five horseback riding excursions.

We have a client traveling to Iceland this week, and when we sat down with her to start planning the trip, we talked about most of the things you'd expect to see in that phenomenal country: geothermal hot springs, waterfalls, volcanos, glaciers. But then, in the course of our conversations, she mentioned her lifelong love of horseback riding. We found a really phenomenal riding excursion for her trip, and it got us thinking about other really fun opportunities to go riding on vacation. So, here are our top five horseback riding trips!

1. Icelandic Viking Horse Ride.

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Icelandic horses are a unique breed of horse that been around, virtually unchanged, since the time of the Vikings! That'd be right about the 9th Century, if you're playing along at home. They're smaller than other horse breeds--closer to the size of a pony. And they have a very thick double coat to protect them from the elements in this crazy climate. If you book a trip to Iceland with us, we can arrange for you to spend a few hours riding these beautiful horses along glacial streams, and across the gorgeous Icelandic landscape. Pretty awesome, huh?

2. A Cruise to Jamaica.

If you book a Royal Caribbean® cruise that stops in Jamaica, you can have a fabulous shore excursion where you saddle up for a ride through two of the oldest sugar plantations on the island. Then, your guided ride head to Chukka Beach, where you?ll feel the rush as you ride into the Caribbean Sea atop your trusty steed. Your adventure begins with a spectacular horseback ride through Jamaica's backcountry. You will pass farmland, explore the ruins of an 18th-century sugar plantation and hear tales of Jamaica's colorful history. Then experience an unparalleled, exhilarating bareback ride into the warmth of the Caribbean Sea atop your swimming horse.

We can book an excursion like this on just about any cruise that stops in Jamaica, but Royal Caribbean consistently gets voted as having some of the best itineraries in the Caribbean, so why not give us a call so that we can book you on a fabulous trip like this!

3. Go to a Dude Ranch.

If you want to go riding, you couldn't ask for anything more quintessential than vacationing on a actual working dude ranch. For your classic western vacation, we might suggest Tanque Verde Ranch in Arizona, which is one of America’s old time cattle and guest ranches. Tanque Verde is located on 60,000 acres of Tucson’s most breathtaking desert landscapes. It's nestled amongst the Rincon Mountains and adjacent to Saguaro National Park and Coronado National Forest, and Huckleberry Travel would love to send you there!

4. Ride a Camel into the Desert

photo credit: shutterstock.com

It seems that every time I'm in a strategic planning meeting at my (other) job, someone disparages committees by saying that a camel is a horse that has been designed by committee. So, putting that business school new speak foolishness aside, I'm still going to count a camel as a more exotic version of a horse. So, a few weeks ago, we got a call from some folks who had a dream to go to Morocco and to ride a camel into the desert to stay in a Bedouin nomad tent camp. Could we do that for them? Um...we weren't sure (at the time).

Seems that we can. And, as exotic and off-the-grid as you'd expect that sort of experience to be, it's not outrageous. We're poised to book our clients to take over a private riad in Marrakesh, to ride into the Sahara on the back of a camel, and to overnight in a camp under the stars, and it's pricing out at a really, really (really) good rate. Another reason you should let us plan your next trip, I suppose. (Ahem.)

5. Horseback Riding in Vieques

Do you know about Vieques? It's a relatively undeveloped island off the coast of Puerto Rico, and if you're looking for a true, rustic Caribbean experience, this is where you need to go. There is, actually, at least one resort there, but your better bet is to rent a property (and we can help you with that). Think of it--a beautiful property on the side of a hill, with a gorgeous view of the sea, and, oh yeah, horseback riding. There are feral horses on Vieques, and you might see them, but there are also ways to do amazing rides on the island with local operators. This is the epitome of authentic. Trust me, you'll want to do this.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that Huckleberry Travel can send you on an incredible vacation where you can go riding--on horses...or camels...or, well, ... there are other animals we've ridden, but some of them we wouldn't recommend.  But horseback riding ... we're on it!