In 1996 the coin landed on ‘heads’; heads was Ecuador. After a glorious holiday -completely taken by the country, I left my life in Paris and moved out to Ecuador.
Having worked for a historic Hacienda turned into a country hotel and then a new travel company offering tours in several Latin American countries, I set up ‘Ride Andes’.
This photo is of Annemieke, bred in Ecuador in 2001 totally by accident (over a cup of Ecuadorean coffee or glass of Chilean wine we can fill you in on the story). With her Arab spirits, she is still adding excitement to the rides.
Sam was one of the first horses Sally trained, having switched from borrowing and buying proven trail horses to purchasing youngsters. This is Sam’s first major outing into the wild grasslands of the Andean ‘paramo’ of Ecuador, 2003. He was ridden through rough backcountry -sometimes at speed- on a dressage saddle, the only thing that would fit him then!
In 2003 we also started branching out through South America and are proud to say we have now put several hidden gems of the continent onto the equestrian world map.
Our ethos is always the same: journeying through incredible landscapes on happy, healthy horses. Following exploratory trips to little known Uruguay, we had a big group & a long waiting list for our first ride along the pristine coastline. Riders can now choose between a variety of tours – as always, scheduled departures available and made to measure private trips.
2004 saw the first ride way down south, in Patagonia, Chile. Let us know if you would like to hear about the new southern Patagonia ride just across the border, in Argentina.
In 2005, our first Andes Crossing ride Chile to Argentina took place in northern Patagonia, combining remote and no camping! Plus, exciting river crossings thrown in.
Fast forwarding on to 2013 and, at last, we found the ranches and routes we wanted for a wildlife rich safari in the Pantanal, Brazil. 2016 saw the addition of a two region ride in Colombia, of course, one part had to be deep in the coffee region, a lot of fun to be had with the very dedicated local guides. These past few months we have been busy training horses and investigating new routes at our Ecuador base.