Welcome!

Welcome to La Fiaba, the fairytale horse riding holiday experience in Tuscany.

We have created this blog in order to share with you our ideas of horsemanship and horse care, to give you more of an idea how is life on horseback in Tuscany, and to update you with news from our horse riding centre in Chianti.

Here at La Fiaba we believe in the classical method of horsemanship and we train our horses accordingly. Classical does not mean we are stuck in the past; far from it. A good horseman or woman is always learning, we learn from each horse we ride as much as we learn from new philosophies and scientific understanding. However, the classical method of riding has been around for millenia for a good reason; it works for the horse as much as it works for the rider. It is not a quick fix or a fashion, it is a time honoured method of training horse and rider for life. With a good understanding of these methods and why we use them, new ideas can be incorporated where appropriate.



Classical horsemanship is as valid when riding out as in the school

 
We also asipre to allow our horses the 'Five Freedoms' of animal welfare which are;

• Freedom from hunger and thirst: Our horses always have access to fresh water when stables and when in the field. We construct an individual nutrition plan for each horse which takes into account it's age, height, build and workload and we feed accordingly. We always feed the best quality food possible and try to make sure our horses' diets consist of at least 80% forage (e.g. grass and hay) and they get succulents (e.g. carrots and apples) every day.
• Freedom from discomfort: Our horses are given indoor shelter to protect them from the heat of the sun and the flies in summer, and when turned out in cold or wet weather are given appropriate rugs if needed. Tack is checked daily to ensure it is still fitting correctly and horses are shod when required. If we know that something causes our horses physical or mental pain or distress we avoid this as much as is practical.
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease: Our horses have a wonderful, experienced, qualified vet and farrier. We check our horses every day for any subtle signs of pain, injury or illness. We are qualified in equine first aid.
• Freedom to express normal behaviour: Our horses have access to 200 hectacres of turnout all year round. We try to let them live in small herds when appropriate, but we respect that all horses are individuals and some horses may prefer to be solitary, or just the company of one particular other horse. Our horses are given at least one day off every week (which is more than we get =) ) to allow them to relax and recover from their week of work, and to 'be a horse'.

Our horses are given plenty of time to relax in their fields.

We want our horses to enjoy being with us as much as we enjoy to be with them. Our horse riding holidays are designed with both the horse and rider in mind. For more information regarding our horse riding holidays in Tuscany, our riding lessons, theory lessons or groundwork please contact us or view our website.

Please feel free to add your relevant comments below. Thank you!