Horse ride near Marrakech

An hour on horseback between the palms, walk to canter depending on your comfort: the palm-grove ride is one of the simplest ways to get some air at the gates of Marrakech - you do not need to know how to ride.

The flow is well-oiled: hotel transfer, then a few paddock laps to get to know your mount, matched to your level. You then head into the palm grove with an instructor, between fields and villages, at walking pace to enjoy the scenery, at a trot or canter for the more confident, with a mint tea break halfway through.

An honest note, important: horse welfare in Marrakech has long been questioned, and while it has improved, everything still depends on the operator. Before you mount, look at the animal: a well-kept horse is well fed, calm, sound on its feet, without sores or lameness. Ribs or spine showing, girth injuries, an exhausted or overloaded horse: walk away, and pick a centre that provides helmet and vest, and whose instructor adapts the pace. That is the best way to back the ones doing it right.

For more on the Moroccan equine picture - the SPANA vet post on Jemaa el-Fna that looks after carriage horses, the checklists for a horse in good shape, and why the palm-grove ride is not the evening carriage on the square - see our note Animal welfare at Jemaa el-Fna.

For a slower, more contemplative ride, there is the camel. For motorised thrills on the same tracks, the quad. And to cycle at your own pace between the orchards, the bike. One last note: some day trips into the Atlas include a short spell on horseback (around 45 minutes) - that is a taster, not a real horse trek.