If you’ve ever watched the classic Aussie movie The Man From Snowy River, you may have found yourself longing to grab a horse and head out on an equine adventure. When we dig deeper into Australia’s great movie vault, we discover many films featuring horse riding throughout the country. While for many films, this is logical given they are period pieces, the reality of our vast, ever-changing landscapes simply make horse riding a fun thing to do in this country. This is why, whether you are a complete novice or ride horses on a regular basis, you might want to consider including a ride into the sunset on your next holiday break.

New to horse riding?

Before you book yourself on a week-long horse riding excursion in the Snowy Mountains, it’s important to remember that horse riding isn’t something you can just do for days at a time unless you’re already riding on a regular basis. Riding for an eight-hour trek if you’ve never saddled up before will be painful for your bottom and your knees, so you’ll want to start out small.

First, decide on your dream location. Does the idea of riding along West Australia’s Coral Coast as the sun sets appeal to you? Perhaps your idea of a good time would be exploring Tasmania on horseback, or trekking along South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. Next, check out the attractions of each place beyond horse riding – do you also want a place where you can relax on a beach, explore historic sites, or visit wineries? If you’re new to horse riding, consider making it just one small part of your overall trip and choose other activities to keep you happy, if horse riding isn’t quite what you imagined. That way, if after a two-hour trek you’ve decided you never want to see a mane again, you can enjoy the rest of your break. Better still – if you decide this is your new passion, you’ll be doing it in an exciting place with other attractions to enjoy while giving your knees a break between rides.

Frequent riders

If horse riding is something you are passionate about, a simple half-day trek probably won’t satisfy you. Instead, consider a longer trek lasting days, or even a place where you can bring your own horse along and know it will be treated as a valued guest.

There are some phenomenal places to trek throughout Australia, and new trails are created all the time. For example, in South Australia a 170km trail linking the McLaren Vale wine region to the Barossa Valley via the Adelaide Hills is currently being developed by Horse SA. This will mean beautiful scenery throughout as well as delicious wines to taste en route.

One place to find out the latest information about trails is the Horse Directory Australia. Here, you can find up-to-date information about riding in each state and territory, as well as companies offering horse riding lessons, treks, and even places where your horse can be cared for on holiday.

Finding the right place to stay

After a long day of horse riding or touring, you’ll want a comfortable place to hang your boots and sleep for the night. Although many horse riding holidays have bunk houses and tents as part of their itinerary, it’s possible (and much more relaxing) to stay in a B&B, boutique hotel, or even a self-contained holiday apartment. Perhaps you crave the down-to-earth feel of staying on a farm or a cattle station. Each of these options is possible. To find the ideal accommodation for your break, simply head to www.takeabreak.com.au and use the search function to find the right place for you.

In addition to listing places throughout Australia by state, region and town/city – you can also use the search function to choose Holiday Experiences. Here, you can select ‘Horse riding’ and browse through the many options listed, which offer horse riding on a property, or are nearby to a horse riding tour or facility. For example, if you decided to ride in Victoria, you can narrow your search substantially by selecting ‘Horse riding’, which will then give you the extensive list of Horse riding accommodation options in Victoria. Equally, you can break it down by city or region, and still keep that ‘Horse Riding’ option available to narrow your search.

After that, it is simply a matter of checking out the listings until you find the one that works best for you! You’ll be riding into the sunset in no time.

Author Bio: Kylie is writing on behalf of Takeabreak.com.au, private holiday accommodation site with over 20,000 properties in over 1,500 locations around Australia.For more articles, visit www.holidayinspirations.com.a