Horse riding in the Camargue

Camargue Horses

The 'Gardians and Gardiannes ride the little white horses which have lived here since pre-history; bones of the Solutre horses dating from the Paleolithic period (17,000 years ago) have been found in the area.

Prized for their calm and willing temperaments, Camargue horses form strong bonds with their riders. “A horse and rider become a team - almost like a married couple,” says Aurélien Jouvenel, of the Associations d'Elevage, Parc Naturel Régional de la Camargue (the Breeders’ Association).

Camargue horses (often called the 'horses of the sea') canter, swim, splash, struggle and wrestle their way through absolutely anything. They canter on pavements, gallop across fields, plunge snorting into canals, swim, trot and jump all day. They’ll happily splash through the sea, they’ll go forever across beaches and sand dunes, have no fear of flies and mosquitoes, and are not affected by the heat.

All of which in the past meant that there was a tendency amongst a small minority to treat them as four-footed motor cycles. These days, perhaps as a result of increasing numbers of women in the business, or perhaps under the influence of the eagle tourist eye, increasingly good care is taken of horses in the Camargue (regular worming, grooming, visits from the farrier and the vet, clean and well-maintained tack, accoutrements, etc). They are less likely to be overworked, and most retire at around 20 years old.

At birth they are coloured dark brown or black, but turn white around the fourth year. At around thirteen or fourteen hands they are technically ponies. They are used in rounding up Camargue bulls. They are never stabled.

MAS CONSTANTIN

Location: RD 36 - 13129 Salin de Giraud, Commune d'Arles
Tel: 04 42 48 81 75
Bikes for hire - plus carriage rides.