Take your horse · UK
Take Your Horse on Holiday
Taking your own horse on holiday needs safe stabling or turnout, grazing or hay, access a lorry can use, the horse's passport and insurance that covers riding away from home.
At a glance
What should you know first?
- Our cottageGwel-an-Derowen, Noonvares Farm, west Cornwall
- StablingTwo horses
- GrazingOn site
- Trailer parkingOn site
- At the cottagePrivate hot tub
- PaperworkHorse passport, kept with the horse
- Horse careSelf-care on most holiday lets
The basics
What do you need to take your horse on holiday?
You need safe stabling or secure turnout, grazing or hay, an access track a lorry or trailer can use, your horse's passport and insurance that covers riding away from home.
The first three belong to the place you stay, and a good listing tells you about them. The last two travel with you. They are also the two checked least often before a trip, which is why each has its own section below.
After that, a holiday with your own horse comes down to the distance, the riding from the door and how much of the stable work falls to the guest.
Before you book
What should you check before you book stabling for your horse?
Check the stabling, the fencing, the lane, the forage, the water and where you can ride from, because most of it is never on a listing.
Stabling
Turnout
Access
Forage
Water
Muck
Riding out
Insurance
We keep horses ourselves, so this is the list we would work through before sending one of ours anywhere. All of it is settled before you arrive rather than after.
A stable and a field shelter are two different things, and a horse that has always come in at night will soon tell you which it wanted. Fencing is the first thing a strange horse tests. Particularly in a field that other horses are grazing the same week.
Grazing in February is not grazing in July. A trough in the field and a tap at the stable are two different jobs at six in the morning. And whether you barrow to the muck heap or drive to it changes the shape of every morning of the week.
Riding from the door, or boxing up every day, decides the whole week. A first mile of busy road is a different start to the day from a first mile of bridleway, for a horse that has never seen either.
Stay with us
Where can you stay with your horse in Cornwall?
Gwel-an-Derowen, our own cottage at Noonvares Farm in west Cornwall, has stabling for two horses, grazing on site and parking for a trailer.
It is a historic cottage with a private hot tub, and the farm animals are on the doorstep: our own horses, pygmy goats, an owl and a red-tailed hawk. The horses are seen to in the morning and the hot tub is there in the evening, with the stable a short walk from the door.
Most stabling on a holiday let is self-care, which means you do the feeding, the mucking out and the night check yourself. If you would rather a yard did that for you, a livery yard near your route is the better fit.
Gwel-an-Derowen is the first entry in our directory of places that take your horse, which lists each property with its stabling, grazing and access.
Beach riding
Can you ride your own horse on the beach in Cornwall?
You can ride on some Cornish beaches, but access for horses is set beach by beach and often changes with the season, so each beach needs checking before you go.
Is the beach open to horses this month?
Is there parking a trailer or lorry can use?
Where is the safe way on to the sand?
Who is riding with you?
What is the tide doing when you arrive?
Riding your own horse on sand is the reason a lot of people bring one to Cornwall. It is also the part that goes wrong most often, because a horse that has never seen the sea behaves differently from the horse you ride at home.
Footing comes first. Deep dry sand is hard work and wet firm sand is not, and the difference between them can be a few metres. Then the water, which moves, makes a noise and comes at your horse sideways.
A first beach ride goes best at a walk, in company, well inside the tide. Work the tide rather than your diary, and rinse the salt and sand off legs and tack afterwards, because sand under a girth or inside a boot causes the rub you find two days later.
The questions in the table are our own judgement, from keeping horses in west Cornwall.
Horse care
How do you look after your horse on holiday?
Keep the feed, the routine and the water as close to home as you can, and give your horse a day of rest before any demanding ride.
A horse on holiday is away from its routine, its field mates and its water, and most problems on a trip come from one of those three rather than from the riding. Horses often drink less when the water tastes different. And a horse that drinks less after a long drive is the one to watch.
Bring your own feed and change nothing on the trip. Take hay from home if you can. Any medicines or supplements your horse already has travel with it, along with a first-aid kit for horse and rider that lives in the lorry rather than the house.
On a long drive, a well-ventilated lorry or trailer and regular stops help a horse arrive calm. The day of rest is the most useful thing you can give it, and it is the first thing a holiday schedule squeezes.
A vet decides for an individual horse, so if something is wrong on holiday, the answer is a local equine vet. Find out who that is before you travel rather than when you need one.
Paperwork
Does your horse need a passport to go on holiday?
Yes: in England every horse, pony and donkey must have a passport, and it must stay with the animal at all times, including at its stable and when you move it.
Passport
Where it is kept
Microchip
Fines
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
The rule is the government's, set out on GOV.UK, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own. Source: GOV.UK, Horse passports, read 24 September.
Your insurance is the other half of the paperwork. Riding cover often stops at your own yard, so read the wording on riding away from home rather than the summary. Our guide to horse riding travel insurance covers the cover for holidays on somebody else's horses.
Where to ride
Which UK routes suit a riding holiday with your own horse?
The Pennine Bridleway and the South Downs Way are two long-distance bridleway routes you can ride for several days with your own horse.
Pennine Bridleway
South Downs Way
The Pennine Bridleway is the only long-distance route designed specifically for horse riders. The South Downs Way follows old routes and droveways across the chalk downs of Hampshire and Sussex. With somebody driving the lorry to meet you, either can be ridden in stages. Or in day rides out from one base.
Source: the official national trails website, read 24 September.
Common questions
Questions about taking your horse on holiday
Can I take my horse on holiday in the UK?
Yes. You need a place with stabling or secure turnout, grazing or hay, access for a lorry or trailer, your horse's passport and insurance that covers riding away from home. Gwel-an-Derowen in west Cornwall has stabling for two horses and grazing on site.
What facilities should I look for when I bring my horse on holiday?
Safe stabling with good bedding, fencing your horse cannot get through, grazing or hay, water close to the stable and room to park and turn a lorry. An arena, or bridleways from the yard, add a great deal to a week.
What is the difference between a farm stay and a cottage stay with a horse?
A farm stay puts you on a working farm, with its animals and routine around you. A cottage stay is private and self-contained. Gwel-an-Derowen is both: a cottage of its own, on a farm with horses, goats and birds of prey.
How long should my horse rest after travelling?
Give a day before any demanding ride. Horses often drink less when the water tastes different, so drinking is worth watching closely after a long drive, and a local vet is the call if anything seems wrong.
Can I bring my dog as well as my horse?
Some places that take horses also take dogs, and some do not. If you have dogs or cats, confirm that the accommodation welcomes them as well.
How many horses can stay at Gwel-an-Derowen?
Two. The cottage has stabling for two horses, with grazing on site and parking for a trailer.
Where to go next
Where next
Bring your horse to Cornwall
Gwel-an-Derowen at Noonvares Farm has stabling for two, grazing and trailer parking. Tell us your dates and we will check them for you.