MOST POPULAR DESTINATIONS

India - The Balotra Fair & Godwar Festival Ride
A truly wonderful ride in rural Rajasthan on fantastic Mawari horses, belonging to and bred by Ajeet Singh.

BOOK HOLIDAYS

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 £3,795 or €4,395

The Balotra Fair & Godwar Festival Ride – India

PRICES & DATES top

The Balotra Fair & Godwar Festival Ride: Prices 2024

GBP, £ EUR, € USD, $
Choose your currency

Suitable for intermediate plus riders and non riders.

  • 11 nights – $4,794
    • GBP: 3,795
    • EUR: 4,423
    per person sharing / Rider & Non-Riders
  • Single Supplement – $758
    • GBP: 600
    • EUR: 699

Note: Rates are subject to daily exchange rate fluctuations, please refer to our ‘Terms & Conditions’ for full details.

The Balotra Fair & Godwar Festival Ride: Dates 2024

Set Departure  5 – 16 April

Included – All riding, full board accommodation, drinks, a limited selection of alcoholic drinks, transfers on ride & sightseeing tickets.

Excluded – Flights, transfers, drinks at hotels & tips.

Getting There
International flight to Delhi or Mumbai and internal flight onto Jodhpur, the meeting point for the ride. The departure point and end of the ride is in Udaipur.

Transfer
We meet and transfer you to your hotel on the first night in Jodhpur.

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.

SUMMARY OF THE TRIP top

A truly 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.

Visit the biblical Balotra Tilwara Horse Fair. Ride through the fair to see horses, camels and cattle being traded then transfer to Kumbhalgarh where you start your ride on the Leopard’s trail. We ride down through the wooded forest, passing cool streams to arrive on the hot plains, camping by farms and lakes and stop off at the Godwar Festival and horse show where you can take part in the mounted games. We then make our way between the smooth rocks and hills to the scrub forest at Bali, and then set camp for two nights at Jawai Bandh, transferring to jeeps for morning and evening excursions to look for Leopards, finally we transfer to Udaipur to see the lake and City Palace.

THE RIDING top

Horses – A beautiful selection of mostly Mawari 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 plus riders.

Tack – Mostly snaffles bridles and cavalry style saddles.

Weight Restriction – 90kg / 200lbs / 14 stone.

Group Size – Minimum 2 to a maximum of 12.

ACCOMMODATION top

Your first night is a boutique style hotel in Jodhpur. 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 following nights 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 beds, side tables and good ensuite facilities, that include porcelain loos, wash stands and plenty of hot water for hand showers.

In addition to the camping there a couple more hotel nights in Narlai and Udaipur, in carefully selected boutique style hotels, chosen for their charm and hospitality.

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, poppadoms and nan breads.

Dinners are a highlight and include some meat dishes, of chicken and lamb, along with vegetable curries, poppadoms and nan breads, 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 Nimboo 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 culturl highlights, like tours of Delhi and Mumbai and in Rajasthan, a visit to the lake city of Udaipur, the beautiful monument of the Taj Mahal and the Amber fort in Jaipur.

SAMPLE ITINERARY top

Day 1
Arrive Jodhpur, check in 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.
Overnight: hotel in Jodhpur

Day 2
Morning depart Jodhpur by minibus and transfer by road to Balotra fair & settle into camp (4 hrs). Evening ride around fair. This fair is one of the largest horse fairs in Rajasthan, but has managed to retain its rural
ancestry – with few places for tourists to stay, few visit, so you really will feel transported to a biblical world. The days are hot so we will visit the fair in the mornings and evenings, you will see different styles of dress as people make the trek to Tilwara from Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Punjab as well as from all corners of Rajasthan in order to trade horses, camels and cattle.
Camp overnight.

Day 3
Early morning ride to Fair where you can dismount and have a guided wander through the stalls and tents. Lunch and rest in camp. Evening visit to fair.

Day 4
Depart by minibus transfer by road for Kumbhalgarh (4 hours). Check in to hotel. Afternoon visit to Kumbhalgarh Fort. Kumbhalgarh Fort is the second most important fort of Rajasthan after Chittorgarh. This unconquerable fortress is secured under the kind protection of the Aravali ranges. Kumbhalgarh Fort was built by Maharana Rana Kumbha in the 15th century. Encircled by thirteen elevated mountain peaks, the fort is constructed on the topmost ridges around 1,914 meters above sea level. The fortifications of the fort extend to the length of 36 kilometres and this fact has made this fort to be in the international records. It is stated to be the second longest wall in the world, the first being ”the Great Wall of China”. The huge complex of the Fort has numerous palaces, temples and gardens making it more magnificent.
Overnight: hotel at Kumbhalgarh

Day 5
Morning: Start Horse Safari.
Full day riding through the Khumbalgarh Sanctuary and Ghanerao forest with picnic lunch, arriving Narlai. We enter the sanctuary near Kumbhalgarh Fort and make our way through the wooded sanctuary using old paths, crossing small rivers to the edge of the Ghanerao forest.The route is shaded and quiet, although harbours much wildlife – keep your eyes open, you never know which animals are watching you through the trees.
Overnight: hotel at Narlai

Day 6
Morning visit the local Godwar Horse Show opening procession and celebrations. Afternoon: visit Godwar horse show in late afternoon, with the possibility of taking part in horse games/gymkhana games. Evening: Transfer to Muthana Lake (1 hour).
Camp overnight.

Day 7
Morning at Godwar Fair, festival and temple. This is a unique opportunity to be part of a local festival and you will find colour and sound and photographic opportunities galore! Afternoon half day ride to Dantiwara Lake.
Camp overnight.

Day 8
Full day ride to Bali Forest. We make our way along the bottom of the Aravelli hills Southwest to Bali. We pass villages and rural farmsteads, making our way through the volcanic smooth rock formations, stopping in the shade for a long picnic lunch.
Camp overnight.

Day 9
Full day ride to Jawai Bandh. Today we continue onwards to reach Jawai Bandh – 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 riverbeds.
Camp overnight.

Day 10
Morning ride to search for Leopard. This area is where “the hills throw the moon out and just as soon absorb its glow into their gorges. Where nomadic Rabari herdsmen are as much a part of the earth’s tales as the mysterious felines that grace these hills and vanish at will into their folds. Where pastoral fields meet and merge with wild grasslands and the swells of the JAWAI Bandh’s waters lap at the toes of mighty granite forms. Where flamingos flock and cranes in their hundreds dance to springtime. This special location, the unique flavour of this land and its offerings, provide for an entirely different experience from the rest of Rajasthan”.
Evening Jeep safari to search for Leopard.
Camp overnight

Day 11
Morning depart for Udaipur by minibus road transfer. Check in to hotel. Afternoon sightseeing – lake boat trip. 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. Fantastical palaces, temples, havelis and countless narrow, crooked, colourful streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charms. Udaipur is the city of cream, rose and honeysuckle hues. The huge, cupola-crowned City Palace lines the eastern shore of Lake Pichola, with its balconies gazing out at Udaipur’s other famous landmark, the Lake Palace – a fairy-tale confection that seems to float on the lake’s waters, gleaming by day and spot lit by night. Eastward, away from the lake shore, extends a tangled inner city of lanes lined with homes, temples, shops and businesses that is fascinating to explore.
Overnight: hotel in Udaipur

Day 12
Day at leisure for shopping and City Palace tour. While passing through the markets of Udaipur, the markets present an assortment of items covering handicrafts, pottery, jewellery, wooden toys, antique items and paintings. Udaipur is particularly famous for its miniature paintings inspired by style of Rajput’s & Mughals.
After lunch own transfer to onward destination.

DESTINATION MAP top

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.

CHECK AVAILABILITY top

    Please use the message box below to provide additional and any other relevant information like your riding experience and for how many people.

    Also, if the above Holiday describes few different options for your Horse Riding Holiday in the area - please add a note on which choice you are referring to. Thank you.