We GUARANTEE you won't find the same horse riding holiday at a lower price through any other source... and if you do, we promise to refund the difference!
from £2,995 or €3,385
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Note: Rates are subject to daily exchange rate fluctuations, please refer to our ‘Terms & Conditions’ for full details.
Scheduled Departure: 10 – 22 November
Included – All riding, full board accommodation, drinks, a limited selection of alcoholic drinks, transfers & sightseeing tickets.
Excluded – Flights, drinks at hotels & tips.
Getting There – International flight to Delhi or Mumbai, internal flight to Udaipur and out of Jaipur.
Transfer – Transfer included from Udaipur airport.
All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.
Choose your currency
Note: Rates are subject to daily exchange rate fluctuations, please refer to our ‘Terms & Conditions’ for full details.
Scheduled Departure: 30 October – 11 November
Included – All riding, full board accommodation, drinks, a limited selection of alcoholic drinks, transfers & sightseeing tickets.
Excluded – Flights, drinks at hotels & tips.
Getting There – International flight to Delhi or Mumbai, internal flight to Udaipur and out of Jaipur.
Transfer – Transfer included from Udaipur airport.
All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.
India holds a special place in our hearts at Zara’s Planet and is a country we love to visit again and again. Seeing Rajasthan on horseback is simply the best way to experience rural India, away from all the usual tourist hot spots (although we bring you to the important ones too). We think we’ve combined the very best of the Indian experience into this 12-day trip including the magnificent lake city of Udaipur, Jodhpur with its famous Mehrangarh Fort, followed by a visit to Pushkar Fair, India’s largest horse and camel trading fair. In between you’ll spend 7 glorious days riding along the leopard trail with opportunity to spot wild leopard followed by incredible riding in the Thar desert.
Our wonderful hosts and your back up team will introduce you to a slice of real India which is all about the people. As you ride through villages, meet and liase with local farmers you’ll get a real sense and understanding of this warm and wonderful culture and India’s heritage.
To hear a little more about this fantastic ride read Jill’s blog from 2016
It is truly a wonderful ride in rural Rajasthan on fantastic Marwari horses, belonging to and bred by Ajeet Singh. He is partnered on the rides by Caroline Moorey from the UK, who has been visiting and riding in India for over 10 years. Such is her enthusiasm for the Marwari horse and the Indian culture, her decision to live and work alongside Ajeet in India is her dream job.
Horses – A beautiful selection of mostly Marwari riding horses, bred and sourced by Ajeet and indigenous to Rajasthan. They have the unusual characteristic of curly ears which can turn 180 degrees, they are usually 15hh to 16hh but as with most breeds today, they are increasing in size up to 17hh.
They have a high, arched head carriage, they are extremely strong and fast paced, especially over the desert terrain. In addition to the normal gaits of the horse, they can also travel at great speed on a smooth gait called the Revall.
Level of Riding & Pace – Intermediate riders. The pace varies from walk through the villages to plenty of long canters in the sand later in the week. It is not fast riding, but the horses are sensitive and highly strung, so you need to be a confident rider and fit as you are riding 5-6 hours in the heat.
Tack – Mostly snaffles bridles and cavalry style saddles.
Weight Restriction – 90kg / 200lbs / 14 stone.
Group Size – Maximum 16
Your first night is a boutique style hotel in Udaipur. The rooms are old colonial style, there’s a great restaurant, a beautiful pool and really friendly, welcoming staff – the perfect welcome and start to your Rajasthan adventure.
The second night at the start of the ride you stay in another lovely boutique hotel in Narlai with a pool.
The next three nights as we head into rural areas are spent out on safari in tented accommodation. The camps are set up in beautiful locations, personally selected by Ajeet. The tents themselves are really big and full height, with comfortable camp style beds, side tables and good ensuite facilities, that include porcelain loos, washstands and plenty of hot water in buckets for hand showers.
Then there is an overnight break in Jodhpur again in a central beautiful boutique hotel with a pool and lush garden perfect for alfresco dining or a cold beer.
The following three nights you go deep into Rajasthan and the Thar desert sleeping in tented accommodation each night set up by the incredible team!
Final day of the ride you’ll stay in a little resort hotel, it’s very quiet we often have it to ourselves. The accommodation is spotless, and the food is absolutely yummy. Everyone always welcomes a good wash here after leaving the desert.
Our final two nights are spent at the incredible Pushkar fair in a small private tented camp, very close to the fair but not so close that you can’t sleep at night. It is family run with permanent tents and fully plumbed bathrooms so a real oasis and a welcome stay away from the madness of Pushkar.
The food is really outstanding, each morning, the kitchen staff head out of camp to buy eggs from the locals which are offered at breakfast, hard boiled or as omelettes, there’s also traditional cooked breakfast rice and porridge. Lunches are welcome after a hard morning’s ride, and you can expect a variety of light curries with side dishes of vegetables, poppadom’s and chapatti bread. This is all cooked on an open fire so pretty impressive!
Dinners are a highlight and include some meat dishes, of chicken and lamb, along with vegetable curries, poppadom’s and chapatis, followed by some local sweet deserts.
Water is available through the day, each ride morning and afternoon you are encouraged to drink at least a litre of water, which is carried in your saddle bags. At lunchtimes, you are also served and encouraged to drink a special rehydration drink called Nimbu Pani, which is refreshing and made up of freshly squeezed lemon juice, water, salt and sugar.
Each evening, the main meeting point is the bar and the dining area, which is alfresco in front of camp.
Please Ask About.
India is such an interesting place to experience, and we can easily arrange and recommend additional cultural highlights, like tours of Delhi and Mumbai and the beautiful monument of the Taj Mahal and the Amber fort in Jaipur.
Day 1
Arrive Udaipur by midday, pick up from airport and transfer to hotel, sunset boat trip around Lake Pichola. Beside Lake Pichola, with the ochre and purple ridges of the wooded Aravalli Hills stretching away in every direction, Udaipur has a romance of setting unmatched in Rajasthan and arguably in all India. Fantastic palaces, temples, havelis and countless narrow, crooked, colourful streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charms. Overnight: Udaipur Hotel
Day 2
Morning: sightseeing City Palace complex and shopping. Lunchtime: 1pm transfer by road 3 hours to Narlai. Afternoon: Quick check in and change, meet your Marwari horses for a late afternoon 1 hour trial ride from hotel to Jodha Stud Farm (the horse’s home), where a delicious home cooked Rajasthani dinner is provided within the magic of the stable complex.
Your hotel Rawla Narlai is a delightful 17th century property, which was once a favourite hunting lodge of the Jodhpur Royal Family. It is still owned by members of the Jodhpur family who have invested vast amounts of time, money, love and care into restoring this little gem. Over the years it has transformed from a simple lodge into a stunning, stylish boutique hotel, albeit with all its original character and structure retained. The rooms are scattered all around the property and each varies significantly in shape, size and décor. Overnight: Narlai Hotel
Day 3
Full day ride to Dantiwara. Passing through villages and riding in the plains of the Aravalli hills, stopping for a picnic lunch, we reach our camp situated in front of the lake. All tents have en suite bathrooms and come fully equipped with all furniture, linen, towels etc. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 4
Full day ride to Perwa in the Bali Forest. We make our way along the bottom of the Aravalli hills Southwest to the village of Perwa. We pass villages and rural farmsteads, making our way through the volcanic smooth rock formations, stopping in the shade for a long picnic lunch. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 5
Early morning Leopard spotting, breakfast, then ride to Jawai Bandh. Today we continue onwards to reach Jawai Bandh (reservoir) – Lying at the heart of an untrammelled wilderness, where leopards roam wild and free encapsulated in a landscape surrounded by craggy granite formations of caves, kopjes, Anogeissus scrub and winding sand river– beds. Late afternoon / Evening jeep search for Leopard. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 6
Morning transfer by road Jodhpur and to hotel. Afternoon sightseeing: Mehrangarh Fort. Mehrangarh Fort stands a hundred feet in splendour on a perpendicular cliff, four hundred feet above the skyline of Jodhpur. Burnished red sandstone, imposing, invincible and yet with a strange haunting beauty that beckons. Much has been written about the Citadel of the Sun, for truly, it is one of the most impressive in all Rajasthan. So colossal are its proportions that Rudyard Kipling called it “the work of giants”. Today, it is acknowledged as one of the best-preserved fort in India. Evening shopping in the market and antiquities warehouse. Overnight: Jodhpur Hotel
Day 7
Morning: short road transfer to Mathania, meet up again with your Marwari horses. Full day ride Mathania to Osian Today we ride Northwest, making our way over the pink granite local to the area that was used to build the Meharangarh Fort, passing small hamlets and farmsteads, taking in the vistas from the edge of the Great Thar Desert of Rajasthan. We stop for a picnic lunch and little siesta, before heading off again to reach our next camp on the outskirts of Osian. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 8
Full day ride Osian to Hacra. Today we start to head deeper into the sand and dunes. You will see the local huts with thatched roofs as well as the scrub of desert vegetation, acacia bushes etc. We may encounter wild Nilgai (Asian antelope) small chinkara gazelle, mongoose as well as other flora and fauna local to this desert environment. We arrive at our tented camp close to the community hamlet of Hacra. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 9
Full Day ride Hacra to Cullu Today we ride North, the sand is deeper, but your trusted Marwari have a stamina not known in other breeds; they are desert horses, and you are riding in the heart of their Marwari district, from where their name derives. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 10
Full day ride Cullu to Khichan Our final day riding. By now you will have built up a good partnership with your horse and we can take full advantage of the open lands! We arrive at Khichan, famous for the Demoiselle cranes that visit during the winter season (Oct to March). The birds migrate here from the Mongolian steppes and at the peak (Dec, Jan, Feb) the numbers reach over 10,000 which is a sight to see! Say goodbye to the horses as they travel home overnight for a well-earned rest. Overnight: Hotel Kurja Resort, Khichan
Day 11
Early morning visit to the nearby bird feeding grounds – what a sight! After breakfast transfer by road 4 hours to Pushkar. This fair is one of the largest horse and camel fairs in Rajasthan. We will visit the fair in the mornings and evenings, you will see different styles of dress as people make the trek from all corners of Rajasthan in order to trade horses, camels and cattle. Evening visit to the fair, go up the hill to stand and survey the fair, watching the sun go down in the ‘golden hour’ or, as it is known, ‘cow dust time’. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 12
Full day at Pushkar Camel Fair ~ this is one of India’s most highly rated travel experiences, a spectacle on an epic scale, attracting more than 11,000 camels, horses and cattle and it is visited by over 400,000 people during the 14 days. For visitors it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the colour, spectacle and carnival of one of the last great traditional mela’s. We are nearing the full moon (on Friday 23rd Nov) when all pilgrims come to bathe in the holy lake on this auspicious day, and last-minute trading deals are done before horses and camels depart for another year. Overnight: Tented Camp
Day 13
Early morning road transfer 3 hours to Jaipur, lunch, quick shopping. Early afternoon transfer to airport for departure to onward destination
Zara’s Planet Horse Riding Holidays Guarantee:
All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.
If you are having trouble finding exactly the right horse riding holiday for you from our horse riding holidays collection, please contact us directly using the form below and tell us in your own words what you would like to do and we will use our extensive knowledge to make sure we find that perfect horse riding holiday.
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