Dear Friends
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| Kenzo, Asti & Stella Enjoying The Sun
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Spring is now well and truly underway and while the horses have all wintered well it is lovely to see them enjoying the sunshine and grazing amid the Spring flowers.
Our first Christmas and New Year at French Riding Holidays was a huge success. We had super guests who made it really special, so thanks to them all for being such great sports and joining in the party games and mounted treasure hunt with such enthusiasm.
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| Riding In The Snow On Boxing Day
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The murder mystery evening was a first for us all with everybody entering into their characters with relish. One guest spent the day slipping into his Belgian accent at odd moments! We can’t wait for an excuse to organize another one!
And then of course there was ‘The Present Game’ which brought out our competitive streaks. There were some excellent gifts and Peter made good use of the hip flask he won over the next few days!
Boxing Day brought beautiful blue skies and thick snow, it was magical, just like Christmas should be. We rode through a fantastical landscape with our sure footed horses looking after us superbly.
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| Making The Hams & Patê
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We are very well known for the wonderful dinners and picnics prepared for our guests at Mas de Clamouze and this January we have for the first time produced our own pate, jambonnau, and jambon. We are lucky to have Christianne Maurel here to advise and assist us.
We spent a day sourcing the best quality saucisse, foie gras, pork and ham, then the preparation and cooking began in earnest, combining traditional techniques and magic ingredients passed on by Christianne.
Once we had filled all our preserving tins they were taken to a lady in Asprieres for the tins to be sealed…
very time consuming as each tin is placed individually in the machine and sealed by hand before being boiled for three hours. We also preserved two huge hams in a vast container filled to the brim with salt. These have been left hanging in their individual ‘jambon sacs’ to dry ready for you all to enjoy. We sampled our jambonnau and pate de campagne in February and the verdict was ‘excellent’. The longer these products are left the greater the flavour, so for those of you visiting us later in the year you have a great treat in store.
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| Mithral
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Those of you who had the pleasure of riding the beautiful Arab Mithral when he was with us previously will be pleased to know we have now bought him and he is enjoying being back in work and showing off to all his old friends!
Nino our lovely grey Lusitano has grown into a great character and even those riders who are not yet experienced enough to ride him enjoy watching his antics in the field as he pirouettes and gallops past the other horses trying to encourage them to play.
we suspect he will find his way into the gîte to join us for dinner if the door is left open!
New Rides Too!
Derek has used the quieter periods throughout the winter to continue exploring the area by both horseback and motorbike resulting in some great new rides and variations on some of your favourites. When you visit ask him to take you to ‘The New Woods’ with its amazing views over the mountains of the Central Massif before a descent to the banks of the Lot below which provides a lovely canter along the sandy bank beside the river.
The Economy
While writing, we would like to remind you that your holiday with us is fully inclusive, and the price quoted before you leave England is the final price. Combined with our flexible arrival and departure dates that enable you to book cheaper midweek flights we are committed to making your French Riding Holiday great fun and fantastic value!
….Please help us to spread the word by forwarding this letter to your ‘horsey’ friends….and joining us on FACEBOOK.
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| Search: French Riding Holidays
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We look forward to welcoming you at Mas de Calmouze
Derek & Anne
