Riding Vacations can be either based at a center or they can move progressively from point to point. Obviously riders see more diverse country if they move from place to place, but staying in one place has several important advantages.
Packing every day takes quite a bit of time and it is easier to keep your things organized if you are just staying in one place. Usually also it is possible to get laundry done if you don’t have to move. Stationary centers can accommodate riding groups of mixed skills more easily because it isn’t necessary to cover a long distance moving at a good pace to get to the next night’s destination. This is the case on trips like the Saints & Warriors ride, where you stay in a renovated castle in Italy and ride out from there to new places each day. It is also possible to send out several rides with groups classed according to skills. The Bitterroot Ranch in Wyoming, located where the mountains and forests meet the open plains, offers many varied rides as well as instruction.
Often stationary riding centers specialize in a particular discipline like dressage where the main focus is on improving riding skills rather than travel on horseback. The Alcainca riding center in Portugal with its wonderful Lusitano stallions is an excellent example. The Epona Riding Center in Spain offers both instruction and trail riding as well as some good glimpses of Spanish culture. Castle Leslie in Ireland specializes in jumping and also gives instruction. The thousand acre estate has 300 jumps of many kinds including natural barriers.
