Albanian Riding School

In the morning you will have breakfast, get changed and head to the stables! During the morning session you will get acquainted with the horses and then have our first, basic lessons: how to behave around horses and approach them, correct and safe distance, grooming, putting on a halter and leading, feeding and understanding horse behaviour. Lunch will be served in the countryside or in a restaurant, in town. The afternoon will be spent in the riding school learning basic riding positions, practising balance on the horse and consolidating the skills learnt. Towards evening, depending on the course of the day and your will, you can go for a walk in the village or spend time with your hosts on the terrace. Those willing can help with cooking or other tasks around the house. Alternatively, you can return to the stables (about a 15-minute walk) for a longer while. In the evening, everyone will sit down to dinner together and then spend the night in the countryside villa.

After breakfast you will set off for the stables. Everyone will start by preparing and saddling up the horses themselves under the guidance of the instructors. Once everything is ready it’s time for the first field trial! You will head out of the stables for a short round in the countryside. The instructors will be paying attention to how everyone rides in order to adjust training. After returning to the stables you will have lunch on site or in town. In the afternoon you will return to the horses to practice on the riding arena and again go outside the stable, where the instructors will focus on safety issues and steering the horse with the reins in open terrain conditions. Dinner and overnight are planned at the villa.

In the morning session, we will recall the lessons we have learned so far and then set off to practise trotting on the dressage arena. This is an important part of the training, as you will also practice you trotting technique for a while in the field. In the early afternoon, you’ll have lunch and rest a bit before moving on to training again later. In the second session of the day you will continue with trotting and there will be new elements: proper position in the saddle when riding up a hill and then leading your horse down. In the evening, you will enjoy dinner after an intense training day.

You have been waiting for this day! It’s time to test the skills you’ve acquired so far amidst the rugged beauty of the countryside. You will start the day with breakfast and then head to the stables. There are some 4-5 hours in the saddle ahead of you: you’ll saddle the horses, recall the previous days’ lessons during a warm-up, and then head out to Lake Cini. While riding through hills, valleys and idyllic rural landscapes, the instructors will advise, prompt, help you practice and develop your riding technique and answer any questions you may have. This is an important moment of training – it allows you to create a bond and a sense of partnership with your horse. This day will certainly be a trial and a great experience for you. In the afternoon you will return to the stables and then head off for lunch. The late afternoon and evening are ‘free’, so you can relax or enjoy some extra activities. Later in the evening the group will have dinner dinner, served by your host family.

The morning session will focus on intense trotting, as well as various games and activities with the horses. You will try riding in pairs, keeping distance to each other and also run practival exercises in the riding discipline typical of trail riding. After the first session there’s going to be a lunch break, you will also have some time to rest and relax. In the afternoon you will return to the stables for more games and further trot riding exercises. You will also go out into open ground and attempt your first canters and transitions between gaits. The route for the afternoon ride takes you through the heavily varied landscape of the Gjinofshat hills, where you can test everything you have learned so far. In the evening everyone will be a bit tired, so after an intense day you will relax over a dinner.

This is the final, culminating day of the week’s training. After breakfast you will head to the stables where everything you have been learning for a week will be put to a test. Under the guidance of the instructors, everyone will face a series of tasks. Exercises will cover each element of the riding skills learnt in the previous days: starting and stopping the horse, precise manoeuvring, changes of pace and transitions between gaits. Once everyone has completed the tasks – it’s time to ride out! You will finish the week’s training with a ride in front of the picturesque countryside at Lake Qestorati. Along the way, you will pass Holy Trinity Castle, whose ancient walls are a reminder of the region’s extremely long and rich history. You will also pass through the charming village of Dhoksat, where between the cobbled streets and rustic buildings, time seems to stand still. In the afternoon, you will return to the stables, thank your horses for the week together and say goodbyes. Who knows, maybe you’ll see each other again in a while, this time on a trail? The late afternoon will be a bit more free and relaxed, and in the evening the whole group will head to Gjirokaster for a farewell dinner.

It’s time to leave Albania with new skills and amazing experience under your belt. Transfers to Tirana or Saranda available, depending on your travel plan. See you next time!