Horses, Beaches & Wine

Day One

Arrive and settle into your accommodation. You will be staying at the Four Star Boutique Vineyard Hotel only minutes from the magnificent Jurassic Coastline and the riding stables. The hotel is set in the glorious Purbeck hills and has distant views of Corfe Castle. It is uniquely located in a beautiful spot and offers luxury accommodation with fine dining. The bedrooms are warm, and inviting, individually designed with relaxation in mind.

Day Two

After a full English breakfast you will be heading to the riding stables. The stables are located in an area of outstanding beauty on a world heritage coastline and the coastline is renowned for its safe sandy beaches. This morning after being able to spend some time with your allocated horse you will be heading off on the forest ride. You will be walking, trotting and cantering across heath land as you head towards Newton Heath forest. You will be riding through some of the most beautiful lowland heath with a multitude of paths and sandy tracks to explore and not a road in sight to cross! During your ride you will be taking in stunning views of Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour and Bournemouth and if you are lucky you may even see one of the resident Roe or Sika Deer! This afternoon you may like to go on a guided wine tasting tour around the Purbeck Vineyard which hosts 3000 vines. The grape culture includes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and lesser known but increasingly successful English grapes such as Regent, Rondo and Phoenix. The guided tours must be pre-booked and are season dependent. Alternatively, Swanage railway is close by and here you can enjoy taking in more of the Jurassic coast on Dorset’s award winning steam railway.

Day Three

After breakfast you will be riding on the beach. Please note that beach rides in May and June are in the evening at 18.30. You will be cantering along miles of sandy beach, up and down the sand dunes and you can even take your horse into the sea and watch the waves lap at your horses hooves. This is a truly spectacular and memorable experience. This afternoon you may like to visit Chococo in Swanage. Chococo is an award winning small business that specialises in making luxury handmade chocolates. Whilst in Swanage you may like to visit Swanage Pier which has now been restored to its Victorian splendour. Corfe Castle is also close-by and this boasts breathtaking views from one of the most impressive ruins in England.

Please note if you are booking a weekend break you will be riding on the beach in the morning except for May and June when the beach rides are in the evening.

During July, August and September no beach riding is permitted at any time of day.

The riding stables has a wide selection of horses and ponies for all abilities but the Beach and the Old Harry rides are only suitable for riders who are in control of their horse at walk, trot and canter and are used to riding in open spaces.

We also offer a bespoke horse riding holiday in Andalucia, Spain that enablies you to combine riding with wine tasting and great accommodation. In addition to our Bournemouth rides we have a great range of horse riding weekends in the UK and Europe.

We inspect all the horses in our horse riding holidays to ensure the best quality holiday for you.