How recently was your trip to Spain? (I leave next week)
1 Like
2013
Andalusia for 4 days riding & training.
Then the train to meet friends in Barcelona for just an evening, then we flew to Madrid for 2 days.
I’d go back to any of it in a heartbeat 
1 Like
Oh fun! Were you at Epona? I am also doing a train and trail package!
So excited!!!
Yes!
Jane & Fernando were Hosts par Extraordinaire
I arrived on a Wednesday, that weekend their daughter (Vivy?) was getting married.
When Fernando picked me up at Seville airport, I asked how many other guests would be there.
The answer: NONE! 
He explained why & told me they hadn’t wanted to disappoint me.
So I had the place to myself for 3 days, then Jane’s family arrived. They included me in meals (Jane made paella 
) & treated me like a member of the family.
Back then you stayed at the hacienda, I think that has changed.
But you will have The.BEST.Time!
Gorgeous trails, awesome lesson horses & do not skip the Riding School in Jerez!
Pls report back here on your stay 
6 Likes
I absolutely will! No, we stay at a hotel in Carmona. I am going a couple of days early to explore and play a little on my own 
Can’t wait!
2 Likes
Can certainly verify that my holiday at Epona was great! Excellent horses both for the morning trail rides and the afternoon lessons. Highly recommend!
3 Likes
When I was around 14 or 15, my family went to one of those beachside all-inclusive resorts. My father traveled for work, so he had hotel points to blow. I wanted to go for a ride and no one else did, so my parents booked a ride with one of those outfits that picks you up at your hotel and drops you off afterward. I was picked up first, and was truthful about my riding experience when the guide asked. We were supposed to pick up four others from another hotel, but I swear we waited about 90sec before the guide shrugged and took off. It probably should have raised some red flags!
With just the two of us, he put me on his personal horse and off we went. After observing me and confirming that I could, in fact, ride; we went for a long gallop down the beach, rode into the water, and stopped off for a (virgin) drink at a beachside bar. After we got back, I helped him feed and hay the horses for the evening before he drove me back to the hotel. He was a great guy and I’m sure he was happy to be able to relax and enjoy a ride for once.
Looking back, I’m sure he blew off the other pickup when he saw the opportunity to NOT have to deal with beginners. A grown man taking a 14 year old off alone for a trail ride seems a little sketchy to me now, but it was a great experience and I had a blast. IIRC, he was a one-man outfit, and he clearly cared deeply for his little string.
27 Likes
Just finished my week at Epona. It was fabulous! Incredible trail rides and the instruction was pretty exacting. The instructor did a great job at addressing my requests and the different needs of the riders.
I highly recommend!!!
3 Likes
I just finished a book written by an Australian and it took me a while to figure out the bodies found in the dam were found in the water, not that they dismantled the dam somehow. It was also the first time I’ve seen “suicided” used as a verb instead of “committed suicide”.
1 Like
Great to hear Epona is still a good place to ride in Spain.
Did you go on the trip to Jerez?
I nearly passed, glad I went, as it equaled everything I’ve heard about the Spanish school in Austria. Bonus was the driven demos 
I’ve also been seeing ‘suicided’ used. It bugs me
5 Likes
I did - the trip to Jerez was great. We had quite a history lesson on the way and lots of information about the 4 different schools(Vienna, Portuguese school and the one in France) in Europe, comparing the various styles of horse and presentation.
It was a fantastic trip all round!
2 Likes
“Bareback through a dam” to me says riding through one of these:
Because no one I know could ride through one of these:
What is called a dam where you live would I think be called a pond where I live, or maybe a watering hole. They come and go with the rains.
5 Likes
Yes she meant the last one. That we would call a small dam. The first 2 are also called dams, however they have a name in the front, like we are the last house before the Wyaralong Dam and yesterday I delivered to a kid’s camp near the Maroon Dam.
3 Likes
where I come from we would call a small body of water held back by an earth berm, or a dug hole in the ground that fills with water, for livestock watering purposes a 'farm pond". Nobody names anything after a farm pond. The word ‘farm’ implies that it is a manmade structure, whereas a “pond” can mean any small body of water. ‘Dam’ almost always refers to the structure that holds back the water, not the water itself. It can be any size at all.
1 Like
In Texas they are stock tanks. Just to muddy the waters (see what I did there?) a bit more!
1 Like
Just read through this thread, and I am cracking up at how off track it went from the original post 
2 Likes
That’s not always a bad thing. For example I too was completely confused about what a dam was.
As far as ppl overestimating their abilities Scuba diving is one of those “can be very bad” things. In order to get a tank filled you must have a card that indicates you have taken a course and been certified, it’s a pretty long course, but you evidently don’t need to be certified if you are under supervision, like say at a resort, so I imagine some people swim off on their own and annoy the H out of the certified instructor who is charged with making sure they don’t kill themselves.
1 Like
Epona is a PLACE?
Here I thought it was just the name of the horse from Zelda and that it (the name) might’ve had roots in celtic mythology. You might be a gamer if…
6 Likes
LOL
Epona is the name of the facility If you google Epona Spain, you will find it and then you will go down the rabbit hole, look at the programs and pretty pictures. And then find yourself booking.
HINT: it will be worth every penny!
1 Like
