Mountain Farm with Trails and Tuition, Costa Rica
Horses
Type of horses:
Criollo and Ibero Americanos, some are mixed with Andalucian.
Nature of horses:
Well schooled, but lively and fun to ride, all with their individual personalities.
Height of horses:
From ponies to 16hh horses.
Weight limit:
80 kgs
Tack type:
The local saddle is used, which is a light-weight western style, all fairly new, in good condition and comfortable to use.
Weather
Current Conditions:
Partly Cloudy, 29 C
Forecast:
Sat - Isolated Thunderstorms. High: 28 Low: 16
Sun - Isolated Thunderstorms. High: 28 Low: 17
Full Forecast at Yahoo! Weather
(provided by The Weather Channel)
Pricing
Beach and Mountain Ride
Price of £1151 includes: Full board accommodation for 6 nights, all meals and drinks, riding and return airport transfers.
14 - 20 March (three spaces left): Special rate: £1098 per person
Costa Rican Horse programme
2010 Price:
£690 per person, six nights accommodation. These are complete packages, all riding and three meals a day.
Beginner
2010 Price:
£99 per person, per night. These are complete packages, including lodging and three meals a day.
Intermediate & Advanced riders
2010 Price:
£99 per person, per night. These are complete packages, including lodging and three meals a day.
Availability/Booking Form
Ride Description
Spend your days in a lush valley surrounded by majestic mountain views, where you may choose to spend time improving your skills and techniques with riding lessons, or trail rides through the beautiful rural countryside or combine your time between the two.
This holiday is ideal for those who long to combine a vacation with their skills and passion for horseback riding, here you will find the ideal destination. Located in the tropical mountains of Puriscal, Costa Rica, this farm based venue offers a variety of horses for different levels of riders. Your vacation can be customised to meet your specific needs and expectations.
These riding vacations are not only tailored to the experienced rider, but are also a good way for the beginner to achieve a solid foundation in the sport of horseback riding in a relatively short period of time.
More adventurous riders are invited to join the longer rides which take you from the mountain farm base through incredible countryside. You may choose from a variety of different destinations including a three day journey to the beach.
See Programmes.
Food & Accommodation
Here they offer a variety of options, these range from their retreat centre, which is a working farm with dairy goats and chickens, ducks and geese as well as horses. There is also the opportunity to stay in Costa Rican family homes.
The farm stay is perfect for those who want to experience the relaxed atmosphere of the farm, with the opportunity to get stuck in and involved in its day-to-day running.
Singles and couples can stay at the farm in a double occupancy room with a shared bathroom. Since they are located far from a town with restaurants they provide three meals a day and space to store your own personal snacks.
Self catering is also available for groups of four or more. Families can rent the house at the farm and cook for themselves in the spacious kitchen. The house can sleep six to eight persons depending on single and double occupancy. It is big enough for two families to share.
Teachers can bring a group of students, rent the farm house with all meals provided and have use of the facilities and horses. Teachers stay for free.
For the more adventurous, you might like to try out our tree house, located in the corner woods of the property. Beautiful but basic, bathroom facilities are only available in main farm house.
Maybe you wish to experience the local culture. Costa Rican home stays provide a cultural experience, here nearby neighbours will welcome you into their home and show you their way of life. They will provide you with your own room, single or double occupancy, a shared bathroom and three meals a day cooked Costa Rican style. This is a good way to practice your Spanish and to experience true Costa Rican hospitality.
There is also the option of a hotel resort, this offers the luxury of a beach front resort and is very popular with a friendly, relaxing and laid back atmosphere. This venue is a tropical paradise and offers something for anyone wanting to experience riding abroad, but who wished to stay in a luxury resort! The complex offers a pool with a sports bar for cold refreshing drinks or lunch, or the opportunity to sit in the hot tub. The hotel is a lively place and fun-filled: you can party in the very popular beach front bar, or by the famous pool side bar in the evenings or after hours.
Meals can be adjusted for vegetarians. Vegetarian food is served at the retreat centre, whilst meals in the Costa Rican homes are mostly beans and rice with a piece of meat or fish and a salad or cooked vegetables of some kind with a natural fruit juice. Breakfast is beans and rice with an egg and some fruit. Meals at the Jungle Lodge are more traditional and similar to what is served at the retreat centre, perhaps lasagne or a curry or something similar. Breakfast might be pancakes. or granola and yogurt with fruit or an omelette and toast.
Activities
Apart from activities on and around the Farm other activities include:
Visiting gourmet restaurants, fishing, para-sailing, night clubs, a day at the gym and spa, a night out at the Casino, flying boat tours, bars, jet skiing, surfing, a golf course and tours of the jungle.
Further Details
Languages: English and Spanish
Health requirements: Fit and healthy
Age limit: 12 years and above for trails with a good seat and accompanied by an adult. All ages welcome at the base
Tuition: Yes
Included: Transfers from and to the farm
Not included: Transfers to and from the Hotel
Travel Information
Delta, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic fly from the UK to Costa Rica. The nearest airport to the farm is Juan Santa Maria SJO which is about an hour away. Transfers are included in the cost.
Airport: Juan Santa Maria SJO
Programmes
Beach and Mountain Ride
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Unlike other trail rides in Costa Rica that take you from one tourist destination to the next, this ride takes you through the heart of Costa Rica. Travel down historic ox cart trails and through private farms traversing areas of Costa Rica that tourists never go. Be awed by the beauty of the pristine wilderness only reached by horseback, miles from any road access. This programme progresses through spectacular Costa Rican scenery from steep mountain terrain into tropical valleys with rivers and waterfalls, culminating on the coastal plains until finally arriving at the ocean. Riders spend about six hours in the saddle every day with breaks about every 2 to 3 hours. Example Guide Itinerary: Day one: Pick up from SJO airport and drive for one hour to Santiago de Puriscal nestled in the mountains above the bustling and crowded central valley of San Jose. Arriving at the Farm let freshly made juices and delicious vegetarian cuisine help you rest, relax and recover from your flight. Learn first hand about the principles of sustainability by experiencing a day in the life of our family farm. If you arrive early there are rivers and waterfalls nearby to explore. On this day you will also meet your horse. They will take the time to assure a good match between horse, rider and equipment. You will try them out in the ring to assure a perfect match for the journey. This is also when you will also examine detailed maps of the route, discuss the trip and answer any questions that the riders might have. Day two: After breakfast, leave the farm and travel through mountainous farm land. Ride through fields of sugar cane and visit a traditional "trapiche" which is where brown sugar is made. This is an age old practice of extracting the juice from the sugarcane with a large press and boiling it for many hours in cauldrons until enough liquid is evaporated to produce a delicious brown sugar. Traveling through a private farm you climb to 3600 feet where on a clear day you can see the ocean in the far distance. From this vantage point you begin to descend through villages where you have lunch at a local restaurant in the quaint village of Pedrenal at about 2800 feet. Continuing on after lunch to the settlement of Candelarita where you will spend the night with a local family. Here you will have the opportunity to experience true Costa Rican hospitality. Their bilingual guide will be present to facilitate a rich cultural exchange. Day three: In the morning you head out early towards the rainforest of Mastatal. The terrain is rugged, ascending and descending through the steep mountains, cross rivers and passing cascades and small waterfalls along the way. You arrive in the evening at Rancho Mastatal. Rancho Mastatal is an environmental learning and sustainable living center, retreat and lodge located in the last virgin rainforest of Costa Rica’s beautiful Puriscal County. Their lodging is unique, comfortable and gorgeous, blending beautifully with the property's forests . Day four: Heading out in the morning you follow dirt roads that lead you to Lanas. You travel through the Scarlet Macaw Ecological Corridor framed by the National Parks of Carara to the south and La Cangreja to the north. You spend the next night at the jungle lodge of VerdEnergia, where you will enjoy rustic luxury, sleep in comfortable, artistic rooms and enjoy great wholesome meals. You may choose to cool off from the tropical heat in the swimming pool. Day five: The ride takes you onward through rolling hills and tropical rain forest. You cross many small rivers where the horses enjoy a refreshing drink. The climate is warmer and more humid. Along the way macaws are spotted and tropical flowers and butterflies are in abundance. You spend the night in a locally owned guest house in the village of Bijagual. You eat your meals at a restaurant owned and operated by a women's cooperative. Day six: You begin the day climbing out of the Bijagual valley to a local restaurant with a 360 degree view. The delicious meals are cooked over a wood stove as many meals made in the countryside still are. Moving onward after lunch, rounding a corner you see the ocean, your final destination. You descend from 800 feet to the coastal plain, passing through teak plantations where we see even more scarlet macaws. You arrive at Hermosa beach in time to watch the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. Day seven: A day at the beach with time to relax. From here riders take a shuttle to SJO international airport which is about 2 hours away. You will have experienced the lifestyle of the rural Costa Rican farmer, a lifestyle that has changed little over the past few generations but is likely to change drastically with the coming generation. You will have heard from a group of women who are working to adapt to those changes. You will have met with some members of an intentional community involved in reforestation and bio-diesel production. You will have joined in the simple life of a family farm working toward self sustainability, you will have fully immersed yourselves in the powerful beauty of Costa Rica’s wild places and will have been confronted with the large-scale development that is putting that intricate ecosystem at risk. The people here hope that this will have been an inspiring journey full of educational possibilities, derived from first hand experiences. A journey that will change your perspective and possibly even one that can change your life. This itinerary can be tailored made to suit you and you can discuss your requirements on arrival when all your options are explained in detail. |
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| Minimum group size: | 2 |
| Maximum group size: | 8 |
| Ability description: | Riders need to be at an intermediate level because the terrain is steep and mountainous, especially on the first 2 days of the journey. |
| Type of ride: | Trail |
| Total riding time: | Six days, up to 6 hours per day. |
| Departure dates: | To suit between November and May |
| Pricing: | See Pricing |
Costa Rican Horse programme
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Learn about the Costa Rican horse culture and horses with a week long hands on adventure. Throughout the week you will learn about, ride and see some of Costa Rica's finest horses. Get to know the horses more personally by riding daily on their Ibero Americananas, Costaricence de Paso and Criollo horses. You can experience how the horses are still an integral part of farm life by helping a local farmer herd his cattle. You will be taken to several local stables in the Santiago de Puriscal Area where you can learn about the Costa Rican horse culture and see their training techniques first hand, For those interested in a deeper understanding of Costa Rican Horse Culture you can visit the well known stables and stud of Juan Carlos in Santa Ana. Juan Carlos is a respected Costa Rican Ibero Americana breeder. Experienced riders are often invited to ride some of his horses. |
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| Minimum group size: | 2 |
| Maximum group size: | 6 |
| Ability description: | Intermediate to experienced |
| Type of ride: | Based |
| Total riding time: | 6 days riding |
| Departure dates: | To suit |
| Pricing: | See Pricing |
Beginner
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Experience what it feels like to own your own horse and improve your riding skills. Meet the horses, try riding them in the arena and choose one to pair up with. You will start with a daily morning lesson and in the afternoon you can practice on your own. If you are not ready to do this alone yet, you can take a second less vigorous lesson instead of 'self' practice time. They can help you tack up and prepare for riding. Here they encourage you to spend time getting to know your horse and feel comfortable with him by hand grazing, bathing and grooming. They are always there to help you if you need it. After several lessons you may feel ready to ride out in the mountains surrounding the farm. You may substitute your afternoon lesson or practice time for a guided trail ride. You may choose to try different horses during your stay, to match you with one to suit your own personality. |
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| Minimum group size: | 1 |
| Maximum group size: | 8 |
| Ability description: | Beginner to Novice |
| Type of ride: | Based |
| Total riding time: | Flexible |
| Departure dates: | To suit |
| Pricing: | See Pricing |
Intermediate & Advanced riders
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Share your vacation with an equine friend. Ride daily as you like, on your own schedule, within the limits of your horses health and well being. Riders must have two supervised rides, one in the arena and one on the trail prior to riding alone. Practicing jumping in the arena must be scheduled with a member of staff for your safety and to replace poles. All lessons are scheduled at breakfast. When you are exploring the trails in the area they require you to have a guide on first time trail. Explored trails can be ridden alone, with a radio or with a companion. Please let us know your riding experience at the time of enquiry, so that they can determine your level, this will also help them pair you up with your best match. At the end of each day, you can relax by the nearby waterfall, enjoy a variety of farm animals or stop in at El Mirador del Rio for a refreshment and have a night of music, performed by local musicians. |
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| Minimum group size: | 1 |
| Maximum group size: | 8 |
| Ability description: | Intermediate to Advanced |
| Type of ride: | Based |
| Total riding time: | Flexible |
| Departure dates: | To suit |
| Pricing: | See Pricing |