Horse Riding Chile started because we wanted to help local men in our valley, the Cajon del Maipo near Santiago, get in touch with people who wanted their services; to take them on horseback into the magnificent Andes mountains.
We are an English family living in the Cajon del Maipo. We put up the website and took the calls and slowly the business developed. Horses have been my passion since my first pony which came for my sixth birthday on my parents’ farm in England. I bought 2 hectareas of local land in El Toyo. There we keep the horses with our colleagues, the arrieros, and from there most of the rides set out.
Rose on La fianza, our first horse, a 'maestra' of rodeo and perfectly , well-mannered and quiet for children or inexperienced riders.
“Fair Trade”
The idea is to help local arrieros who have the horses and the knowledge, to earn money by providing riding tours to both foreign visitors and Chileans. All the money earned, apart from the actual costs, goes to local people.
Safety, confidence and backup – small is beautiful
We are confident that we can guide you safely in these mountains and that you can have an enchanting, exciting riding holiday. We are not a big business offering packaged tours, although we can arrange for you to be fetched from the airport, or to find you hotel accommodation before and after the ride. The guides do not speak much English but are good at non-verbal communication and an English-speaking guide can be provided if necessary. All arrangements are made by the English/Spanish speakers who administer the rides.
Alejandro Severino (Rigo) on La Fianza, our best-mannered horse at a rodeo
Arrieros de la zona – horsemen from the mountains near Santiago,
We are not a company, with offices and insurance policies. We are working men living in the Cajon del Maipo near Santiago. Our life has been spent working with horses and mules in the mountains and we are expert at what we do. We know the mountains like the backs of our hands, we respect them and we love them. All mountains have their dangerous aspects and the Andes are no different. The paths are steep and rocky, the rivers though not large can be turbulent, there are loose stones and rocks everywhere. It is essential to take great care and to go with people who know how to take that care, and where, and who have good strong sure-footed horses to carry you.
Octavio Nunez (Octao) in Valle Engorda above Banos Morales
Insurance
It is important that you have your own insurance for travel, preferably adventure travel. We ask you to sign a ‘release’ of responsibility before we set off.
Rigo's son Angelo receiving a prize at a local rodeo on El Flaco
Octavio's son Cristobal, also riding La Fianza at a rodeo
Privacy Policy: We do not pass on details or email addresses to anyone. We ask your permission before quoting any comments you may have made in an email, or to use photographs that you may send us.
Guarantees/returns: We ask for a deposit which is non-refundable except in circumstances where we fail to take the ride – for instance in heavy rain or snow. If the failure is ours, we refund the deposit. In the unlikely circumstances that you are not satisfied with the ride, there is not much we can do as the expenses have been incurred. We can only say that so far, in the 5 years of operation, we have never had any complaint about anything.
