Answer The Call Of The Wild
We curate the world's best horse riding experiences.
(5)
Pakistan 🇵🇰
50% mobile safari, following in the hoofprints of Alexander the Great and Bucephalus
30% stay at one of Pakistan’s finest private country homes
20% exploration of dazzling Lahore, the cultural hub of Pakistan
A totally immersive safari with the best of everything in Pakistan.
There is nothing else like this safari ❤️🔥
Let’s Ride
Comment the Pakistani flag (🇵🇰) or Pakistan and we’ll DM you all the info
Spain | 23 - 27 October 2024 | €1,500
We have saddles on our short break in Spain this October
+ Four nights in a 4* hotel
+ Fast riding, cantering often
+ Well trained, sporty horses
+ Optional jumping
+ Dreamy three course picnic lunches
+ Restaurant dinners with wine included
+ Tour of the city and palace garden
+ Fairytale feeling
This is such a fun ride for experienced riders - it has that carefree feeling of riding out with your own horse, popping over logs and cantering where possible. Except you have someone popping up every 90 minutes to hand you a glass of wine!
You must be a decent rider, able to ride in an English saddle in light seat. You likely can ride almost any horse and are relaxed and confident.
If you’ve only ever ridden in a school, this isn’t the one for you. We do have the perfect ride for you through - check out our four day short break in Gredos, Spain.
Comment 🏰 or Segovia and we’ll DM you all the info 🩷
Let’s ride!
Let’s talk tips 💵
About 50% of riders on safari don’t come from tipping cultures and so tipping can be a little uncomfortable. When to tip? How much is polite? Do I tip the individuals or the main guide?
In the safari world it is very common to tip. Of course, it’s discretionary, and low service should be rewarded with little or no tip, but if you had an amazing time and were well looked after tipping is the right thing to do.
Typically you should budget between £10 and £25 per day per rider. We will always give you guidance on how much to tip before you leave on holiday. It will come down to culture and economy of your destination so every ride is different.
For all of our tips on how, when and who to tip, comment 📝 to read our latest journal post 👇
❤️
Horsing around in Pakistan 🇵🇰
Tent pe***ng, pony cart driving, hunting, a three day mobile riding safari, polo, swimming across rivers… riding in Pakistan is loaded with ways to enjoy life with horses.
Add on a visit from the snake charmers, qawalli performers, fire dancers, a tour of Lahore Old Fort and a Tuk Tuk tour of the bazaar and your mind will be completely blown by the time you’re on the plane headed home.
This is a holiday that will take a lifetime to process. There’s just nothing else like it 🇵🇰
Read our field report from our trip here in February (link in bio)
For dates and prices comment the Pakistani flag (🇵🇰) and we’ll send you the details in the DMs
The season suns from October to March 🗓️
Let’s ride ❤️🔥
Photos by
Here at Black Saddle we’re for riders who can actually ride and have horse sense. We’re a place to meet like minded people. We choose the sportiest options for our safaris. We partner with owner guided outfitters to avoid that riding school feel. We add comfort wherever possible.
We’re not about clipping the ticket and selling as many rides as possible. Think of us like a members club. So, it doesn’t matter how brave you are, how many lessons you’ll take before a ride, if you don’t have the skills when you apply we just can’t let you on the ride. We don’t want our experienced guests be slowed down.
We’re all searching for the wild, fast and free feeling with the horses. We want to share an adventure swapping stories with others who have lived big lives, who know themselves.
Nothing makes us happier than seeing our guests travelling together again post-safari, on or off the horse! At the end of the day it’s all about the people you spend time with.
There are loads of agencies that have loads of rides for all abilities. Start there and come find us when you’re happy on almost any horse in open countryside 🐎
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Los Potreros 🇦🇷
A working black angus cattle farm, Los Potreros has been the home of the Bagg family for three generations. The landscape feels a bit like Dartmoor with rolling hills, rocky outcrops and grass in all directions.
You ride twice a day here, alternating between criollo horses the gauchos use for working cattle and gaited pasos, which were your host Kevin’s father’s great passion.
Accommodation is in roomy cottages around the main house which makes for excellent privacy and a real feeling of calm and serenity.
Between December and February the broodmares are kept in the garden around the house to have their foals.
A blissful oasis in the Sierra Chicas, a one hour drive from Cordoba airport.
Beginners are looked after too, making this a lovely romantic break or honeymoon spot.
Open August to April, arrive any time with a three day minimum.
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Our final Celestial Mountains tour departs this week. We’re thrilled to have eight more guests see this country that we love so much 🇰🇬
We’ve spent much of today planning for 2025, finding dates and even talking about a new route. This one might include a trip to Uzbekistan too. We could knock off two Silk Road ‘Stans and see some spectacular parts of Central Asia. Watch this space!
Comment the Kyrgyz flag (🇰🇬) and we’ll send you info on riding here 🐎
Pakistan 🇵🇰 Our most mind-blowing safari. Field Notes will be released this Sunday. Find out what it’s really like to ride in this fertile land, in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, with a prominent Pakistani family of artists, businessmen and politicians.
There is nothing like this safari anywhere in the world ✨
Sign up for our newsletter with the link in bio or watch here on Sunday night for a link to our write up from February 🇵🇰
Most photos by
Six days in the highlands of Iceland with 80 horses ❄️
https://black-saddle.com/landmannalaugar
Crossing the Andes - Northern Patagonia, Chile to Argentina 🇨🇱🇦🇷
We’re looking for a male rider to join our small team of six to cross the Andes from 26 Jan to 05 Feb 2025. Help us test this new ride for ?
You must be an experienced rider, comfortable at all paces, able to go with the flow as we try this ride for the first time. Just one saddle for a male rider, as you’ll be sharing accom with another guy.
RIDE GUIDE
10 days of riding
4 nights in tent camps
3 nights in cabins
2 nights in mountain lodge
1 night beside natural hot springs
2 nights with hot tubs
Luggage in Chile on packhorse - on support truck in Argentina
6 riders
It’s not on the website but DM us and we’ll email you all the info.
€4,785
26 Jan to 05 Feb
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Still in need of a summer holiday? We have two options for you from 24 - 31 August 2024. They’re completely different, which you would choose?
1) 7 nights in Sicily, Italy 🍕| €1,900 | Ride from the Madonie mountains to the crator of Mount Etna volcano. Sleep in country B&Bs and pretty historical boutique hotels. La Dulce Vita! 🍋 Just one saddle remaining.
2) 7 Nights in Botswana 🐘 | £6,860 | Some of the fastest and freest riding with wildlife anywhere in the world. See huge herds of buffalo, giraffe, elephant, zebra, wildebeest and much more. Amazing camp accommodaition real showers and flushing loos, a pool and a bar that’s always open. Macatoo is next level amazing. Highly, highly recommended! 🐆
Which would you choose?
As usual both rides are for advanced riders only ✨
Comment 🍕 or ‘Botswana’ to be sent all the info 🐎
Pakistan! Are there any scary hedges to jump? Can riders join if they’ve never done it before? 🇵🇰
You’ll ride to hounds twice on your Nurpur holiday. It’s optional both times. If it’s not your thing you can play beach polo or go for a hack.
There aren’t any hedges but you’ll jump ditches like in the first photo - Irish hunters will feel at home! You’ll ride through orange groves and through farmer’s fields.
First timers are welcome! You can choose how gung-ho you go. Hang at the back and see how it all works before getting into the thick of it, or, if you’re a trail hunting legend you can ride up with the field master.
You must be a confident rider to join this safari as the horses are forward polo ponies. You should be confident and in control on a thoroughbred, galloping in open country with other horses. I.e. you should have experience bridging your reins and going all out!
Comment the Pakistani flag (🇵🇰) and we’ll send you all the info ✨
Send this to a hunting friend who is looking for a great adventure!
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
All but the first two photos by
We’re back from the Celestial Mountains of Kyrgyzstan with an amazing group that told our guide at Song Kol ‘it looks those girls were born on a horse’ 💪🇰🇬
Pics from Chong Kemin National Park - the Switzerland-looking part of the trip. The second half feels like the central Asian Steppe.
Let’s ride ❤️🔥
2025 dates out next month. Comment 🇰🇬 to be sent the info. Fill in a rider profile to be added to the waitlist. Three group in June, July and August in 2025. Small groups of eight. You must be an experienced rider, confident at all paces, able to ride almost any horse.
We had a group of eight riding in Segovia on a road test ride and our founder Emma’s birthday at the end of May and it was bliss! 🇪🇸
Fast riding, cantering whereever possible, our hotel was beautiful and in town, so we could explore in the evenings, every 90 minutes we would come across the gazebo or a local cafe for an appetitive, the wine flowed, we visited the 2000 year old Roman aqueduct, the royal palace and stayed in a converted monestary.
Our horses were lovely, no ordinary trail horses, they had personality and all could jump. We popped over a few logs in forests and Ana took us to the cross country course on our last day for a zip around.
This is the perfect short break. Just one hour from Madrid and transfers to the airport are included.
The best thing of all though is the price - just €1,500 all inclusive or €1,650 for your own room for all four nights.
DM Segovia or 🏰 and we’ll send you all the info 👇
For anyone wondering if they have what it takes to ride in Africa, this is the perfect, fun test. You ride in English saddles, cantering often, so it’s excellent practice ride. That’s how you justify to yourself / partner anyway 😉
Join our Black Saddle dates:
27 August to 01 Sept 2024
23 - 27 Oct 2024
This is a great one for a group of friends to book privately. If you have a girls trip, a birthday or a hens party coming up get in touch and we can organise a private ride for you with a min of six riders.
You must be an advanced rider for this one because of the fitness of the horsss and the speed in open country. Life long riders, trail hunters, horse owners, eventers, you’ll love it!
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Which kind of rider are you?
When riding in the Mara it’s always funny when tourists in jeeps are transfixed on a herd of Ellie’s… and then we come riding by and blow their mind. Who would be crazy enough to ride a horse through the wild here!?
The cameras turn to you and 📸📸📸. How many times have we shown up on someone’s family holiday slide show back in Nebraska somewhere? 😂
Photos by
You can shock some Land Rocer jockeys too! Comment Kenya or 🦁 and we’ll DM you all the info ❤️🔥
Nurpur Noon | Pakistan 🇵🇰
By far our sportiest safari, with a private polo pitch, riding with the and gung-ho riding across punjab. This safari is in a league of its own.
With the UK election coming up there may be one more reason to visit Pakistan as trail hunting is set to be banned.
The armed guards are part of the influential Noon’s personal protection team, which you avail of while on safari. Our rides take part in the middle of the country in quiet, rural punjab, away from the borders, you’ll see few others apart from villagers and farmers but we have the security with us if ever needed.
Ideal for adventurous, gung-ho riders that love getting off the beaten path.
Two spaces left 09-16 October 2024 with our founder Emma or join us in January:
07 - 14 Jan 2025
21 - 28 Jan 2025
There’s a direct BA flight from London to Islamabad and you fly Qatar home from Lahore. We’ll suggest recommended flights for each departure and help you organise your visa.
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Most photos by
Pakistan - half sporting holiday, half luxury manor stay 🇵🇰
For three days you’ll ride in the footsteps of Alexander the Great across the Jhelum river to the Salt Range Mountains, playing beach polo, dancing to the evening entertainment and having an all-round adrenaline filled safari… but then..
You arrive back to the Noon estate, the stately home with its peaceful courtyard with a rose-petal-filled water fountain at its centre. You’ll have your own ensuite oasis - no need to room-share. You’ll relax by the walled pool, stroll through the rose garden, or just relax on the chaise lounge on the lawn as spotted mini ponies graze nearby.
This ride really is the best of both worlds.
The secret to a great safari isn’t the horses (they’re a given), it’s not the landscape. It’s not the food. It’s the people. This ride has incredible, fun, wonderful guides, the Noon family are so welcoming and have endless stories to share about their incredible countr.
We can’t recommend this safari more highly.
Join Black Saddle founder Emma here from 09-16 October 2024 or ride in January. We have two exclusive dates:
07-14 Jan 2025 (very popular dates, get in quick)
21-28 Jan 2025
Let’s ride ❤️🔥
Quick! is going to be at Offbeat in the Maasai Mara Kenya this 27 July to 03 August. There are saddles available to join (but probably not for long).
DM us and we’ll send you all the info.
Jumping the table is optional *** 😉
Castles, excellent horses, gourmet picnic lunches, long restaurant meals, cheese, wine and sleeping it all off in hotels 🏰
Ride here, Chateau Chambord, the biggest castle in the Loire Valley with the largest walled garden in Europe.
We have saddles on our Luxury Loire itinerary from 15-21 September. Bon vivants can apply with the link in our bio 🥖
Our guide on What to Wear on Safari - live now in the link in bio 🐆
We share where to find our favourite loose breeches, khaki safari jackets, smart gilets with pockets to hold everything you need on horseback, character shirts and blouses, hand-made saddle bags, woolen ponchos and more. We’ve revealed it all in the link in our bio.
Some of our favourites have discount codes with up to 25% off.
What did we miss?
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Our guide on where to shop for your safari 🦒
https://black-saddle.com/journal/what-to-wear-on-safari
New: Segovia at a Canter 🏰
A perfect four night short-break in Spain 🇪🇸
An easy short-break for experienced, confident riders in stunning Segovia in the heart of Spain. You’ll canter often with optional jumping, enjoy long lunches and three course restraurant dinner. There’s a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure too that we won’t spoil here ✨
Segovia is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with medieval city walls, a huge 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct, a medieval heart and renaissance castles. There’s a fairy-tale feeling - the castle on the hill was even a model for the famous Disney castle.
Fly to Madrid ✈️ All inclusive from airport pick up to drop off.
€1,500 per person sharing or you can have your own room for €1,650.
DATES
22 - 26 JUNE 2024
28 AUG - 01 SEPT 2024
23 - 27 OCTOBER 2024
Max 8 riders. All exclusive dates.
Click the link in our bio for more information or visit black-saddle.com/segovia-short-break
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Calling all cowgirls and boys - The Kilimanjaro Safari - Tanzania 🇹🇿
Join us this 15 - 23 September as we speed across Arusha National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro behind us, giraffe to our left and zebra to our right. This is a wild adventure, an old-school mobile safari, living in the wild (with an open bar and thre course meals).
Fly into Kilimanjaro airport and set off on this incredible wildlife safari in the Arusha National Park with Africa’s highest mountain as a backdrop.
Gallop with giraffe, ride with herds of zebra, see leopards, lion, spotted hyenas, waterbucks, dik-diks, duikers, bush pigs, red duikers, warthogs, hippos, the list goes on!
US$6,550
7 nights
Comment a 🐘 or DM you email and we’ll send you all the info 💌
Let’s Ride ❤️🔥
Luxury Riding in the Loire Valley 🇫🇷
Explore the renaissance chateau of the Loire Valley, once the home of French Kings.
Highlights:
🐎 Magnificent riding from castle to castle
🐎 Stay in the finest hotels in the area
🐎 Exclusive access to ride up to Beauregard Castle
🐎 Refined picnics in castle grounds and gourmet dinners
🐎 Fast riding through the royal hunting forests
🐎 Swimming pools at some hotels
🐎 Tours of the beautiful castles and gardens
You’ll stay in Relais and Chateau hotels. Visit the kennels of Cheverny Castle, where they hunt twice a week. You’ll visit the resting place of the greatest renaissance man of all - Leonardo da Vinci.
You’ll be able to compare Chaumont sur Loire and Chenonceau, castles exchanged between Catherine de Medici, the queen of France, and her husband’s mistress. Decide for yourself which woman kept the better castle.
The perfect, relaxed ride for riders that prefer beautiful scenery and very comfortable accommodation.
6 nights / 4 days riding
€3,410 per person + €798 for your own room
Exclusive Black Saddle departure:
15-21 September 2024
Solo riders, couples, friends all welcome
We can arrange private groups of this ride, please do ask for availability.
Let’s ride ❤️🔥
Read our guide on where to ride in June:
https://black-saddle.com/june-rides
Photo of our partner Hekluhestar’s home lodge in Iceland by on IG 🇮🇸
This is our fastest safari! A Mad Max endurance ride across the Namib Desert in Namibia. Sleeping in bed rolls under the stars, eating game cooked over a fire, and covering incredible landscapes in the second least densely populated country in the world.
Pure bliss for confident riders.
https://black-saddle.com/namibia
Old school adventure on the Serengeti 🦒
Your guide Jo is originally from Sweden but Tanzania captured her heart 15 years ago and has never let go. Her safaris in the superb Serengeti and Arusha National Parks are sporty, fast, adventurous and so much fun.
We’ve had many of our most experienced safari addicts list her and her team as their favourite safari guides 💕
Jo also owns quite possibly the worlds most beautiful polo club, Nduruma, which has Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop. Arrive a couple of days before your safari for a lesson or a few chukkas 🐎
We have a Serengeti Migration safari this valentines days from the 13 - 21st February. You have a good chance of seeing the thousands of wildebeest and zebra making their way north to Kenya.
Solo travellers very welcome!
Ride Guide:
9 Days
US$8,585
Mobile Adventure Wildlife Safari
Elegant tented camp accom
Click the link in our bio to go to the webpage or DM your email and we’ll send you all the info 💌
We have two options for riding in beautiful Slovenia this season 🇸🇮
Spend four nights riding through the karst mountains of this beautiful country. Visit three castles, stay at a sweet ensuite B&B, western riding with some fast canters, pub meals with great accommodation for special diets.
This is one of our most popular rides for good reason. Slovenia is sweet and affordable - the entire safari (horses, guide, accom, all meals) is just €780.
Fly to Ljubljana. Transfers not included (€60 per car split between riders)
Dates:
30 Aug to 03 Sept (2 saddles)
Or: join an exclusive Black Saddle group
11-15 October 2023
For more details please click the link. Open only to members of our Facebook group. It’s free to join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blacksaddletravel
You must be an experienced rider, comfortable and in control while cantering in open spaces.
Let’s ride! 💫
What are you doing for New Years? Because you could be riding with zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and lions on the Masai Mara 🇰🇪
https://black-saddle.com/offbeat
Offbeat have opened a new date for their epic 7 night, 8 day mobile tented safari.
30 December 2023 - 06 January 2024
You’ll fly into the Mara and jump straight onto the roof of the landrover for a game drive to the hippo camp (a location from the film ‘Out of Africa’). You’ll see elephants, antelope, giraffe, staring right back at you - and that’s just the start.
You’ll stay in traditional Hemingway tents that make you feel transported to a different time. The tents are comfortable, with beautiful linen, hot water delivered each morning for a face wash, hot bucket showers - your boots are even polished for you each day.
Lunch and diner are long, lazy affairs with something new served for each meal. The bar is always open for your Bloody Mary in the morning, wine at lunch, G&T at dinner and whiskey by the campfire.
Your very well schooled horses will take you up close and personal to the wildlife (and away from other tourists vying for position in their open top viehicles).
A life affirming experience - and WHAT a way to welcome in 2024!!
The full itinerary is in the link in bio. Cost is $8,970 (2024 price is $9,870 so beat the rise). All inclusive safari from pick up at Nairobi Airport, return charter flights to the Mara, all accom, meals, drinks, riding, game drives, laundry, airstrip transfers, and AMREF flying doctors membership).
Solos welcome.
Let’s ride!!
https://black-saddle.com/offbeat
Photos by
El Rocio: Spain’s own Wild West town 🇪🇸
The roads are sand, the cathedral looks over a wetland filled with wild horses and flamingoes. The streets are lined with Jacaranda trees bursting with purple flowers. Locals dine al fresco with their horses tied to hitching posts outside the cafes. The sun is hot and the sky bright blue but there’s a fresh breeze coming off the Atlantic that cools you down as you enjoy your salad and seafood lunch.
A horse lovers dream.
We will have another small group of six riding with Kukutana in the autumn from the 24-27 October 🇪🇸
Find more information with the link in bio 💫
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Sometimes you need to head to the other side of the world to get a little peace 🇦🇷 https://black-saddle.com/jakotango
Fairytale horse riding in the Loire Valley in France - the location of real life Cinderella 🏰 https://black-saddle.com/luxury-loire
Ride in the Loire Valley, from royal castle to castle, visit Leonardo da Vinci’s final home, enjoy long picnic lunches and ornate French dinners. https://black-saddle.com/luxury-loire
Four night short break in Segovia, Spain 🏰 Our new ride is Spain showcases the world heritage city of Segovia at a canter. There is optional jumping too! Experienced riders will have the freedom of fast riding in wide fields, enjoy long lunches and aperitivo and tick off some of the best preserved historical sites in Spain, like the 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct and medieval castle that inspired the Disney castle. Ride Guide 🐎 + Stunning fortified city + Four nights in a 4* hotel + Fast riding, cantering often + Well trained, forward horses + Optional jumping + Dreamy three course picnic lunches + Restaurant dinners with wine included + Tours of city and palace gardens + Fairytale feeling Excellent value at just €1,500 all inclusive from pick up to drop off in Madrid. Your guide is local Ana, who has perfect English and worked as an architect before returning home to guide guests on the tours her father created. Ana is so knowledgeable and fun, you will love her ❤️ Click the link in our bio to be taken to the ride page or comment 🏰 and we’ll share all the info. This ride is suitable for experienced, confident riders used to cantering in light seat and able to control their horse galloping in a group in open country 🇪🇸 Let’s Ride ❤️🔥 #blacksaddle #spain #fastriding #segovia #shortbreak #horses #castle #disney
The beautiful Hekluhestar herd from our Lupine Ride in Iceland this June. https://black-saddle.com/iceland
The Hekluhester herd checking to see if the grass if better where we are! The most incredible five nights riding with 40 loose horses. You can ride here too: https://black-saddle.com/iceland
Dreamy sunrise at Song Kol Lake, Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 We have ONE final saddle available on The Great Silk Road Trek. This is a true expedition, a continuous trek traveling on horseback https://black-saddle.com/kyrgyzstan-great-trek + See thousands of free-roaming horses in natural herds + Visit the Eagle Hunters 🦅 + Swim with your horses in Song Kol Lake + Witness the traditional game of Kok-Boru played with the body of a dead goat! + See the Milky Way + Stay at a premium hotel in Bishkek Accommodation is a mix of tents, guesthouses (some with banya / saunas), yurts and finishing at a premium hotel in Bishkek. This is an offgrid adventure with intermittent access to bathrooms, showers and reception. This gets you back to nature! Our partners are French / Kyrgyz with a European mindset to horses. Our horses are gelded and are in great condition. Loose horses ride with the group as spares. Riding is slower, as you’re covering distance and climbing to great altitudes. The terrain is varied, we’ll ride through red canyons, alpine meadows filled with wildflowers, over snowy mountain passes, and arrive at Song Kol Lake, an alpine lake at 3200c above the tree line. We should see yaks grazing in the mountains, and we will defintiely see thousands of free horses released for summer grazing. Emma from Black Saddle will be on the first half of the ride. Dates are 02-19 July 2023 Fly into Bishkek Cost is €2,000 We’ll add you to our group WhatsApp once you are confirmed where we can get to know each other, compare flights and packing lists before the ride. This is a true adventure! Are you up for it? If you’re interested in joining next year share a rider form to join the waitlist 💫 https://black-saddle.com/kyrgyzstan-great-trek 🇰🇬 #kyrgyzstan #thegreattrek #ridingsafari #ridingholiday #horses #horse #blacksaddle #letsride #silkroad
Incredibly dreamy @reschio is an Italian castle, restored to the highest standards, with luxury suites, tranquil pools, lush conservatories to relax in and best of all - a stable of stunning Spanish horses. When Count and Countess Antonio Bolza found their peaceful holiday retreat in 1984, it was encircled by an overgrown and ramshackle estate. A decade later, Antonio sold his successful publishing company, invested all the proceeds in buying the surrounding 1,500-hectare Reschio estate. This incredible hotel is included in our list of the World’s Dreamiest Luxury Equestrian Resorts. https://black-saddle.com/journal/romantic-equestrian-resorts 🏰 #honeymoon #italy #dreamy #castle #reschio #letsride #blacksaddle #ridingholiday #horses
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