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Last Update: 16 Dec 2010

Riding Holidays | Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a land of outstanding natural beauty and diversity, from the remote highland escarpments of the Simien Mountains, to the lowland extremes of the hot Danakil Depression. It is one of the oldest countries in the world with an ancient civilization reaching back beyond 10,000 years BC. For centuries horses have been an essential part of Ethiopian life, from work animals to riding horses and the country has one of the highest horse populations in the world today.

Currently there is one main company in Ethiopia providing horse riding holidays. Equus Ethiopia is owned and run by Yves Stanger who is originally from Guernsey, and is based near to the town of Menagesha, about 20 km west of Addis Ababa. Here ride Abyssinian ponies on a Blue Nile Trek to see the forests of Menagesha-Suba, the high Shoa plateau and the Blue Nile Gorge; or join a Rift Valley Trek to the edge of the Rift Valley Escarpment, with amazing views over the Danakil Depression far below. Shorter trail rides are also available. During your stay visit Lalibela to see its famous rock-hewn churches.

Day rides and shorter overnight riding treks are also available near to the Bale Mountains National Park in the south of the country.

Abyssinian ponies are really small horses, standing on average at around 13.3hh, but with a fairly wide variation in height and colour. They are very hardy and strong, surefooted and capable in the high altitude terrain of the Ethiopian mountains. They typically have a short quite wiry coat with many rosettes in the pattern and often a moustache around the nose.