South America is a destination that contains many "Bucket List" contenders, natural and manmade: the thundering Iguassu Falls in Brazil, the glaciers of Tierra del Fuego, the natural wonder that is the Amazon Jungle and the iconic Machu Picchu in the Peru.
Venture Co organised our first riding holiday in South America in 2002 (Peru) and since then we have carefully selected a variety of partner stables that are visited, vetted and trusted.
Here is a selection of South American riding holidays that combine indigenous horse breeds that cope with their local terrain and local conditions naturally. The tack will probably be new to you, but it's comfortable and straight forward to use. The common denominator is that you will be hosted by owners who place horse welfare uppermost: they know their area inside out, have outstanding teams of wranglers, guides and camp cooks and they are eager to show you the best of what their home area has.
Peru is famous for the Paso Fino developed for plantation owners to swan around their coastal estates. The Paso can "tolt" and is a pleasure to encounter. High in the Andes we use descendants of Conquistador's Andanusians which are tough, sure-footed and brim-full of stamina.
Explore Peru
Argentina is massive, more than ten times larger than the UK, and has a riding culture to match. In the north the criollo has developed harder hooves to cope with the wet conditions; on the pampas the criollo is longer in the back and quicker for the gaucho work. And the world's best polo ponies come from the estancias in central Argentina. There are even criollos in Tierra del Fuego in the south.
Explore Argentina
Chile's horses are also known as criollo (the same as Argentina) but the breed standard is slightly different. Since 2014 you can no longer ride horses across the border, but we can still arrange trans-country rides using two strings of horses.
Rides in Chile weave around lakes and volcanos and explore huge forests; everything seems to be on a massive scale.
explore chile
Riding at altitude differs from Pampas rides: life in the High Andes is tougher and the air is thinner, so a tougher breed is required. Mix together the criollo, quarter horse and thoroughbred and you have a blend of high altitude pace and grace that suits this space!
explore ecuador
Colombia has a heritage of horsemanship stretching all the way back to the Conquistadors in Tudor times. Horse riding holidays in Colombia are emerging into the sunshine once more, after almost 3 decades in the shadows. Colombia is just beginning to open up, so hurry, before the crowds arrive.
Explore Colombia
Brazil is a huge country stretching all the way from the border with Colombia in the north, through the Amazon Jungle and Pantanal wetlands, to the Rio Grande do Sul in the south, on the border with Uruguay. The variety of habitats is huge, with a similar range of horse riding holidays. The Brazilian criollo is versatile and tough, just like his cousins in Argentina and Chile!
Explore BrazilIf you would like to talk directly to the VentureCo team about your tailor made South America travel requirements, you contact us via email, phone, live web chat or just drop into our office.
