Browsing Desert Riding

Desert Riding certainly has its attractions.  One of them is that the footing is often favorable for a fast paced ride.  Another is that desert country is sparsely populated with few fences and little traffic which has denied many places to horsemen in modern times.

Austere desert landscape can also be very beautiful and since it is usually away from big population centers it has clear air and long views.  Another big advantage is that you can usually leave your raincoat at home and count on sunny weather.  Many a trip in Ireland has been dampened by incessant rain which is unlikely in the Kalahari.

Perhaps the Sahara in southern Morocco best personifies the classic image most of us have of a true desert ride with camels and towering, golden sand dunes. The spectacular windblown sand dune of Erg Chebbi near one of your camps rises 500 ft. above the desert floor. This was the southernmost point reached by Roman civilization and inhospitable treeless desert stretches over a thousand miles to the south. This is the kind of country where Arab and Berber horses had their origins so your  horses are well suited to carry you through this rugged and beautiful countryside.

A quintessential desert ride is from central Namibia to the sea covering about 250 miles in nine days of riding.  It is the most demanding of Equitours rides from the point of view of stamina.  This area is so harsh and arid that there is little game, but one does see the occasional oryx which can survive for long periods without water.  The Kalahari ride  traverses flat salt pans which used to be a huge lake.  Now it provides wonderful footing for long, relaxed canters.  It is not as harsh and arid an area as the Ride to the Sea and one often sees wildlife like wildebeest, hartebeest, zebra and ostrich which migrates through seasonally.

The Nagaur Fair ride in northwest India takes you across part of the Thar Desert which stretches on into Pakistan.  The start of the ride is more camel than horse country and riders can visit the National Camel Research Station in Bikaner at the start of trip.  There are oases on the itinerary and somehow a few local people manage to grow meager crops here and there.  In some places wells used for irrigation have had to be abandoned as the water table sinks from overuse of the aquifers from modern pumping techniques.  Nights are spent in tented camps and there is a vehicle accompanying with showers and toilets. The local Marwari horses will give you some brisk canters on the sandy tracks used mostly for camel carts.

In the US the Navajoland Ride certainly qualifies as a desert ride.  Agriculture is only possible with irrigation and water for that purpose is scarce.  This area is the former home of the highly developed Anasazi culture which disappeared a thousand years ago, probably due to climate change which reduced the available water supply.  The terrain here is often too rocky for fast paces, but stream beds like the Canyon de Chelly often offer good spots for cantering.

 

Choose from 11 equestrian vacations related to the activity Desert Riding

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Mongol Horse Trails

This well-designed trek introduces a concept of practical and desirable travel. You will live with the horses and the camel carts in the great outdoors, choosing the life of... Read more

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Skeleton Coast

This is a newer itinerary for our well established partners in Namibia. They are pleased to be able to offer this route that combines both the coast and wild... Read more

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Morocco Sand Dune Ride

Ride on the edge of the Sahara, from Ourzazate, Morocco. Pass through the sand dunes which lend their name to this ride, as well as farmland. Ride Barb-Arabian stallions... Read more

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Three Park Spectacular

The Three Park Spectacular Ride is on the border between Utah and Arizona and covers three of the most famous national parks in the world. This allows you to... Read more

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Ride through the Grand Canyon on this horseback riding trip in Arizona

Grand Canyon Winter Pastures

The Winter Pastures horseback riding vacation will take you far below the remote North Rim of the Grand Canyon into a microclimate which is sheltered from the cold and... Read more

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Ride to the Sea

This is an endurance horseback riding tour in Namibia through a region of overwhelming beauty and isolation. It crosses 400 kms of the world's oldest desert from central Namibia... Read more

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Damaraland Trail

The gifts of Damaraland are many. The famous fauna and flora, elephant & rhino, Welwitschia mirabilis, and the Skeleton Coast with its disintegrating shipwrecks all make for an adventurous... Read more

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Royal Cities Ride

Ride through a rich and beautiful country, to the very historic heart, a heart that is still very much alive and beating. You will see the Roman ruins of... Read more

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Tata-Akka

This ride starts from the desert town of Tata in the south of Morocco. You spend a full two weeks exploring this area, riding in a southwestern loop from... Read more

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