Spend your days riding through Mexico's countryside, exploring lakes, meadows and villages. Each day's ride lasts five to six hours. Horses stay at the end point, but riders return by car to a small Mexican colonial-style lodge complete with a garden and several hammocks. Select guest rooms feature fireplaces or hot tubs. Enjoy views of the patio, garden or swimming pool from your room. The package includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and three alcoholic drinks each day.
Choose from several rides, such as the Cooking Fiesta Ride, which mixes trail riding with afternoon Mexican cooking lessons, or the Historic Routes Ride, where experienced riders trudge along challenging trails steeped in history. From November through March, visitors will see the Monarch Butterflies that fly to Mexico for hibernation.
The trip accommodates both English and Western riders.
Three hours south of Paris in the Bourbonnais region, a 16-bedroom, 19th-century castle sits on a 100-acre estate outfitted with a swimming pool, sauna, hot tub and fish pond. Spend three days and two nights at the castle, riding for three hours daily. One morning, refine your dressage or jumping skills with a two-hour lesson. Later, let loose while exploring the castle estate for a one-hour trail ride. On the third day, enjoy a three-hour trail ride through the surrounding forests. Only English riders accommodated.
Each of the modernized castle's 16 bedrooms comes equipped with a private bathroom, phone and satellite TV. Modem hook-ups are available for Internet access. Meals are included, although guests pay extra to try wine from the 3,000-bottle cellar.
Book a six-night trip with five guided trail rides along Australia's Sunshine Coast off Queensland and the surrounding countryside, which varies from rainforest to bush. Off-horse activities include swimming, fishing, golf and surfing. Visitors might explore the nearby Australia Zoo and world's largest sand island, Fraser Island, during free time. The package includes meals, and riders can choose English or Australian stock saddles.
Spend two nights at the Amamoor Lodge, where rooms feature handmade bedspreads and wood-paneled walls. Spend the second two nights at The Left Bank, a bed-and-breakfast that features a cafe and gallery. For the last two nights, enjoy either Noosa Springs at the Noosa Blue Resort or the Plantation, an estate situated on 21 acres surrounded by the Eucalyptus State Forest.
