6 Day Multi-Activity Winter Horse Riding Holiday in Svansele, Swedish Lapland
Amazing Horse Riding Holiday Sweden
If you dream of discovering the Great North, this horse riding holiday is for you. Here is a magical way to discover Lapland surrounded by nature and animals.
Key information
- Rider Weight Limit: 187 pounds / 85 kilograms
- Horse Height Range: 13 - 14 hands / 1,30m - 1,45m
- Horse Breed: Icelandic
Highlights
- 3 horse rides
- Ride through snowy paths, forests, and frozen lakes
- Exciting dog sledding and snowshoeing with sled dog
- Play time with horses at liberty
- Encountering with Sami people and their reindeers
- 5 nights accommodation
- Daily meals
- Transfers to and from the airport
Skill level
- Intermediate
Styles
Accommodation
During the whole stay, you will be staying at the lovely campsite Rännudden, on the shore of the lake Norsjön, approximately 25 minutes away from Horses of Taiga's farm. You will share a two-person stuga, the typical Swedish cabin. Each stuga has its toilet and shower. If you are a group of three people, you can even decide to all stay in the same cabin as there is one single bed and a double bed-sofa.
Program
During this winter adventure, Horses of Taiga offers you a real adventure in the wilderness, three rides on Icelandic horses, dogsledding, encounters with reindeer, as well as local and traditional food at every meal. The whole experience is certified by Nature's Best Sweden, the Swedish label for ecotourism.
Daily itinerary
Day 1: Arrival
Arrival at Skellefteå airport in the afternoon. Horses of Taiga will pick you up and drive you to your accommodation, the lovely campsite of Rännudden. You settle into your cabin for the week and have a relaxing first evening. Dinner is served in a small restaurant.
Day 2: First ride in the snow and play time
Breakfast at the camp. They pick you up in the morning for a whole day at the farm. After getting all the necessary warm equipment, you will meet their fluffy Icelandic horses, prepare them for the ride and get to know a little more about their specificities. When everyone is ready, we take directly the direction of the forest for a 2-hour ride. Tölting in the snow is a unique feeling!
After the tour, you will enjoy a nice lunch around the fire, cooked from the most local products.
In the afternoon, you get to bond even more with your new fluffy friend thanks to a fun play-time in the riding arena. In teams, your horse at liberty will have to understand your signals to go through small challenges.
After a warm drink in the kåta, we drive you back to the camp where you will enjoy a nice diner.
Day 3: Full-day ride
Breakfast at the camp. Today, you spend the whole day with the horses. You drive to the farm, pick the horses, pack your lunch in the saddle bags, and get everything ready for the ride. You ride through snowy landscapes, between frozen lakes and hopefully spotting a few animals. Reindeers, mooses, and foxes - you never know who you can meet on the way. You stop by a lake for lunch and make a warming fire. Then you take the road again with fluffy companions. Dinner and night at the camp.
Day 4: Dog sledding and meet the reindeer
Breakfast at the camp. In the morning, you drive to the kennel, in Dragnäs. There you will meet Jenny and Basti and their sled dogs. They will first give you all the instructions for the adventure. Then you will go for an exciting experience: driving your own dog team. You share a sled with another participant, so everyone gets to try driving as well as sitting in the sled. After this exciting adventure, you drive to Börje, a reindeer herder.
He will serve you a nice warm lunch around the fire and tell you about the life and ancestral customs of his people, the Sami, who were once nomadic, traveling according to the movements of the herd. In the afternoon, you get the chance to observe the reindeer up close. Dinner and night at the camp.
Day 5: Snowshoe hike with a sleddog, moonlight ride
After breakfast, you drive to Jenny and Basti’s farm again for your next adventure: a snowshoe hike accompanied by sled dogs. They will show you how to enjoy the hike at its most. It can be a bit challenging, but the pace will always be adapted to the participants and the weather. A nice homemade lunch will take place in the forest or at the farm, according to temperature.
Later in the afternoon, you head back to the farm for a moonlight ride. There is no feeling like riding in the dark, letting your horse guide you through the night. The moonlight, pitch dark, or sometimes even northern lights - every weather condition makes this experience unique. After the ride, you warm up with a nice woodfire sauna and a warm dinner around the fire at the farm. You then drive you back to the camp for the night.
Day 6: Departure
Already the last day. After breakfast, they drive you back to Skellefteå where you can catch your transport towards home or your next adventure.
Riding information
- Level: Comfortable in all gaits and good physical condition needed
Important information
Winter in Lapland is quite demanding for the body. Thus make sure you are in a good physical condition when you come there. Walking, riding, playing outside in temperatures that can be from minus 10 to minus 30 Celsius degrees, and with heavy clothes on: your heart needs to be prepared.
Location
The holiday will take place in Norsjö, Västerbotten, Sweden. Not far away from the Arctic Circle, at the door of Lapland, is this wonderful and mystical polar region, the land of snow, ice, berries, reindeer, and mooses. All around the place, you can enjoy the peace and the wild feeling of the Taiga, also known as boreal forest or snow forest. In Sweden, the Taiga consists of wide forests of pines, spruce, and birch and is inhabited by thousands of wild animals such as elks, foxes, lynx, and even bears. When in the forest, you can also meet the Sami people with their herd of reindeer.
Food
All meals from dinner on day one to breakfast on day six are included in the price. All the meals noted “at the camp” will be served in the small restaurant. Dinners consist of two courses and are homemade from local products. The restaurant has its own bar where you can enjoy a drink in the evening.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Lacto-ovo Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Pescatarian
What's included
- Guiding for the rides and other activities
- 5 nights accommodation in a 2-person cabin
- All meals
- Airport transfers
- Transportation to the activities
- Possibility to borrow a riding helmet, riding mittens, and a warm riding overall
What's not included
- Airfare
- Alcoholic drinks
- Single supplement fee (500 SEK per night)
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Skellefteå Airport
88 km
Transfer included
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Skellefteå Airport (SFT). Transfer from and to the airport is included. Horses of Taiga will pick you up from the airport. The transfers are planned for an arrival at 2:40 p.m. in Skellefteå on day one (departure from Stockholm at 1:30 p.m.) and a departure at 10:00 a.m. from Skellefteå on day six (arrival in Stockholm at 11:10 a.m.)
Arrival by train
You can take a train to Bastuträsk. Let Horses of Taiga know if you choose this option.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.