The centre of Spain hides steep relief, perched villages above rivers,
huddled around stone-fountains …

"El Cid" Discovery Ride

  Castile y Leon - Central Spain   

A trip for nature and horse lovers; for the gourmet who enjoys tasting the flavor of a different cuisine; for the curious traveler ready to experience life and traditions of a different culture ...
This trip traverses a landscape of mountains and vast plains, rivers and valleys, forests and an immense plateau. A land of frontiers, celebrated by poets and exalted by travelers. Follow the tracks of "El Cid", the Spanish hero from centuries ago. This is the cradle of the Spanish language, its history is the legend of the conquests. It was the center of Spanish medieval history. Its importance during that epoch is still evident in its cathedrals, monasteries, castles and fortified towns, many of which are preserved in perfect state. Here we have established an extraordinary two-week ride (you can also ride just one-week segments) lead by Jose Manuel, who has lived here all his live and is proud to share his knowledge with you. He does not speak English, but somehow everyone understands him very well. Of course it helps that he is always accompanied by an interpreter and a horse guide.
Arlanza Valley Ride - week one
The trip starts its discovery following tracks of “El Cid”, the Castilian hero of medieval times. We ride along the Arlanza River starting from the historic town of Llerma all the way up to the river’s origins. The area is one of transition where vast wild plains and pleasant valleys alternate, with natural spots of great beauty. It is an original Spanish landscape of harsh beauty in the heart of Castile, once a kingdom reaching from the Bay of Biscay on the north to Andalusía in the south. The valley of Arlanza offers an extraordinary heritage, Lerma, San Pedro de Arlaza, Covarrubias and Silos, especially significant in the history of Castile. Thousand-year-old churches, villages with 500-year-old houses escort you on your riding trail. It leads through isolated karst scenery to the medieval city Covarrubias. Passing the monastery of Sto. Domingo de los Silos you ride through light oak forests, cross rivers and vast pastures, along lakes, through wild canyons and mountain paths until you reach Sierra de Neila. The picnics are all well prepared with all the trimmings. Dinners are in local restaurants with delicious local menus. A medieval style banquet ends this first week on the tracks of “El Cid”.
Sierra de la Demanda Ride - week two
This new ride crosses a mountain range that rises up to an elevation of 4,900 ft. Ride through extensive woods, past lakes and lagoons formed during the Ice Age and across high passes. The area is rich in history with many remnants of dinosaurs and fossil trees. You will visit the greatest concentration of necropolis and high-medieval hermitages in Europe. After riding in a wide arc you reach the town of Burgos with its famous cathedral. The countryside, where the royal cattle drive trails are still in use, is ideal for forward going riding interspersed with canters and shorts gallops. On your last day you reach Covarrubias, where the first week's trail started, closing the circle of the "El Cid" Discovery Ride.

PG-BUT..
Included: Accommodations in country inns, all meals, wine with dinner, 12 (6) riding days  SA-SA
Arlanza Valley - week 1             PG-BUT8
8 days/ 7 nights $ 1,725    Single: +$199
-- based on € 1,210 / € 140
2008 Dates:
04/19-04/26    05/17-05/24    06/14-06/21
06/28-07/05    08/30-09/06    09/27-10/04

Sierra de la Demanda - week 2   PG-BUTD
8 days/ 7 nights $ $ 1,725   Single: +$199
-- based on € 1,210 / € 140
2008 Dates:
06/21-06/28    07/05-07/12

El Cid Discovery - 2 weeks      PG-BUTK  15 days/ 14 nights $ 3,230   Single: +$390
 -- based on € 2,275 / € 275
2008 Dates:
06/14-06/28    06/28-07/12

Meeting:   Madrid 
Transfer:   Included from Madrid
                  at set time
Level:        Intermediate
Tack:         Western, Spanish,
                  some English
Horses:      Pura Raza Española, Hispano Arab, Lusitanos, Cruzados con Español Arab
Pace:         Moderate with some nice
                  canters each day
Min/Max Riders: 4-9
Note: exciting ride in central Spain with lots of history and great horses. Each ride is accompanied by a Spanish guide, a translator and a horse trainer/guide. All lunches and dinners include table wine. Accommodations are all of very good quality. Most nights are in traditional and typical small hotels in wonderful settings and one night in a Parador.

Itinerary - week 1
Day 1: Arrival in Madrid, transfer to Covarrubias, a medieval small town 150 miles north of Madrid. Dinner and overnight in charming hotel inside the fortified walls. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Chindasvinto.
Day 2: In the morning short transfer to Lerma. Visit the local stable with some of the finest horses in the area. After a short demonstration you saddle up and start your ride. A short visit to the medieval town center with its Parador follows a 5 to 6 hour ride across wide open fields and agricultural lands. Again and again you see flocks of Storks feeding in the fields. And certainly you will see the first vultures making their circles above you. It is just a first indication of what is to come. Be prepared to see maybe hundreds of these "ugly" and yet so gracious birds with a height of 3 to 4 feet and a wingspan of over 6 feet. The ride today offers several opportunities for nice long canters across the fields and meadows. For lunch you will be met by the supply vehicle at a lovely spot at a small creek. Maybe today you will have a real Spanish Paella - delicious. Of course the are soft drinks and wine available, as every day. Relax and watch a few more vultures resting on the cliffs before the shorter afternoon ride will get you back to Covarrubias. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Chindasvinto.
Day 3: Ride to Retuerto through vineyards, oak forests, juniper covered heath land and pastures to the monastery Sto. Domingo de los Silos. For dinner enjoy a traditional stone-oven lamb roast. Overnight at the hotel Coronas 2.
Day 4: Sto. D. Silos to Navas del Pinar: You ride along a range of hills, through pine forests to the nature park "Canon del Rio Lobos" with a spectacular canyon scenery. Overnight in a rustic country house - Centro de turismo rural La Fuente.
Day 5: Today's ride leads you through a 10 mile long canyon of unique beauty. Crossing a river several times, the more you advance to the south the higher the bizarre rocks rise on both sides of the canyon. The park is home to eagles, vultures and other wildlife. Tonight's accommodation is located right at the exit of the canyon in a Parador - Posada Real Los Carreteros..
Day 6: Ride over a vast plateau with pine forests, meadows and fields. After passing a reservoir you reach Quintanar de la Sierra. The village is in the middle of a green cork oak forest covered with lush ferns.
Day 7: Quintanar to the origin of the Arlanza river: On your last day the ride continues over ascending narrow mountain paths and hiking trails to the Hierro-Pass and the origin of the Arlanza river, we’ll visit the necropolis from the middle ages of Revenga and Cuyacabras. Your riding adventure ends with the return journey (together with the horses) to Covarrubias. Join a farewell party for those that will leave us tomorrow. Overnight at the Hotel Chindasvinto.
Day 8: Transfer to Madrid and departure or stay with us on our next week’s discovery tour into the Sierra de la Demanda. Overnight and dinner in Covarrubias,

Slide Show

Vultures on the cliffs

Monastary in Silos

Accommodations in Silos

Itinerary - week 2
Day 1: Transfer from Madrid to Quintanar de la Sierra. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Casa Ramón.
Day 2: We ride uphill on steep paths winding through the dense pine forest until we reach Neila. Visit one of the most spectacular lakes of glacial origin - the Laguna Negra. These 10,000 year- old lakes are an impressive example of the formation of landscape by ice and erosion. In Neila you find beautiful houses and a bridge from the Roman times. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Villa de Neila.
Day 3: Today we descend, again through vast pine and oak forests, until we reach Monterrubio de la Demanda. We stop for an extensive picnic on the way. Initially declared to be a Nature Reserve, the Sierra de la Demanda is a real biogeographical mix - a kind of island with humid and Euro-Siberian climate in a predominant dry and Mediterranean world- where extensive gall oak groves, shady beech groves and real forests of Scotch pine cover the majority of the territory. The forest is full of red deer and with some luck you can also spot a wolf, wild boar, otter, badger or one of the small desmans of the area. Birds are also very well represented in this mountain region including the European honey-buzzard. Upon arrival in Monterrubio, you can observe the parochial church that represents one of the oldest works of Romanesque in the region.
Day 4: Today we follow the 'Green route' through valleys and trenches towards Barbadillo de Herreros. We cross the tunnel of the Ferrerias and ride towards Pineda and pass the port of the Manquillo. This 'Green route' partly follows the old railroad tacks, abandoned since the fifties, that linked the Sierra de la Demanda with the Altos Hornos of the Basque country, and served for the transport of minerals. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel La Casona.
Day 5: Closer to Arlanzon, the landscape changes and becomes flatter with cultivated fields. Visit the prehistoric site of the Sierra de Atapuerca, which was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2000. The archaeological treasures were discovered when the mining railroad was constructed. They played an important role in understanding the human evolution and have determined a new human species that lived 800,000 years ago. Dinner and overnight.
Day 6: We ride towards Burgos and the San Pedro Cardeña monastery - a place of great history which is connected with the life of El Cid. You can visit the town with its famous cathedral, or just relax before dinner.
Day 7:

Subject to changes

El Cid
The famous El Cid Campeador, the epical and historical mounted knight from Castile, can still be felt in Castilla y León.
Nine hundred years following the death of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar “El Cid”, his memory lives on. The legendary past, the minstrel's songs and this epic blend with the incomparable beauty of the landscape around Burgos and Soria where El Cid Campeador left his mark.