a natural bridleway across country. The variety of wild flowers, butterflies and birds, show this is a countryside where pesticides are seldom used. Along the way you may come across the river, full and flowing in spring, cool and shallow in summer, a natural heaven for wildlife, with abundant vegetation all year round. Splashing through the shallows, past water voles, terns and grebes, you'll emerge at an old Roman Bridge and shady eucalyptus grove. After a break and a few photographs, it is back home for a late lunch and a siesta.
EVENING: Equitation classes and dinner at Epona.
Day 5: Thursday
BEACH RIDE - Set off early to the seaside village of Matalascañas, where beautiful Spanish horses, most in Spanish tack, will be waiting to take you on the Beach Ride. The ride takes you on an unforgettable route through the Donaña Natural Park bordering the National Park of the same name, one of Europe's last true wilderness regions and one of the largest wildlife reservations in Spain. The ride will take you over the golden dunes, brushing through fragrant wild lavender, rosemary and thyme. The area is home to many protected species such as fallow deer, boar, fox, lynx, imperial eagles, kites, vultures, storks, flamingos and herons.
Down to the beach and it's time for the horses to wet their legs and for those who want to, a canter through the surf. Then it's back to Epona for lunch and a "siesta" by the pool. Rest, enjoy a drink, TV, games room, or a swim before your early evening equestrian lessons followed by a traditional "paella campestre" under the stars, washed down with wonderful home-made sangria.
Day 6: Friday
We set off across open country for our last hack of the week, through olive and orange groves, past farmers working the land. How strange, in a region where there are no bridle paths the horse can wander anywhere as long as you have respect for the crop. In all our years here we have never had a farmer object to us crossing his land. On the contrary, they are always pleased to see us. In Andalucia everyone understands and loves the horse. Eventually we arrive at the fields of a top class Andalucian stud farm and if we're lucky get a chance to appreciate the noble and docile nature of the beautiful mares and foals grazing peacefully in the sunlight. We might even see some colts and magnificent stallions. Return to Epona for lunch.
Day 7: Saturday: After breakfast say goodbye to horses, dogs, assorted animals and friends you have made. Transfer to the Seville Airport or train station in time for your departure. (Check out no later than 1:00 pm)