Transhumance Trails

Introduction
Central Spain Spain
On this unique tour, you will have the opportunity to become the guardians of the ancestral tradition of the transhumance. You will ride from Extremadura to the Gredos Mountains in spring (North Transhumance ride) and from Gredos to Extremadura in autumn (South Transhumance ride).

Following the Cañadas Reales and crossing different regions you will ride a long distance from the winter pastures in Extremadura to the summer pastures in Gredos Mountains (or the other way around in Fall).
Spain is crossed by old cattle drove routes that served the pastoral economies of yesteryear. In Spain, these trails are called “Cañadas Reales”. They are still used by cattlemen who practice transhumance, spending summer in the mountains with their cattle and returning each autumn to the winter pastures, lowlands.

This transhumance on horseback covers 200 km from Trujillo to Navarredonda de Gredos (or vice versa), crossing 3 different region in Spain (Extremadura, Castilla la Mancha y Castilla y León).
Your guide knows the Cañadas reales extremely well, keeping his family tradition alive. He will show you interesting facts along the way.

Accomodation


Accommodations
This is a progressive ride, so nights are spent in different locations.

Description
Accommodations are in small hotels and rural inns with private bathroom (toiletries almost always included). All accommodations provide free Wi-Fi access.

Accommodation Itinerary (North to South) - subject to changes based on availability
Night 1: Hotel in Trujillo
Night 2: Guesthouse in Torrecillas de la Tiesa
Night 3: Guesthouse in Casas de Miravete
Night 4: Hotel in Navalmoral de la Mata
Night 5: Hotel in Calzada de Oropesa
Night 6: Guesthouse in Navalcán
Night 7: Hotel in Mombeltrán
Night 8: Hotel in Navarredonda de Gredos or Hoyos del Espino

Hotel in Trujillo
The hotel is housed in an elegant  19th century manor house. It offers 27 bedrooms that all come furnished with air conditioning, private facilities (with hair dryer and toiletries) and a TV. Facilities include a beautiful garden with terrace and free Wi-Fi access. There is a laundry service available for guests.


Guesthouse in Torrecillas de la Tiesa
This beautiful stonehouse offers simple accommodations with air conditioning and private bathrooms. The house is decorated with many antiques which gives it a rustic charm.  Guests can watch TV or surf the internet in the lounge.

Guesthouse in Casas de Miravete
This guesthouse offers accommodations in 2 well-equipped apartments able to fit up to 4 people each. The apartments each include a bedroom, a bathroom, air conditioning, free Wi-Fi access and a lounge with a TV.

Hotel in Navalmoral de la Mata
This modern hotel offers modern guestrooms equipped with all necessary amenities: a TV, free Wi-Fi, a comfortable bed and a private bathroom with toiletries. Guests can relax in the garden and terrace to soak up the sun.


Hotel in Oropesa
This beautiful historic building dates back to the 14th century and was originally a castle owned by a local  bourgeois family. It offers panoramic views over the surrounding estate. The rooms are all uniquely decorated and feature a medieval décor. All rooms have their own bathroom, air conditioning and free Wi-Fi access. There are multiple public areas that guest are welcome to explore including lounges, a terrace and an outdoor swimming pool.

Hotel in Navalcán
This beautiful rural complex has been built with comfort of guests and respect of the environment in mind! It comprises 4 different houses of different sizes, all featuring air conditioning, comfortable bedrooms, modern bathrooms, a TV, a well equipped kitchen and Wi-Fi access. Each house has its own decor and natural materials such as wood and stones are omnipresent. There is a lovely garden and a seasonal outdoor salt water swimming pool for guest to unwind after a long day in the saddle.

Hotel in Mombeltrán
This small hotel is ideally located in the heart of Mombeltrán and offers great views over the Castle of the Dukes of Alburquerque. It has 9 cozy bedrooms with private bathroom, heating, air conditioning and television. Public areas include a lounge and a patio. There is internet access at this property.


Hotel in Navarredonda de Gredos
This small hotel is surrounded by nature and provides great views of the mountains. The bedrooms all come with Wi-Fi access, a TV and private facilities. Guests are welcome to relax in the panoramic lounge or outdoor terrace.

Hotel in Hoyos del Espino
This family hotel has been welcoming visitors since 1978. It has 15 guestrooms; all fitted with a private bathroom and a TV. There are public areas where guest can read a book, enjoy the view, watch TV or simply surf the internet. There is also a small garden with colorful flowers and a terrace.

Room Occupancy
If we are unable to find another rider to share the room with you, the single supplement fee applies.



Meals
All meals are included on this trip.

The food is a highlight of this trip! Mamen will delight you with the tapas-breaks waiting for you with Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, olives, nuts, etc.

Lunches are taken on the trail; in the countryside (we bring tables and chairs) and always include a starter (salad, gazpacho, vegetables, etc), a main course (paella, iberian pork, fish, etc), fresh fruit, coffee and local wines. Lunchtime features delicious home cooked Spanish dishes such as Paella, Tortilla Española, Iberian pork bbq, salads, and soft cheese very typical from Extremadura “Torta del Casar”. Lunch is often followed by a siesta in the countryside.
 
After the day riding, your dinner in the evening is around 9 pm and you can choose from different dishes and courses of local Spanish recipes. Your dinner is usually taken at the accommodation and include a choice between 3-5 starters (mix salad, soup, vegetables, pasta, etc), 3-5 main course (grilled beef, pork, stews, fish, omelet, etc), a dessert (flan, rice pudding, fruit, cake, etc), local wine, bread and coffee or tea.

The following drinks are included in the package: red and white wines, beer, refreshments, coffee or tea during the meals and aperitifs. Water bottle is provided every morning.

Dietary Restrictions
Special diets (vegetarian, gluten free, allergies, etc.) can be arranged with advance notice.

This trip includes some wine with dinner and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Riding


Riding Schedule
On a normal day, we start riding at 10am, after a well-deserved rest and a good breakfast. Participants are encouraged in helping with the preparation of the horses. Usually, we need to catch the horses from the fields where they have spent the night, feed them, brush them and saddle them up before breakfast.
In the morning, you will ride about 4 hours with a short tapas-break (Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, olives, nuts, etc. and something to drink) in the middle of the morning (usually around noon). After the break, we ride to the lunch place. A luxury picnic is waiting for us in the quietest and most beautiful spot. The stop for lunch is about 2 hours long, with time to enjoy the pic-nic and little siesta after lunch.
In the afternoon, we ride for about 2 hours until we get to our accommodation.

Riding Experience
This trip has been designed for intermediate to experienced riders. You should be comfortable at the walk, trot and canter, in group, in open spaces and your seat should be firm. On the rides, you will be riding for between four to seven hours a day so it is important to be as riding fit as possible.

Pace
The overall pace of riding is moderate with walk, trots and canters mostly every day, depending on the terrain. There are many opportunities to canter along the Canades Reales.
The distance covered on the average is 25-35 km per day. We usually spend about 6 hours in the saddle every riding day.

Tack
We use fine quality English saddles and silicon seat saver. All the tack is in excellent conditions, very comfortable for horses and riders. You have small saddlebags in front of the saddles for a water bottle, sunscreen, camera, mobile, etc.

Helmet
We recommend wearing a helmet, however you can ride without a helmet but your insurance must clearly state that you are covered to do that. You will also be asked to sign a disclaimer.

Support Vehicle
A support van follows the group during the whole week, meeting us in the morning, for tapas-breaks, lunches, at night and to move your luggage. This means you have access to your luggage at least 3 times a day.

Horses
We currently have 21 horses: 14 PRE, 4 Pure Hispano-Arab, 1 Anglo-Arab and 2 Crossed (hispano-bretón, hispano-lusitano).
Our horses are responsive, well behave, good natured and serene thanks to the natural horsemanship method used to train them.
Most of our horses were born and bred at home while others have been with us since they were foals.
They live in freedom as a herd, eating, drinking, sleeping and traveling together in the most natural way possible.
They live in a huge pine forest (500 ha) in the Gredos Mountains or in the rich pastures in the Dehesas of Extremadura. They keep fit as they can walk around 20 km every day. They live with other groups of animals including other horses, donkeys, cows and also wild animals such as wolves, roe deer, deer, wild boar, foxes.

Staff
Emilio and Mamen (both born in Gredos Mountains) will be personally escorting you on these trips. Emilio will happily guide you across the trails, while Mamen will be preparing delicious meals and pic-nics.
Emilio has been working in equestrian tourism for over 30 years and he dedicated his whole life to his horses. He speaks English and Spanish.

Age Restrictions
There is no upper age limit, as long as you are riding fit and healthy. The minimum riding age is 10 years old (competent riders only), accompanied by an adult.

Travel Insurance
It is mandatory to take a travel insurance for this trip! If you come from Europe, you should bring the European Health card, this gives you access to Spanish health care.

Itinerary



Sample Itinerary - subject to changes

The following itinerary describes the route for the Spring North Transhumance.

The following is a sample itinerary but please note that changes are possible due to weather and other circumstances.
The van support is always close to the group with the luggage, so it's not necessary to carry things on the horse. The group meets the van at tapas time, lunch time, or in any other moment if necessary (for shoeing a horse, take rain coats, etc).

Day 1 (Saturday): Arrival in Trujillo
Meet at Madrid airport for 3:00 pm and transfer to Trujillo (2.5 hours’ drive). We visit the spectacular town of Trujillo before our welcome dinner at the hotel.
Meals included: Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Trujillo

Day 2 (Sunday): Herguijuela to Jaraicejo 
Transfer from Trujillo town to Herguijuela (10 min) where the horses are and distribution of horses. We go riding through the “Cañada Real”. Lunch is taken in the countryside with excellent paella cooked by us at the spot. In the afternoon beautiful riding crossing Almonte river with its impressive medieval bridge to Jaraicejo.
Night and dinner in very nice rural Inn.
Riding 5 hours
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Torrecillas de la Tiesa

Day 3 (Monday): Jaraicejo to Casas de Miravete 
Departure after breakfast, we ride in the morning in opened countryside trough Dehesas and beautiful landscape. Good trots and canters in the morning. Lunch in the countryside. In the afternoon a short ride to Casas de Miravete, a small village in a spectacular enclave in the Monfrague National Park. Dinner at local bar with good local food.
Riding 6 hours
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Casas de Miravete

Day 4 (Tuesday): Casas de Miravete to Navalmoral de la Mata
Riding in the morning along the “Cañada Real”, with impressive views of Sierra the Gredos in front of us. Crossing the Albalat Bridge (16th century) over the Tagus River, one of the important public works built during the reign of His Catholic Majesty Charles I of Spain and V of Germany with a great shield in relief of Emperor Charles with the double eagle. Pic-nic by the Tagus river reservoir water. Riding in the afternoon to Navalmoral de la Mata.
Riding 7 hours
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Navalmoral de la Mata

Day 5 (Wednesday): Navalmoral de la Mata to Las Ventas de San Julian
Departure after breakfast, we follow the Cañada Real in a flatter area with good trots and canters. Here the Cañada has an unusual wide of 200m. Horses spend the night at Las Ventas de San Julian. Transfer for dinner and night at beautiful Rural Inn in Calzada de Oropesa.
Riding 6 hours
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Calzada de Oropesa

Day 6 (Thursday): Las Ventas de San Julian to Navalcán
Departure after breakfast. We continue following the Cañada Real. The landscape changes. We ride along the reservoir close to Navalcan with beautiful views of the Gredos Mountains. Dinner and night at lovely rural Inn in Navalcán.
Riding 6 hours
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Navalcán

Day 7 (Friday): Navalcán to Mombeltrán
We change to take another Cañada to go to the Gredos Mountains. Beautiful views! Toledo province is to our left and we cross to Avila province in Castilla y Leon.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Mombeltrán

Day 8 (Saturday): Mombeltrán to Navarredonda de Gredos
After breakfast, we start to climb the Roman Road with more than two thousand years old, very well preserved. It was used for the Roman armies and the transport of metals crossing the Sierra de Gredos through the abrupt mountain pass Puerto del Pico. Later on, it worked as a cattle drive in the medieval time. Despite the passage of centuries, is still in good condition. We ride on the Roman road up the mountains with amazing views, crossing the picturesque mountain village: Cuevas del Valle.
When we get the Puerto del Pico, at the end of the Roman road, the landscape changes: beautiful mountainous landscape. Lunch at local restaurant at Puerto del Pico, after lunch riding in very different landscape, green mountain pastures with stonewalls and the highest peaks of Gredos in front of us to finish the amazing horse riding trip.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at a Hotel in Navarredonda de Gredos  or Hoyos del Espino

Day 7 (Sunday): Departure
Breakfast at the hotel and departure from Navarredonda de Gredos at 10 am, to be at Madrid Airport around 12.30 pm. Please, do not book flights before 2 p.m. All riders will be transferred at the same time, if any rider needs to arrive Madrid before, we can arrange special transfer at extra cost.
Meals included: Breakfast


Non-Riders
Non-riding companions are welcome to join this trip. They can travel in the support car and join in meals, dinners and others activities, or if they wish, they can rent a car and move on their own, joining the group for dinner.

Rates and Dates for Transhumance Trails

Dates Note:

Other Info
Meeting: Navarredonda de Gredos
Airport: Madrid
Transfer: Madrid airport

Climate:
                                            Cáceres‎ area