Do you incorporate horses into your vacation? If I’m with the husband, I do my best not to, but often it crops up somehow anyways.
While going to watch 3* and 4* events are a blast, I haven’t always consider them vacations. Although with the wine, friends, and booze, maybe I should have. Do normal people consider it a vacation when they travel to see their favorite team play?
Spectating Fair Hill
The one trip I have been on that is definitely a vacation, and definitely horsey, was with my mother back in 2005. We went to the Ballinasloe Horse Fair in Ireland, which my grandad had always talked about but neither of us had witnessed. I kid you not, I have never seen that many horses in one place before or after that fair.
We then made our way up the west coast of Ireland, incorporating beach rides and cross country schoolings into our trip.
Beach riding in the northern part of Ireland
The trip is definitely a highlight of my life, and a time with my mother that I’ll always appreciate. What I would do to go back with a bunch of horsey friends and do it all again!
What equestrian related trips have you taken in the past? What are some particularly memorable moments of these trips? What’s on your bucket list? Do horses find their way into your vacations often?
Red on the Right 
Newbie to your blog 🙂 Our honeymoon was spent on horseback riding from the French Alps to the Mediterranean. It was amazing. We always planned on doing a horseback safari in Africa for our 10th anniversary, but then the kiddo came along and that went out the window. My only real bucket list item is to do a ride across Wales from coast to coast. It was offered back when we did our France trip, but not for when we wanted to go.
I haven’t done anything horsey on vacation yet. Though I did warn T that if we went to Iceland we are definitely riding those tiny horses
Probably half of our trips are horsey. We’ve done Ireland, pack trips in the Sierras, a dude ranch, and we frequently work a horse ride into non-horsey trips that we take. Iceland is on my list for future trips.
Some have had horses and some not, but I have not done much traveling since I have been an adult. I am not all too terribly sure how I can avoid it now! My travel list is filled with horse related trips, but there are also great none horse related things I want to do in those various places.
Generally there aren’t horses involved on our regular vacations because Jason is allergic, but I’ve counted big shows like the Appaloosa Nationals as vacation. We did more than the show, we went and watched horse racing and went to a water park, etc. 😉
My husband and I don’t usually specifically include horses in our vacations, but now anytime we go anywhere, I always try to meet up with at least one blogger! It’s kind of become our little tradition, hah
My family, SO and a lot of my friends aren’t horsey, so vacations aren’t usually horsey. Like you though, I usually try to squeeze a little bit of horse time in if it works though. I’ve dragged a few friends to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, and I toured some racehorse training stables with my cousin in Ireland (https://autonomousdressage.blogspot.ca/2016/09/insider-look-into-horse-racing-in.html)
My mom and I have a long list of horse related vacations on our bucket list that we’ve been slowly marking off the past couple of years 🙂 It’s really hard for Husband and I to leave at the same time bc we just have to many damn animals that have decided to call our farm home. One day we’ll figure it out but I doubt we’ll go on horse related vacations. I’ll just keep doing those with my mom!
I definitely recommend Iceland for anyone thinking about it!!!! Horses vacation or not- Iceland is such a cool country and I know I want to go back and see the other regions!
Funny you should mention this, I *just* sent an email to Todd (re: our possible Ireland trip this spring):
“If it can work out, I’d love to time the trip where we could watch cross country at this international horse trial in Meath:
http://www.tatts.ie/
They will have alcohol and food”
lol on the last sentence, I had to think of a way to entice him.
Normally, my partner in crime for horses and vacations has been my mother, we’ve been to Rolex, Badminton, Burghley, Aachen, WEG Normandy. I highly recommend Burghley and Aachen.
Oh gosh trips like that are definitely on my bucket list! It was my goal to sneak in a lesson in every vacation (as possible) but unfortunately I won’t be able to ride to start that tradition!
I don’t consider traveling to spectate a vacation… but I guess it is?
I have always wanted to go to Ireland. One of these days my sisters and I will actually take the equestrian vacation we’ve talked about. I know someone that’s gone to Iceland a couple times and seem to have had a blast!