Riding Tours Blog

Day 6 – In the morning we packed up and the staff broke camp as we mounted and headed north toward Kaku, a two day ride away. By this time our guests had become accustomed to the Marwari horses with the ears that curve inward at the top. They used to be war horses, averaging about 15 hands and are bold and exotic. We were all happy with the way they were performing and grew to appreciate them more and more as the trip went on. We were impressed with their endurance because after galloping for 7 or 8 minutes they weren’t even breathing very hard. Bonnie has been using them with his team for endurance races against the Indian Army Cavalry with considerable success.

We rode along that day through gently rolling hills, sometimes following camel paths and sometimes just cutting across the fields. This was semi desert and I doubt that American farmers would have even tried to grow crops here, but in India the people have learned over the years to carve out an existence in this austere climate. The only time there is much rain is May and June when the monsoons usually come and if they fail there is starvation. Thus despite the temperate climate there can be only one crop a year, mainly millet and wheat.

After three or four hours of riding we stopped for lunch at a little oasis beside a small temple where banyan trees gave us shade. The grooms came forward to hold our horses and lead them away to water and eat during the lunch break. The jeeps had already set up a table and chairs for us. Cold drinks and beer were in the cooler. The staff had spread out a carpet and sleeping mats. A group of women in colorful saris stood quietly watching us. The buffet table was set and 8 or 10 different dishes were offered. We ate our lunch in the shade and then some of us took a short siesta before mounting up again. It is hard to imagine better service anywhere and even our horseback riding safari in Kenya, which is excellent, falls a little short of India.