Horse riding late August/September

Lucy_d

We have a month to spend in India late August and September but are unsure as to where we can go and not get drenched. We'd also really like to do a lot of horse riding - the ideal would be to hire (or buy) a horse for a couple of weeks and ride round an area of India where there's both great scenery and somewhere to park the horses at night. Overly ambitious, or do-able?

torryquine

Hi Lucy, these people may be able to help: www.purviweb.com the link wasn't working when I tried it a minute ago, but if you're interested PM me and I will give you their email and some other links.

The Jalan's organise riding holidays amongst other special interest tours near Dibrugarh in Assam. This may be further off the beaten track than you want to go, but the area has a lot to recommend it. Mostly tea estates in that vicinity, and it's right on the banks of the Brahmaputra. There are some very interesting villages nearby which are home to a tribe closer to Thais in ethnic origin than Indian.

Vineeta Jalan runs Purvi Discovery, but her husband Manoj, is President of the Equestrian Federation of India, so you can guess the depth of his interest in horses, and the high standards in his stables. His particular interest is in Endurance riding and most of his six horses are trained for these events. We stayed at their bungalow on the Mancotta Estate, which was fabulous (Michael Palin stayed there on his Himalaya trip btw). The night before we left, we had drinks with the Jalans, when Manoj discovered that I rode, he arranged for me to go riding the next morning so we could have a memorable last day in India. I had a super couple of hours riding around the tea gardens with a couple of charming grooms. Just lovely.

I am positive these people would bend over backwards to organise the sort of trip you are looking for. I doubt that they would let you go without a guide however. Weatherwise, things should be starting to dry out up there around mid to late September. Earlier than that, I probably wouldn't recommend.

Let me know if you'd like more information
Kind regards TQ

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