Jump to content

Good location to live for horse riding?


Recommended Posts

Hi!

Does anybody have an idea of good areas in this region for horse riding? We are going to move to France in @ 5 years time and are still a little unsure of the best place to move to? One of the main criteria is good riding as we do long distance endurance riding, so need access to really good riding for training.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would suggest in that case that you have several visits to France and see what suits your needs.Speaking about my region, Brittany is wild and woolly in lots of places but increasingly becoming more and more built upon and with new roads and train links being constructed all the time that going long distances at any one time may not be possible on horses without hitting some sort of development/town. I don't think you can look that far ahead at the moment,five years is a long time off and so many factors can change things especially financially and personally. Perhaps you should post this on other regions especially where it is less populated and developed and can offer more rugged terrain and see what forum members there can tell you.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

France is criss-crossed with sentiers de grande redonne, marked on maps as GR, some of which are better maintained than others. A book, written, I think in the 1980's, that you may find interesting, is White Horses over France by Robin Hanbury-Tenison. It traces his ride from the Carmargue to Roscoffe. I have read that someone is doing a similar ride at the moment, the horses to be given to Riding for the Disabled at the end.

regards,

SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where I am around Calvados is great for horsey types, they have a lot of horse factorys where they make horses for the likes of the Aga Khan (he bought me a race horse for Christmas, what song is that from?) Another advantage if you came here, is that you could pop in to our place for a cup a tea and a bit of marmalde on toast.

Get yourself over to Calvados me duck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I preferred his frozen orange juice, Val.

Re horses -

you could post this in Sports and Leisure (or whatever it's called) as you might pick up some info from readers of that forum. Also, ask the same question over on totalfrance.com because there are a lot of horsey people over there - possibly more so than over here on LF.

As Furrynix says (at least, I *think* Furrynix said) Calvados is horse country - certainly as far as breeding is concerned. So is next door Orne - maybe even more so. But as far as good riding possibilities away from roads, this probably varies a lot but perhaps is more readily available around the national parcs / forests? Or close to a beach?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

...And don't forget Manche!  We've got a national stud in Saint-Lo (can't remember his name off-hand )

I believe that something like 80-90% of France's thoroughbred horses are raised in Normandy, but not being a horsey person myself, I prefers the cows and donkeys, I don't know what riding at the standard Raymer is talking about is like round here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vire Gorges is a great place to ride-especially for the more adventurous-I have been up and down hills on horseback that no human or 4x4 could go-! I rent horses from the place on the road into Beny Bocage from the N175-the owner knows the best trails-There is some open country too- prepare for a sore bum the next day-!

If you need more info please e-mail me

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]Where do you go to my lovely by Peter Sarstedt I think.Always liked that song as it has a french atmosphere about it.[/quote]

That was it!

Where would anyone go when they are alone in their beds? There are not that many places you can go in your bed! Sometimes I go to the Asda thats open 24 hours in Bull Street, but no way would I want to look inside anyones head!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...