Lessons, instruction and schooling — find a yard to learn the ropes or bring a horse on.
Reiterbauernhof Gfreinhof is a riding farm in Hafling near Meran, South Tyrol, run by Sandra and Peter. It keeps twelve Haflinger horses. The riding programme covers lungeing, pony rides, private lessons, group lessons and trail rides into the surrounding countryside. Guests can also join stable tours and help groom and untack the horses, and the farm lets holiday apartments.
Katharina Mair offers integrative animal-assisted education with horses in South Tyrol. Programmes are tailored to age groups, from mothers with toddlers to children, teenagers and adults, plus individual sessions. She also gives riding lessons and trains horses, including Equikinetic and Dualaktivierung work after Michael Geitner.
Gstatschhof is a farm with a pony and horse ranch on the Seiser Alm above Kastelruth in South Tyrol. It offers basic and advanced riding courses, half-day and full-day rides, hacks, pony trekking, led pony rides and grooming courses. Riders also get theory lessons. The farm also lets holiday apartments.
Dr. Charlotte Wagner runs a training centre for classical riding art in Gschnitz, Austria, combining horse training with medical knowledge. She has worked in horse training for over 25 years, including with horses that show problem behaviour or difficult physical conditions. Horses can stay for training for a chosen period or be boarded permanently in the open-stable group. She teaches riders with their own horses in single sessions, full days or intensive days and weeks, with holiday flats available on site.
Haflinger Telser is a family-run Haflinger breeding farm, the Tröghof, in Laas in South Tyrol's Vinschgau. The family has bred Haflingers for more than 30 years, runs a stallion station with licensed stallions and trains horses. Horses are offered for sale, and riding lessons are given for children and adults. The farm also lets two holiday apartments.
Haflinger Royal is a purebred Haflinger breeding operation run by Katja Müller at the Schloss Baslan stud in Tscherms, South Tyrol. It stands Haflinger stallions at its covering station and breeds from its own mare herd, with home-bred horses carrying the suffix Royal. Young horses are reared in a herd on about two hectares, and horses are prepared for shows and licensing. The business also cares for livery horses, markets horses for sale and runs a riding school with its Haflingers for children and adults.
Alps Coliseum is a horse training centre in Neumarkt, South Tyrol, specialising in reining and Icelandic horses. A team of three trainers offers individual training for riders and horses, Beritt, corrective training, young-horse education and competition preparation. Its riding school Reitzauber gives lessons for children and adults on school horses. The facility rents its arena, offers guest boxes for visiting horses and hosts events and shows with over 137 boxes and a 45 x 75 m hall.
Flachenhof is a mountain farm on the Ritten in South Tyrol run by the Rottensteiner family, with its own riding horses and ponies kept in an open stable. Julia Rottensteiner, a qualified riding instructor and trail-ride leader, gives riding lessons for all ages, trail rides, summer weeks and Team Pony Concept sessions. The farm also offers groundwork, children's riding and winter riding. Holiday apartments are available for guests.
Ponyhof Hasental is a pony farm in Ampass near Innsbruck. Families hire a pony and an adult leads it on a roughly 45-minute ride through woods and meadows after being shown how to handle it. The farm also organises children's birthday parties with pony riding and campfire grilling. Visits are in the afternoon by phone appointment.
Reiterhof Warger is a small family-run riding farm about 4 km outside Nauders in the Tyrolean Oberland, built in 2010. Its horses are mainly Haflingers, most of them bred on the farm. It offers guided individual and group trail rides, led riding in the arena for children and beginners, and carriage and sleigh rides including night sleigh rides and a wedding carriage. Trail riders must be at least 12 and confident in walk, trot and canter.
Marty Stables is a training centre for horse and rider in Rüti ZH that teaches classical riding in the tradition of Manuel Jorge de Oliveira. It has a 20 x 40 m indoor arena, a 20 x 60 m outdoor arena, 35 boxes with paddocks, pastures and a riders' lounge. The programme includes the Escola training courses, weekend workshops, private lessons and schooling of horses. It also runs events, sells horses and has a shop for riding clothing and books.
Freizeit Pferdehof in Lenzerheide offers carriage rides through the landscape with its two Noriker mares. It also gives private riding lessons on a sand arena, guided hacks and groundwork sessions. In summer, children from four to twelve can join mornings covering horse care and a first ride. The family also farms Dexter cattle on an organic mountain farm.
Apart Birkenhof is a farm in Galtür that keeps 8 horses alongside 10 cattle. In the summer months it offers riding lessons with its own horses, for beginners through to advanced riders. Riding lessons are only available in summer. The property also has four apartments for two to seven people.
Kinderreiten Felsberg teaches children to ride using the Hippolini concept on Icelandic horses and ponies. Courses range from a mini club for children from about four years old to three progressive Hippolini courses. Small groups learn handling, care, balance and riding at walk and trot. Lessons are given by Yvonne Nold, a Hippolini instructor and horse behaviour therapist.
Zentrum für Mensch und Pferd offers remedial and therapeutic riding for children, young people and adults, including people with disabilities, autism or learning difficulties. It also teaches riding based on the principles of classical horsemanship. For horses, it offers groundwork courses such as lungeing and gymnastics, as well as circus-style lessons. The centre is run by a qualified riding therapist and special-needs teacher.
Engadin River Ranch in Madulain offers guided rides in the Engadin, from short rides to day and multi-day tours. It also offers riding lessons for all levels, rides for small children, carriage rides and skijoring. Guests can use a hot pot, sauna and lounge for private events.
Snjóka Islandpferdehof is an Icelandic horse yard in Untervaz near the Rhine. Its riding school offers regular lessons, children's and youth riding camps, theme days and training on the oval track. The yard runs open stables for 18 horses and currently boards around ten livery horses alongside its own. It also takes in client horses for schooling and offers the basic horse-handling and gaited horse certificate courses.
Rainbow-Ranch is a pony and horse yard between Zurich and Chur near the Walensee, operating since 1999. It offers riding lessons, children's riding courses, trail rides, riding camps, pony camps, pony walks and pony birthday parties. The ranch runs preparation courses for the basic horse-handling diploma and offers riding therapy. It also provides horse boarding (Pferdepension).
Gina Henny runs a family yard in Cazis offering riding lessons based on classical principles, on site or mobile within 50 km. The yard boards up to 16 horses in group or individual turnout boxes, and stallions are welcome. Horses can be taken in for schooling and training. Weekend courses in classical riding are held regularly, some with invited instructors.
SurTrekk (Surselva Pferdetrekking) offers guided horse rides and treks along the Vorderrhein in Graubünden. Riders use western saddles on calm, one-handed trained Criollo horses. Walks with a led horse are also possible for families with children. Beginners are welcome, and its programme includes summer trekking, winter rides, skijoring and moonlight rides.
Pferdeplausch is a small riding and livery yard run by Sandra Zöbeli in Stäfa. It offers a riding school, trail rides and children's birthday parties with its ponies and horses. The yard also runs a boarding stable, which currently has no free places. Visitors can arrange to see the ponies, horses, stable and riding facility on site.
Reiten & Yoga organises riding holidays for adults that combine trail rides with yoga sessions designed for riders. Retreats run in the Engadin and the Jura as well as abroad, including Iceland, the Azores, Sicily, Morocco and Namibia. Rides without yoga and English-language rides are also offered, for beginners and experienced riders. The business was founded in 2014 by Catherine Lippuner.
Stalla Chapella is a riding, training and boarding stable in Cinuos-chel in the Upper Engadine, run by riding instructor Eva Baumann since 2017. It offers riding lessons based on natural horsemanship and classical dressage, lunge seat lessons, children's riding and family half-days with the horses. The stable also trains horses, takes boarders and hosts holidays with or without your own horse. An archery course is run alongside the stable.
Anima-Reitkunst is the riding instruction business of Ladina Cattaneo in Ibach, Schwyz. She teaches classical riding with a focus on balance, gymnastic training and healthy development of the horse. Services include private riding lessons at the client's own yard, groundwork and in-hand work, online lessons and holiday cover for horse owners.
