Horse Riding - Two Day Trek to Lluc Review

A group of regular riders from Mallorca’s foremost natural horse care stable have just made their annual horse-back riding pilgrimage. They rode for two days, stopping for a picnic and a restaurant lunch and staying overnight at the monastery at Lluc.

The stable called Hipica Formentor is near Sa Pobla, just off the Inca Alcudia road and offers 60 and 90 minute rides on the fringes of the Albuferra, as well a riding lessons and longer excursions with lunch. During the winter, the stable offers regular trail rides up into the Tramuntana Mountains for two, three or four days.

One of the highlights of the riding calendar for the stable’s regular riders, known as the 'Riding Club', is this two day ride with friends of different ages and nationalities. We are all experienced riders and as well as the beautiful landscape, stunning mountain views and fantastic food, there are some long fast canters. Picking up on excitement and with riders they know in the saddle, the horses become very competitive, vying for pole position in their “race” to Lluc. The challenge is to keep them at a steady pace. Some of the younger riders choose not to do this and have the best fun possible when you’re 16 and far too brave!

We ride first through the lush agricultural plain of Sa Pobla. Then take a long canter on a quiet paved road towards Inca. Only bare hoofed horses with the hard hoof shell that they develop through regular trimming and a careful diet can do this. Riding swiftly round a roundabout to avoid the main road we start to climb up towards Campanet and travel through the gorgeous historic villages of Selva and Caimari. There is something so medieval about the clatter of the hooves in the narrow streets. Doors open and children fly out to wave to the horses. We hope the odd pile of horse doings does not cause offence and it is terribly good for the roses.

The stay at Lluc never disappoints and the arrival as it looms into sight at the end of a long day’s riding is very moving! We leave the horses in a previously prepared field which belongs to the monastery. We take “apiritivos” ranging from Fanta limon, to shandy and some stiff gin and tonics. We can shower and change before an authentic and beautifully served Mallorcan dinner. We end the day strolling through sombre corridors and with views of the beautiful monastery courtyard before retiring to a surprisingly comfortable bed to enjoy the exhausted “sleep of the just”.

After breakfasting heartily we return by the same route but with fantastic views on the downward journey, which were behind us as we approached. The pace quicken when the horses know they are returning to the herd. Neither my horse nor I are as young as we once were, but when the track opens out before us, both our hearts leap and the joy of the cool breeze as we race across the landscape is life affirming for us both. This is a trip to lift the spirits of everyone who takes it. It is a timeless experience and we stop on the return leg at a restaurant in Caimari where we eat the best Aroz Brut imaginable which might also have been served to our pilgrim ancestors.

Trail rides are designed to meet the abilities of the riders on the trip. It is a fantastic thing to do for anyone with some riding experience and confidence in the saddle and Lorenzo will adapt the ride to make sure everyone is comfortable and safe.