Equitrekking Hits the Road

Today, I began my travel adventures on the East Coast, riding horses from the state of Georgia to the state of Vermont and filming for the Equitrekking™ television series.

Equitrekking is the first travel television series to explore the globe on horseback. Our new six-part series begins broadcasting nationally on Public Television in 2007. We're filming in high definition, in order to capture the beauty of the horses and scenery of each place that we visit.

We've already filmed in Ireland, New Mexico and Spain, discovering the best in horseback riding travel. For instance in Spain, I rode a fabulous white Andalusian horse named Figo through Doñana National Park, cantered along the wide beaches of Southern Spain, visited the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, experienced the Andalusian's aptitude for working cattle at a working farm outside of Seville, took a sunset ride on a breeding farm outside of Segovia and more. You can read those entries here. If you've ever taken a riding vacation or have dreamt about it, you know what I am writing about.

Each week or as often as I can get to the Internet, I'll be writing in this blog to tell you about the great horses, history and culture that I discover. Over the next couple of weeks, check back to read about:

Georgia: Savannah and the Golden Isles
We explore the history of horses on these barrier islands, live many people's dream of riding on the beach, learn about feral horses and their survival on Cumberland Island, trail ride with naturalists to learn about the environment on Sea Island, take a trip to Jekyll to ride on Driftwood beach and experience the island's once exclusive history, and enjoy historic Savannah in an imported Viennese carriage.

The Beaches and Mountains of the Carolinas
We step back in time to the small barrier island of Daufuskie, located off the coast of Hilton Head and only accessible via ferry. We ride to sites where the island's original inhabitants, the Cusabo Indians once lived, before cantering along wide Carolina beaches. Next we learn the art of carriage driving, during a beginning carriage driving clinic.

In the mountains of North Carolina, we hit the trails at the Biltmore Estate. We learn about natural horsemanship from a Parelli trained instructor and watch the kids in action during a session of summer camp.

In Cherokee, we ride horses through the Great Smoky Mountains with Cherokee community members, learning about the history and importance of horses to these Native Americans.

Vermont: Morgan Horses, Icelandic Horse Inn-to-Inn Ride
You don't have to travel to Iceland to enjoy riding Icelandic horses. From the Icelandic Horse Farm, we enjoy an inn-to-inn ride through the Mad River Valley. Next we venture north to Shelburne, South of Burlington, to the National Museum of the Morgan Horse to delve into the history of the Morgan horse. Then we get up close to the foals at the University of Vermont's Morgan Horse Farm.

Finally, we head to The Mountain Top Inn & Resort near Killington, Vermont. This intimate inn offers lessons in cross country, dressage and jumping, trail rides with picnic lunches in the forest, a children's program and pristine lake.

In August, we'll travel to Wyoming and Colorado. Stay tuned for more adventures!