Accommodation

Check-in Time:

18:30

Check-out Time:

10:00

Guest House with Chambres d’Hôtes, swimming pool, and bed-and-breakfast

During this holiday, you will stay in a single, double, twin, or a shared room in a three-star level guest house with a huge private pool, bed, and breakfast. The equestrian center and guesthouse of high standing offer the view on the arena and some field with horses. The equestrian center is situated 150 meters (two minutes by foot) and the beach is at 10 minutes by car.

It is composed of three guesthouses with six Chambre d’hôtes for single, double, twin, and shared bedroom for three and four people, one family bedroom for four to six people with two bathrooms, one small kitchen, and one private terrace, as well as a guesthouse for families with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a huge kitchen, and living room situated 10 meters from the Equestrian Center

Hotel

In case there are not enough rooms for all guests, the accommodation will be in a hotel on the seafront of Mimizan-plage.

Manor House - Wednesday evening

Here, you will have dinner, as well as bed-and-breakfast and stay in 6 Chambres d'Hôtes for single, double, or twin accommodation.

Bivouac (July-August)

For five weeks in July and August, depending on climatic conditions, spend one night in a bivouac (May 5 - July 12, July 12 - 19, July 26 - August 02, August 9 - 16, August 16 - 23). The bivouac is organized in very nice surroundings, beside a wonderful river with very clear water where it is possible to swim. It is a wild campsite in the middle of nature, with the horses staying at the opposite side of the river.

Spend the evening around a campfire, eating barbecue accompanied by local-made Sangria. The riding center provides tents with comfortable mattresses, sheets to cover mattresses, and pillows. There is a shelter with tables and chairs for dinner and breakfast. If the weather is not good or if some riders prefer to stay at the guesthouse, Centre Équestre le Marina may cancel the campsite night and bring the riders back to the Equestrian Guesthouse.

The participation of the riders are welcome for the settlement. Centre Équestre le Marina recommends guests to bring their own sleeping bag. Centre Équestre le Marina provides sheets and blankets if some riders are missing them. All along the way of the trip, people can swim in the lake or rivers during lunchtime. Do not forget to keep swimming clothes with you on the way!

Program

Day 1 - Sunday: Arrival day

Transfer by minibus organized by the equestrian center for guests.
16:00 Pick up time at Bordeaux airport
17:00 Pick up time at Bordeaux railway station
19:00 Arrival to Mimizan for all riders coming with or without the transfer.
20:30 Departure for the dinner at the restaurant
21:00 Dinner

Day 2 - Monday: Mimizan - Bias (20 kilometers / 3 hours on a horse)

Briefing about the week and the horse ride, visit of Mimizan Beach for shopping, free lunch in the city, meeting with the horses, and the first day ride on departure for the six-day trail without coming back to the base with the horses.

09:00 Breakfast
10:00 Meeting with all riders after the breakfast and briefing time with the guide about the week's program.
10:30 The clients are dropped to Mimizan Beach to visit and walk through the village and on the beach for some shopping before the trail and take the lunch in the restaurant of their choice (not included in the price).
13:30 Pick up time in front of the tourism office and way back to the guesthouse.
14:00 Meeting at the stable for a briefing about the horses, the equipment, and the itinerary.
16:00 The ride starts in the arena for 30 minutes, this enables the riders to get used to their horses and discover the French way to ride them. It also gives the opportunity to control different levels and expectations of each rider, putting them on the horses that suit them best over the six following days. Then it’s time to discover carefully the different paces, walking and trotting, one by one with hacking out. Centre Équestre le Marina is not riding nose to tail during that week, giving the opportunity for each rider to keep control of his own horse at different paces. This way of hacking out offers every rider to avoid the dust made by the riders in front, to choose the speed of the pace each rider wants to have, from slow to a quick trot and from canter to quick gallop! Centre Équestre le Marina's horses used to be independent of the others and may stay walking when other horses are starting to trot or galloping in front of them! They stay under the control of the riders and not under the group of horses. It avoids having horses trotting all the time if some walk slow when some are walking quickly! Centre Équestre le Marina's short surroundings are very beautiful and the very wild landscape offers, from the top of natural dunes, some nice views above the ocean.
19:00 Transfer back to the guesthouse and its swimming pool by minibus (8 minutes)
19:30 Relaxing time
20:30 Departure for the dinner
21:00 Dinner at the restaurant

Day 3 - Tuesday: Bias - Contis - St. Julien (30 kilometers / 5 hours on a horse)

Five hours to discover an original forest, coast landscape with high sandy dune (up to 150 meters over the sea level), and first beach ride either in the morning or in the evening, according to the tide of the ocean.

08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Transfer to the horse’s field of the night
10:00 Start of the trail ride
13:30 Lunchtime and resting time
16:00 Start of the ride
19:00 Transfer back to the guesthouse and its swimming pool by minibus (8 minutes)
19:30 Relaxing time
20:30 Departure for the dinner
21:00 Dinner at the restaurant

Day 4 - Wednesday: St. Julien - Mezos - Levignacq - Lesperon (35 kilometers / 5 hours on a horse)

The landscape and nature are changing every day, offering all the various views of “The Landes”, wild nature and wonderful ground for galloping. During the next two days, you'll spend as much time walking than with trotting, cantering, or galloping. Visit of the most beautiful village of Landes “Lévignacq".

An afternoon adventure trip in the wild along a clear and fresh river. Arrive at “Moulin de Caremonge”, a wonderful and unexpected place where you’ll leave the horses in their field beside a lake for the night. Have a relaxing evening time in the garden or beside the swimming pool; have dinner and overnight at a Manor House.

08:00 Breakfast, time to prepare small luggage for the next night in the Manor House.
09:00 Transfer to the horses' field of the night
10:00 Departure on a horse
13:30 Lunch at Lévignacq and resting time
16:00 Departure on a horse
18:30 Short transfer by minibus (5 minutes) to the Manor of Tireveste
20:30 Dinner

Day 5 - Thursday: Lesperon - Uza - Bias (30 kilometers / 4.5 hours on a horse)

Wild nature and wonderful ground for galloping. Visit a bird reserve crossing and Uza village belonging to Mr. le Comte de Lur Saluces, owner of the famous Château Ychem Sauternes Vignard. Have lunchtime at Uza Lake in a typical restaurant with Landes specialty. Various landscapes and ride along the river in the original forest during the afternoon. Dinner at the equestrian guest house.

08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Departure to Caremonge, the horses’ field of the night (5 minutes)
10:00 Departure on horse
13:30 Lunch Time at Uza and resting time
16:00 Departure on a horse for a 2 more hours ride
19:00 Transfer back by minibus (10 minutes) to the equestrian guest house and its swimming pool
19:30 Relaxing time at the guesthouse
20:30 Departure for the dinner
21:00 Dinner at the restaurant

Day 6 - Friday: Bias - Lespecier - Ocean (19 kilometers / 4 hours on a horse)

Half day rest and half-day ride in the morning or in the evening depending on the low tide. Enjoy a natural forest crossing and access to the beach, spend two hours on the beach. This half-day trail gives riders the opportunity to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean and have some more exciting gallops along the beach. The other half-day gives riders time to relax beside the swimming pool at the guesthouse. If the weather is fine, from June to the end of September, riders have the opportunity to play and swim in the ocean with or without their horses.

08:00 or 10:00 Breakfast
20:00 or 21:00 Dinner

Day 7 - Saturday: Mimizan Village - Aureilhan Lake - Mimizan Beach (30 kilometers / 5 hours on a horse)

Full day ride, ride in the forest and along Aureilhan Lake (a protected area). Ride along the river to Mimizan Beach, forest and beach ride with the sunset. According to the tide schedules, this program can be reversed.

08:00 Breakfast.
09:00 Departure to the horses' place
10:00 Departure on horse
13:00 Lunch along the river
15:30 Departure on horse
19:00 Arrival at the guesthouse

Day 8 - Sunday

Departure after breakfast
A transfer is organized for guests from Mimizan to Bordeaux airport or Bordeaux railway station. Departure from the guest house will be according to the flight or train schedule of the first client.

Trail

This is a sporting trail for experimented to advanced riders in good physical condition! This trail requires good and fit riders, confident at all paces and able to ride several hours over varied and sometimes challenging terrain. For security reasons and for everyone's comfort, Centre Équestre le Marina asks riders to be confident enough to walk or trot independently through the forest, to canter or gallop alone on the sandy ways in the forest, in order to avoid the dust made by front riders. On the beach, riders must be able to gallop alone or by groups of two or three riders and to leave and come back to the group under good control.

Riding pace

Moderate with lots of fast sections.

Instructors

Michel Girard Mille

With 30 years of experience in teaching horse riding in harmony between horse and rider, Michel provides a huge experience of instructing the quality of the communication between horse and rider in dressage and show jumping. Showing up with successful own competing until the age of 45, he followed up with giving classes to his students who provided various placements at the national level (French championships). In love with his horses and nature, he is a guide who established itineraries with exceptional views and picknick spots in the region of Aquitaine, Perigord, Basque Mountains.

Location

Distances

Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD), 70 miles - 1.5 hours
Morcenx, 20 miles - 30 minutes

Food

All meals are included from Sunday evening to Sunday morning, except on Monday for lunch, to give you the opportunity to visit Mimizan beach and find some nice restaurants according to your preference or to have lunch on the beach. Lunch and dinner are a planned menu for everybody.

Dinners are organized at the guesthouse, according to the program of the day where Centre Équestre le Marina will provide local specialties or in different restaurants, where guests will have the possibility to taste food from different countries (seafood, Spanish cuisine, Moroccan food, etc.). ¼-liter wine or soda and coffee are provided in all restaurants during the week and on the way. Other drinks are considered extra and have to be paid directly to the restaurant.

Centre Équestre le Marina offers special meals for vegetarians or vegans. The lunch provided on the way is a real meal served with tables and chairs and French aperitif and appetizer, Bordeaux red wine, soup or salad according to the weather, chicken or meat and veggies, French cheese, dessert, and coffee or tea. A car follows the group for lunch and carries the luggage of the riders to the manor house on Wednesday evening or for the bivouac.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Dinner

The following drinks are included:

Water
Coffee
Tea
Soda
Alcoholic beverages

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Vegetarian
Vegan
Regular (typically includes meat and fish)

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

What's included

5 days with full horse riding activity (2 days passing by the beach)
1 day with half-day horse riding activity
7 nights accommodation
All taxes
Full board on all whole-day rides
Half a day of test riding in order to find the best horse for the rider

What's not included

Airfare
Airport transfers
Lunches on Monday
Non-rider rate in a double room

How to get there

Recommended Airports

BOD

Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport

82 km

Transfer available for additional US$51 per person

Arrival by airplane or by train

Please book your flight to arrive at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD). Transfers are organized from and to Bordeaux airport and railway station every Sunday for 2 to 12 riders. The Bordeaux-Morcenx train is always empty; if you are traveling alone, please wait at the last minute to buy this train ticket at the railway station, to give Centre Équestre le Marina time to find the opportunity to pick you up at Bordeaux, if it’s possible.

As people are arriving from various destinations in Europe, Centre Équestre le Marina picks up starting from 4 p.m., and the minibus leaves Bordeaux according to the timing of the last customer’s arrival. Centre Équestre le Marina drops people on Sunday morning, departure day, according to the departure time of the first client.

Centre Équestre le Marina kindly asks you to try to plan the arrival time in Bordeaux at 4 p.m. or before, as much as possible and to plan the flight departure time from Bordeaux from 12:30 p.m. and later. There are two hours of driving between Mimizan and Bordeaux, departure at Mimizan at 8:30 a.m. means arrival at the airport at 11:30 a.m. for a flight at 1 p.m. if check-in is 1.5 hours before.

The cost of the transfer is 45 EUR each way per person and 90 EUR for the roundtrip. It also includes all transfers during the trail week according to the program. Two minibusses are provided for transfers of more than eight persons for the same price.

Arrival from Morcenx Railway Station

A transfer can be organized from Morcenx railway station for one person at 35 EUR per trip and 20 EUR for two or more persons per trip. For night transfers from 9 p.m. the price is doubled.

Arrival from Bordeaux Airport, 70 miles - 2 hours
From Morcenx, 20 miles - 30 minutes
Special pickup time: Bordeaux on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Special dropping time: Bordeaux on Sunday at 11 a.m. or before

Arrival by shuttle

There is a shuttle from Bordeaux airport to the railway station: 15 EUR (45 minutes). Then, you have to find a train to Labouheyre: 21 EUR (50 minutes) then take the RDTL Bus from Labouheyre to Mimizan from 11:30 to 12:20 all year: 5 EUR (40 minutes).

Airport: Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport Airport transfer available: Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (US$51 per person) Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.

Cancellation Policy

A reservation requires a deposit of 30% of the total price.
The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
The rest of the payment should be paid 21 days before arrival.

Menu

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