#WeLoveHorses

Posts by

Mare Elston

Mare Elston is a strategic communications, public relations, and project management professional with over 20 years experience working around the World. Mare is an accomplished equestrian and horse lover, having owned and ridden horses across the globe. Mare is an undergraduate of Harvard University in the USA, and after completing her Master’s degree at the American University in Cairo, she moved to Dubai, and built a successful career throughout the 1990s in public relations. Mare has specialized in economic diversification and development of several GCC nations, and socio-economic regeneration and transformation of several developing countries in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asian Countries.

Al Jiyad Stables : Experience the Arabian Desert on Horseback

If you’ve ever dreamt of galloping through the dunes of an Arabian desert, a ride at Al Jiyad Stables is the perfect, short-getaway for you.

Set in a quintessentially Arabian backdrop of golden rolling dunes, Al Jiyad Stables offers an experience you will not forget. At about a thirty-minute drive from Dubai, you can escape the city into a tranquil setting in the beautiful Al Qudra desert. Whether it is a canter across the dunes on a beautiful arabian horse or a camel ride you are looking for, you will have the opportunity to see some unique Emirati wildlife at close range. The Al Marmum conservation area is home to the arabian oryx, gazelles and desert foxes amongst other animals and the best view is on horseback.

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Get Fit to Ride!

As we move in and out of COVID-19 lock down measures, maintaining our fitness has become a universal concern, and horse riders are very fit people! Having strong muscles is an important part of equestrian fitness. But what makes it especially complex is training your brain and eyes as well as balance and body control whilst on a moving horse. If you don't get this experience regularly, you will not be in the best possible shape for riding. For many of us, horse riding is not only our love, but our primary fitness regime. For those not fortunate enough to keep their horses on their own property, during these lock down times, access to local stables or yards is a challenge. So, how to keep up your riding physique during these difficult times?

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Take a Royal Ride through India

In Western India, visitors can step back to a time of princes and palaces. Intricate Moghul architecture and towering fortresses, sparse desert landscapes, trumpeting elephants, the flash of vibrant saris and colourful turbans, the tinkling of distant temple bells - these are a few of the timeless sights that greet visitors to the Indian state of Rajasthan. And the horses! Rajasthan is also home to one of the rarest of all equines – the Marwari Horse.

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Andalusian Dreams

Just the name of Andalusia conjures up fantasies about stunning arched Moorish architecture, winding cobbled streets, the haunting beat of Flamenco combined with the seductive glance from a raven haired dancer, and finally the prance of the famous Andalusian horse.
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Lucknam Park - Tea for Two, Please!

Are you completely tired of the modern-day pressures of never ending emails, phone calls, meetings, traffic, crowds, noise, crowded commuter transport, polluted city air, - the continuous noise and stress of urban life and ‘to do’ lists that never get finished?

It’s time for a break! It’s time to regress back in time to the quintessential British countryside where – in one place at least – traditional English estate living continues as it has throughout time, when life was – shall we say, a bit more refined.

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Take a Ride on the Wild Side

“The single most important thing to remember is: never dismount! The wild animals do not distinguish between you and your horse; they just see the horse, recognizable to them as another herd animal, and therefore not a threat.”

This is part of the briefing guests receive before setting out on an Offbeat Horseback Safari deep within the Kenyan African bush. That’s right – as in a safari – on horseback – together in nature with lions, elephants, leopards, hyena, buffalo – and the most dangerous and territorial of all African animals – the hippo.

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Pirouette, Piaffe, and Passage Through Portugal!

“Heels down, knees in; back straight, eyes straight ahead, and relax your wrists!” - these are the most common instructions you hear from dressage instructors as they teach beginners. It’s a far cry from the perfection demonstrated by world famous dressage artists perfectly in sync with their Lusitano mounts as they Pirouette, Piaffe and Passage during dressage performances. But if you have a week to spare, you too can learn to ride like a Portuguese pro! Located just 15 kilometres outside of Lisbon, Morgado Lusitano Equestrian Holidays offers a variety of dressage instruction packages suitable for all levels of horse riders. This stunning estate boasts a stable full of professionally trained, purebred Lusitano horses and top notch instructors from Portugal and Europe.

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Come Meet the Horse!

If you run a quick search on Google, you will read that there is an estimated world population of 58 million horses, made up of over 350 separate breeds. That’s A LOT of horses! And, like people, each and every one is unique. We wish we could mee them all! We can’t of course, not in one lifetime, but we will do our best to try!

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