Home / Activities / On horseback
Rides of an hour, day trails or several days out. And on site, three donkeys and horses that are part of the scenery without being ridden.
Of all outdoor activities, riding may be the one the Drôme provençale suits best: dirt tracks everywhere, a web of drove roads and forest tracks inherited from pastoral farming, little traffic, and moderate gradients between 350 and 900 metres.
One point to be clear about: the farm is not a riding centre. There are horses and three donkeys on the property, but they are the family's animals — you look at them, you do not ride them. To ride, you need to go through a centre.
1 hr to several days
A former mill at La Bâtie-Rolland, on the D540, halfway between Montélimar and Dieulefit — 04 75 53 87 63.
Rides by the hour, day trails and multi-day trails, courses for children, teenagers and adults, and livery.
The interesting option on a holiday is the day trail: it is the only way to see this country at the pace it was laid out for.
On the property
Three donkeys, horses and around thirty Rove goats — the ones with long lyre-shaped horns. They live across the eighty hectares.
You do not ride them and you do not feed them, but you pass them every day. The story of the farm and its animals.
The terrain
The area is criss-crossed with dirt tracks, drove roads and forest tracks, maintained as part of the waymarked network of the Baronnies provençales.
Limestone ground, often stony: it works a horse's feet. This is trail riding country rather than arena country.
Because the landscape was made by animals. The drove roads that climb towards the ridges existed long before the roads did. They are still there, and they can still be ridden. It is a way of reading the country that no car allows.
Because there is nobody about. A trail ride needs tracks where you meet no quad bikes, no traffic and no crowds of walkers. Outside spring weekends, that is the case here.
And because the season is long. April to November, with two peaks of comfort in spring and autumn. In July and August, rides go out early in the morning: the heat weighs on the horse as much as on the rider.
Book before you arrive. The riding centres in the area are small: an hour's ride can often be found the day before, a day trail rarely. In July and August, allow several days' notice.
Describe your level honestly. This is not arena ground: there are stony descents and narrow passages. A beginner will be better served by a guided hour's ride than by a day out in open country.
Bring boots with a heel and long trousers. Hats are provided by the centres, but not always in every size: mention it when you book. And water: there is no drinking water on the tracks.
On foot or on a bike, slow down and make yourself heard rather than appearing in silence: a startled horse is a dangerous horse, for itself as much as for you.
If you are coming with a dog, keep it on the lead as soon as a horse or a flock comes into view. There are Rove goats on the property and flocks on the high ground.
Pays de Dieulefit-Bourdeaux — 04 75 46 42 49. This is the tourist office the farm belongs to: it keeps the lists of providers, the maps and the events up to date, in French, English, Dutch and German.
The tourist office keeps an up-to-date list of the riding providers in the area, which changes from one season to the next. Ask for it rather than relying on an old page found online.
Contact details and information checked in August 2026. Providers change their number, their season and their prices: call before you drive out. If you spot a mistake, tell Corine and we will correct it.
The map we keep up to date: the farm, the cliff, the trailheads, the bathing spots, the canoe bases and every provider named on these pages.
The map is supplied by Google. It only loads once you click, so that no cookie is set without your consent.
Two cottages for two on a family farm held since 1754. Book direct, no commission.