Horse riding tutor in France – Margaretha

Meet Margaretha. With her husband Charles they run our horse riding and wine tasting holiday, walking and weight loss  and wine tasting holiday and wine tasting, walking and French chat holiday near Bordeaux, France.

Margaretha was born in South Africa and grew up in France before studying medicine. Since she was a child she’s been passionate about horses.

“I’ve always wanted to ride more regularly and own my own horses, but while I was working as a doctor, I just never had the time,” She said.

It wasn’t until, after 15 years of struggling with a gradually blinding eye condition, Margaretha gave up her career in medicine instead turning her full attention to her other passion – horses.

“I discovered the healing power of horses and decided to share my discovery through equine-assisted experiential learning, aiming to help others benefit from horses. At our Red Wine Retreats, I use equine-assisted experiential learning to help guests develop a practical strategy that will enable them to set realistic goals, like weight loss or learning French, and to realise these goals in the shortest time possible.”

Margaretha met Charles at a wedding in Scotland, and before they knew it they had packed up and moved back to France.

“We searched for a suitable property for 2 years; we wanted to be near vineyards because of my husband’s interest in wines but we also needed enough land for the horses. We were also attracted by the easy-going and friendly Gascons and the stunning and varied landscape of Gascony.”

“When we came across an elegant manor house dating from the 18th century we immediately knew that this was the one: secluded, but not isolated in its own valley, it was surrounded by vineyards, sunflower fields, woods, meadows and lakes but still only 2 km for a village with all amenities, with enough land surrounding it for us to be able to keep several horses.”

How did you start running the holidays?

The idea of running courses first originated from our desire to share our beautiful region, our house and our horses and this low-stress, healthy lifestyle with others and evolved gradually according to our guests’ feedback.

What do you love most about running the courses?

The guests: meeting people from all over the world, all with their own ideas, hopes and dreams and helping them realise these.

What do you do on an average day?

On a average day during one of our Red Wine Retreats, I wake up quite early and usually spend some time online responding to e-mail inquiries. At 6am I prepare breakfast for our working students and house staff, who after breakfast start working the horses and preparing the house for the day’s activities.

At 8am Charles takes our guests for an invigorating walk through the vineyards while sharing his knowledge and passion for wine making. At 9am our guests have their breakfast and at 10 the first sessions of the day start: hypnotherapy, equine-assisted learning, accelerated language learning (French).

Lunch is at midday and after lunch everyone, guests as well as staff, retire for a well-deserved siesta. In the summer heat this is not only rejuvenating but essential. Later in the afternoon more sessions follow, as determined during each guest’s personal assessment consultation on arrival. Sessions with visiting therapists take place later in the afternoon.

Dinner is at 7.30, and after dinner guests usually gather for the viewing of inspirational or educational DVD’s. On some days we do a field trip in the afternoon, like a visit to Saint Mont, a fortified abbey dating from the 12th century built on a hill next to the Adour river. We spend some time exploring this magical medieval village and abbey and then moved on to the large tasting rooms and cellars of Saint Mont wines.

Discover why guests love Margaretha and Charles wine tasting and horse riding holidays for yourself.