Swim with horses in the sea, drive cattle across Dartmoor, learn horseback archery or sit quietly alongside a horse. The strangest and most memorable things you can do with a horse in Britain, most of them one of a kind.
FeaturedFull Day Horseback Archery Course, Hertfordshire→The only real cattle drive in the UK, herd 400 cows, ponies and sheep across open moorland on a Quarter horse. Steep inclines, big views. Books out every year.
A full day learning horseback archery at the only purpose-built horseback archery school in the UK, on its own 150-metre sand track within the 2,000-acre Gaddesden Estate. The day starts with a safety briefing and the history of the sport, then ground archery to learn the traditional thumb-draw technique, before moving onto horses matched to your riding ability, progressing from walk through to canter for those who master the technique. Tea, coffee and biscuits included. Seasonal, roughly end of March to end of October, weather dependent. Half-day and weekend camping courses are also available (camping on site, pub lunch included, evening BBQ). Summer evening practice sessions for previous course attendees run at £80 for 2 hours, or £35 with your own horse.
A full day training as a mounted knight, run by a professional jousting team who also provide Warwick Castle's own jousting entertainment. You're dressed in medieval armour and costume, learn a choreographed broadsword fight, take up an English longbow, then split into teams to compete in the Grand Gauntlet Challenge, a mounted tournament, before the finale: an attempt to unseat the resident Black Knight in a mini joust to earn your knighthood. Riders and complete non-riders are both accommodated. Spectators are welcome free of charge. Runs on selected dates roughly once a month between March and November, arrival 9:30am, running 10am to 4:30pm. The same team also runs dedicated Side Saddle and Horse Archery experience days. Pricing isn't published directly, currently only available via third-party voucher sites, so contact the team directly for current rates.
Warren Hill Gallops at dawn, a working racing yard, The National Stud with stallions and foals, then lunch at The Tack Room. Racing's headquarters, properly seen.
Wade into the Atlantic alongside trained horses with St Michael's Mount as backdrop. Each horse has its own handler in the water. One of the most extraordinary things you can do in England.
Liberty groundwork, communicating through body language, breath and energy. You're not riding, you're having a conversation.
Rothiemurchus is the largest ancient Caledonian pinewood in Scotland. Guided rides push beyond the treeline into sub-alpine plateau above 600 metres, where the forest gives way to open heather and the Cairngorm plateau opens ahead. Mountain garrons are used for the higher terrain. Riders need to be competent at all three paces on varying ground.
Back-step a carriage pulled by a pair of Highland ponies through Perthshire countryside. No riding involved.
Canter through ancient woodland into a dramatic limestone gorge, a scheduled Palaeolithic monument. Includes buffet lunch and a framed photo.
Ride a rare heavy horse breed along an open Cumbrian beach with the Lake District fells rising behind you.
Small groups ride to the best golden-hour vantage points above Widecombe for guided photography of the moorland, tors and the valley below. Led jointly by an experienced moorland photographer and a riding guide. The horses themselves are part of the subject. Bring a camera; phone cameras work well. Departures are timed around evening light in summer and morning light in autumn.
Cowboy-style riding on Quarter horses across Dartmoor's open moor. Cooked breakfast and afternoon tea in a comfortable inn.
The only UK school affiliated to the International Equestrian Dzhigitovka Federation in Moscow, training Team GB for the annual World Dzhigitovka Championships in Russia. This course covers five weapons disciplines ridden at the gallop: Cossack lance, pistol, throwing knives, the Russian shashka sword, and horseback archery, alongside optional trick riding. Training starts on the ground (throwing knives, cutting targets, gun and bow handling) before progressing to horseback in careful, staged steps. Runs as 1, 2 or 3 day courses.
Epping Forest's ancient pollard hornbeam woodland on the Essex and London border is some of the most atmospheric riding reachable from the capital. Evening rides follow the broad forest rides through stands of ancient trees, passing the Iron Age earthworks at Ambresbury Banks as the light fades. Accessible from Theydon Bois tube station on the Central line.
A medieval pairing: riding out across a Cotswold country estate with a trained hawk on the glove. The falconry and equestrian teams work together for small groups only, covering parkland and open farmland before a flying demonstration by the lake. No riding experience required, though participants should be comfortable walking alongside horses. Minimum two, maximum four people.
After-dark rides through the ancient Forest of Dean follow broad forest tracks by lantern light, passing the Roman iron workings at Puzzle Wood and the historic Speech House. November to February departures only; maximum six riders. The forest at night is entirely different from any daytime ride — completely silent except for the horses.
The section of Hadrian's Wall between Haltwhistle and Housesteads follows the Great Whin Sill dolerite escarpment at its most dramatic. Rides follow bridleways parallel to the wall above the Northumberland wilderness, with a stop at Vindolanda fort. Two thousand years of frontier history and some of the emptiest riding country in England.
A leadership and team-building workshop built around equine-guided groundwork rather than riding, run at a solar-powered, wheelchair-accessible site in the Scottish Borders. Eat, Sleep, Ride is a registered Scottish charity with a wider social mission supporting people affected by mental health difficulties, and its HERD Dynamics programme applies that same holistic, ground-based approach to corporate and group leadership training, no riding experience needed or expected. The same site also runs pony camps, beach rides, clinics and competitions, and offers standard riding lessons and hacking to the public. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 7pm. Contact directly for current workshop pricing and group sizes.
A guided meditation and relaxation session alongside horses, no riding, no experience needed. Grounded, calming, increasingly popular as a wellbeing gift.
Exclusive small-group access to a named trainer's yard. Watch the string exercise, ask questions, go inside an operation most racing fans never see. 2026 series.
Ride through filming locations from the Poldark series across open Bodmin Moor. Rides from 1–7 hours available.
A one-day course built specifically to work through fear and loss of confidence in the saddle, covering how to handle a fall, a rear, a bolt, a buck, and a horse slipping, in a small, controlled, friendly group rather than working it out for real on a hack. Taught by the same team behind the centre's horseback archery and stunt riding work. For riders aged 14 and up, no upper age limit (the centre's oldest graduate was 75). Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult.
Mudchute Park & Farm sits on 32 acres on the Isle of Dogs, with Canary Wharf rising directly behind the outdoor arena. There is nowhere else in the world where you can ride a horse with a backdrop of this kind — the towers of one of Europe's largest financial centres a few hundred metres away, the farm completely incongruous against them. BHS-approved, fully equipped for beginners, accessible on the DLR from central London. One of the genuine surprises the capital keeps to itself.
Learn to ride the traditional way, the way every woman rode for 500 years. Period-accurate technique, expert instruction.
The Speyside Way passes within a mile of several working distilleries on the route from Grantown through Cromdale to Ballindalloch. This full-day ride follows the trail along the Spey before arriving at a Speyside single malt for a private tasting. Horses stabled at Ballindalloch; road transport back included. A genuinely unusual combination of two things Scotland does very well.
The Uffington White Horse chalk figure dates to the Bronze Age and sits directly below the Ridgeway. Pre-dawn departures climb to the ridge for sunrise above the Vale of the White Horse, passing Dragon Hill before returning along the green lane to the yard. Available April to September only; maximum four riders. The light on the vale at dawn is worth the early start.
A full day of genuine western riding at one of the UK's most serious western operations, run by David Deptford, a British national reining team rider who competed at the first-ever World Reining Championships and has bred three AQHA Champion horses. For groups of six, running all day with breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea included, covering western basics, lassoing, and more advanced work depending on ability. Riders need to be confident at walk and trot; complete beginners can book a standard lesson first to get there. Weight limit 15 stone. The centre also runs horse clinics, summer camps and western shows throughout the year. Pricing isn't published, contact the centre directly for current rates.
The Wye Valley limestone gorge between Monmouth and Tintern is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that sees very few horses. Bridleways run high along the Welsh bank with views down to the river, passing above Tintern Abbey on the return leg. Routes drop to the valley floor at Brockweir for the crossing before climbing back through sessile oak woodland.