OUR horses drum a muffled rhythm down sandy paths, among eucalyptus trees, across marshlands and through former royal hunting grounds. Vultures circle above, a herd of red deer tunnels into the shade and fresh lynx tracks leave us sharp with anticipation. We are riding along ancient pilgrimage paths— once used by the brotherhoods of Andalucía, all devoted to the Virgin Mary.
We ride into the town like cowboys in a Western with Ennio Morricone whistling through our minds. Wide dusty boulevards weave their way towards a white cathedral towering over the Plaza Mayor. Every house and bar has a hitching post outside it and you can order sundowners—typically manzanilla, a Spanish fortified wine similar to fine sherry—without getting off your horse.
A short flight from London, I’m off grid, enjoying a trio of horse safaris that reveal the charms of rural Spain; adventures to rival those I’ve had in Africa and Argentina, without circling the planet for the privilege. I am riding through wild landscapes packed with history, fascinating people and, of course, great food and wine.
My week-long ride with Equiberia takes me and my fellow riders through the Sierra de Gredos mountains, almost on Madrid’s doorstep, yet remarkably unknown. Maria Elena Dendaluce, Equiberia’s founder and chief guide, connects riders with the countryside and, importantly, the right horse, with remarkable intuition. We trot happily through the kaleidoscopic splendour of Gredos: protected pine forests cast in soft autumn light, prairies flanked by rugged hills perfect for long canters, rocky mountains passes, villages and farmland studded with traditional stone shepherd huts.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 02, 2023 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 02, 2023 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
