Day Rides · St James
Full-Day Adventure
For intermediate, experienced and advanced riders
This is no set route. Led by our most experienced guides, each ride is curated on the day based on the group’s experience, the weather, trail conditions, and everyone’s sense of adventure. That means no two rides are quite the same.
It can be a comfortable, scenic journey through magnificent St James, crossing rivers and creeks, with the pace adjusted if you’re feeling a little rusty. Or, if you’re up for it, something more adventurous — with greater elevation gain and faster stretches for those ready to push a bit further.
We expect guests for this ride to be confident on trot and canter, as well as prepared for the elements — sun, dust, wind, a bit of rain or even a scatter of snow is not unusual for the high country, and from our point of view it makes a great adventure.
Please note that trail conditions and group dynamics are always assessed by our guides, and it’s their responsibility to choose the route and set the pace on the day. We do everything we can to give every rider a great experience, but we can’t guarantee a particular level of manoeuvres — we operate in remote alpine terrain, and safety always comes first.
The day includes stops for lunch, rest, and plenty of photo opportunities along the way.
- Great for
- Intermediate, experienced and advanced riders
- Duration
- 6–7 hours, including stops for lunch, rest, and photos
- Route
- Not fixed — curated by our guides based on group and conditions
- Pace
- Varies from comfortable to adventurous, guide’s discretion
- Note
- We prioritise safety at all times in remote alpine terrain
Have more questions?
Before you book
The questions we are asked most often about this trip. Anything else, just ask — we answer honestly, even when the answer is "this one is not for you".
Not for our day rides — the horses are calm and we start slow, covering the basics before we leave the gate. Our overnight trips are private, so the guide sets the pace to you: the easy hot-springs nights suit complete first-timers, while the four-day Fowlers Circuit rewards fitness and saddle confidence. Keen, fit beginners are welcome on the bigger trips too — just tell us and we will make it work.
Day rides suit almost everyone. The Fowlers Circuit is physically and mentally demanding across remote, self-supported terrain — moderate-to-good fitness and saddle confidence required.
Yes — for safety and for the horses’ welfare, every ride and expedition has a minimum rider age of 10 and a maximum rider weight of 110 kg. If you’re near the weight limit, or riding with younger children, get in touch and we’ll talk through the options.
No — we are not able to take pregnant riders on any of our trips, at any stage of pregnancy. It is not caution on your behalf so much as arithmetic: a fall from a horse, hours from a road, with a helicopter that only flies when the weather lets it, is not a risk anyone should be carrying for two.
If you book and then find out you are pregnant, tell us as early as you can and we will talk through the options with you. You will not be worse off for telling us.
Long trousers, sturdy closed shoes or boots, a warm layer and a waterproof jacket. We supply helmets and tack. For overnights you bring a sleeping bag (or rent one from us) and personal layers.
Every overnight trip and expedition is private to your own party — a minimum of two riders and a maximum of four, with the pace built around you. Day rides are shared, but kept small: four to six riders, and the guide shapes the ride around the group.
We decide from the forecast before we leave, not at the road end. We do not travel if the overnight low is under −5°C, if gusts are forecast above 25 m/s, if heavy rain is set to sit over the whole trip, or if two of those stack up. If a trip has to move, we will work with you to shift it — so keep your travel dates as flexible as you can, especially in winter and the shoulder seasons.
A morning like this
