1388 Horse riding

Hi,

There is a distinct lack of animals in Puglia in general ( running joke here on the forum !!) and I have never seen anyone on a horse ( certainly not round San Vito dei Normanni and we have been out and about the area generally , quite a bit !)

I also wanted to take up a bit of gentle trekking ( providing they had a large slow friendly horse- been years since I rode !!!). The main problem is there aren't really any open spaces . Everywhere is taken up with Olive Groves and growing produce...we have even had trouble finding somewhere to let the dog have a good run other than on our land and have resorted to one of the large grassy carparks down by the beach.

Torre Guaceto has a fair bit of dune type areas which would be ideal for a bit of trekking but it seems to be a national park and I have never seen any horse riding.

Let me know if you find anything.

[QUOTE=alex and lyn]Hi,

There is a distinct lack of animals in Puglia in general ( running joke here on the forum !!) and I have never seen anyone on a horse ( certainly not round San Vito dei Normanni and we have been out and about the area generally , quite a bit !)

I also wanted to take up a bit of gentle trekking ( providing they had a large slow friendly horse- been years since I rode !!!). The main problem is there aren't really any open spaces . Everywhere is taken up with Olive Groves and growing produce...we have even had trouble finding somewhere to let the dog have a good run other than on our land and have resorted to one of the large grassy carparks down by the beach.

Torre Guaceto has a fair bit of dune type areas which would be ideal for a bit of trekking but it seems to be a national park and I have never seen any horse riding.

Let me know if you find anything.[/QUOTE]
Horses/riding and the rest is a very expensive business,just buying and feeding them/housing and looking after them is as well.you answered your own question to some extent the animals are INSIDE and the stuff growing in the fields.nevertheless apart from those destined to be eaten there is bound to be a maneggio (look in the yellow pages or ask someone in the town where one is)however as the horses belong to the maneggio (riding school-stables) you would always be accompanied as people would go where they shouldn't or worse might steal the horses (maybe to eat them?) so " free riding" as you probably knew it is probably difficult to find anywhere not just in Puglia..good luck.

There is a stables just outside Rosa Marina, I think on the road from Ostuni to Rosa Marina the SP19.

We stayed at Masseria La Rascina which is on that road and the stables was nearby. If you telephoned Leonie the owner (Australian) I'm sure she would give you the telphone number of the stables. Can also recomend La Rascina as an excellent place to stay - we booked through Discovery. She has a website which will give her telephone number.

Discovery also recommend another stables near Torre Canne called Centro Ippico Parco di Mare, but have no contact details.

Good luck - love to see you on a horse Lyn!

Found this link when I was doing a search for beaches and kept it because I used to ride loads when I was younger and thought it would be nice when in Puglia. Have no idea what they are like.[b][url="http://www.equitazionealtosalento.it/"][color=#800080]www.equitazionealtosalento.it/[/color][/url][/b]

It would have to be sturdy wouldn't it ..or is that an understatement !!! :D

Last time I rode anything was in Egypt at the Red sea..on a camel...now that was an experience......we walked all along the beach..just me, camel and the handler...then he decided to pop into a bar for a chat with his mate (the handler , not the camel !) ......so he tied the camel to a post ( with me on it ! :eek: ) and disappeared for about 10 minutes....camel not happy and kept trying to sit down ...luckily there wasn't room !! In the end I yelled blue murder and he came back and said....what is the problem !!!! :rolleyes:

Nothing to do with horses ..but it still makes me laugh :D

[QUOTE=alex and lyn]

Last time I rode anything was in Egypt at the Red sea..on a camel..[/QUOTE]

Bet you really got the hump :o

Sorry but it was irresistible

....corny...but i liked it...... :D

Thanks for the info, :)

My partner had the idea for setting up a trekking centre, mainly for tourists, but by what everyone is saying it is a question of decent land, and areas to ride.

Horses i know cost alot, and are a way of life, have had several in my past, and competed to quite a high standard. :o

Would u say that there may be a market for a trekking centre in the puglia region? if so which area would be best? the info you guys are giving me is great and i am just throughing some ideas up in the air for suggestions, if not it will look like i will get my own and do it that way, when we found a suitable property. As some of you guys have the best advive as you are currently in the region. :D

Cheers

Gill :)