©Les sabots de vénus
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Equestrian tourism is an outdoors activity, available to everyone. This hobby can be carried out alone, with friends or family. Whether you are a beginner or advanced rider, there is always a path to take.
A fun activity indeed, however, there are some basic rules that must be known for the safety and wellbeing of everybody. Plan stop points for a break and also watering places for your horse. Your outfit and your horse's must also be adapted to the weather.
Every activity should be practiced gradually: don't go on a 50km long hike if you have a new horse or if are an unexperimented rider: make sure the horse and the rider have the necessary experience for the planned itinerary..
If you'd like to tell us about any other concepts that apply to your country, please let us know. After review and validation by our services, we will add them.
©Les sabots de vénus
If you on your own, remain reachable by phone and prevent other persons that you are going on a ride alone and inform them of your route.
Always carry a small amount of money, you never know what is going to happen. A map, a roadbook, and a charged cellphone are required. It is better if you can also take with you a string, a whistle, and a hoof pick. Make sure to carry with you a first-aid kit for yourself and your horse.
The highway code applies, so be sure to respect it, as well as the markings dedicated to riders and/or carriages. It is advisable to leave with identification documents for both rider and horse.
Riders are invited to avoid any private properties and cultivated lands.
Common courtesy is required even while on a horse. Go back to a slow walk and keep some distance when meeting riders coming the other way. Greeting and asking if you can pass the rider is always appreciated.
If you go on a walk with other riders, inform them that your horse can be unpredictable.
It is strongly recommended to wear reflective strip (for riders and horses) to be seen at night. A headlamp is also very useful to see and be seen.
with the British Horse Society
©Nick Fewings
It's important to know which plants can make him sick, so that he doesn't eat them. Although horses can learn to avoid a food that makes them sick, this is only possible if the undesirable symptoms appear directly after the food has been taken. Beyond half an hour, the link between the plant consumed and the illness is not established. As a result, equines cannot learn to avoid a chronically intoxicating food, which occurs through prolonged consumption and accumulation of toxins. Beware: for other plants, intoxication can be acute and rapid, as in the case of yew, where a few grams are enough to kill a horse.
©Eric Minodier
During heavy exertion, the large surface veins swell, particularly in the neck area. This is a natural reaction, as blood cools better when the veins are prominent.
At rest, the average breathing of the horse is between 8 and 12 cycles per minute: one cycle corresponds to one inhalation AND one exhalation.
If your horse doesn't urinate like the others, if his urine is brown or a little dark, you should immediately tell your guide: this indicates that the urine contains blood from injured muscle fibers.
When grooming, always check that your horse is not injured, especially in the girth and withers. Don't ride until the injury has been treated, to avoid aggravating it.
Always check your horse's tendons for swelling. Persistent or increasing swelling is certainly a sign of overwork or tendon weakness.
Particularly during a long stage, offer your horse a drink at every opportunity. Beware of a horse that shies away from water while others are drinking.
