les arnelles

From A to Z great experience... There are lots of horse riding in the south of france but my preferrence is for saintes marie de la mer as the best of the wild camargue nature is by that side. We have been welcomed very warmly by the lady at the reception who even accepted to provide us with a discount as it is promosed on their web page, even though we haven't booked 48 h in afvance... The horses are chosen and based on riding capabilies of each rider, so my 6 y old daughter has been provided with a very gentle and calme Orus... The road goes through flamingo place which is really awesome. They say 1 hour tour, but in reality it is 1 and a half. 30 min from which are dedicated to praration.Will go for a 2 hours ride next time to the wild meditaranean beaches...

I enjoyed my 2 hour horse ride with Les Arnelles. The horses are a mixed lot but safe and very used to the routine of the ride. We got in some carnters along the beach and the sand tracks and saw some lovely flocks of flamingos which are hard to see any other way. It was also safe for those who could not ride well who stayed with the guide. The commentary was only French, but that is quite common, and a nice lady on the ride did some translations for me. I booked online beforehand and was impressed to receive a professional email confirming my reservation. Would recommend them.

We had a great time riding in the Camargue National Park in southwest France. My 2 daughters are fairly experienced riders whilst I have had many years around horses. We requested appropriate horses and were pleased with our mounts, thanks to Stefanie, a pleasant, knowledgeable young lady (it did help to know the language in order to explain our riding levels).About half the group were able to canter/gallop, and the rest walked or slow-trotted at various intervals. Canter/gallops were permitted in certain open areas; Stefanie gave good directions and was very cool/casual in allowing us experienced riders to run the horses a fair bit. She was also very in tune with the local flora/fauna, explaining the lay of the land as we stopped for short breaks. We were also able to see some local inhabitants unload their horses and prepare to work the animals.Wonderful scenery and pleasant riding experience for about 2 hours. You can see the beach, sand dunes, and flamingos, and then ride through some lagoons on the way back. My daughters were happy and even went back a few days later, this time riding with Marine. She took that group out for about 2.5 hrs.In the future, we will return for a private 3 hr ride. It is great that this facility provides many options to suit your needs. There is a hotel and restaurant on the premises for those who want a daily riding experience, and the little town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer is a walk/drive away.

We have been visiting the Camargue for 30 odd years and have seen many stables come and go during this time. We have visited Les Arnelles since they began and they have improved steadily. Serge, the owner, upgraded his stable every year with more conveniences for the horses and the visitors. As passionate horse lover our main goal is that the horses are treated well. Often one sees horses which cannot drink during the whole day. At Les Arnelles they have water and at noon they all receive mash. We always visit at the end of the season and the horses are by no means tired. As there are 45 horses each in turn gets to relax. They also get enough food and don’t have to fight for it (unfortunately not the case everywhere!). Of course we can’t compare the corals there with the one’s we are used to see, they do have more horses in the corals in the Camargue, that’s the way they have them everywhere down there. They might not have as much time for service in high season as they have in low season but they always try to match the horse to the riders abilities. It is not easy for a riding stable to find horses that move forward willingly without overextending the beginners ability. The horses of Les Arnelles certainly know the way they have to take but what would happen with a big group of beginners if not I would not want to imagine…If there is an able rider, they are more than willing to leave the beaten track. All the saddlepads are soft and the horses aren’t saddle sore which sadly often is the case with other stables. During our last visit one of the horses was slightly lame and upon discovery of this was immediately taken out of the group and was not used again that week. Of course the quality of the ride alao depends a lot upon the personality of the guide, they often change from year to year but Serge and Carine always try to find nice and reliable guides.All in all I would say Les Arnelles is one of the best stables of Les Saines Maries, with well cared for horses, I can fully recommend them.Thank you Carine and Serge for always giving us a wonderful week!

Friendly people, well organized, clean environment, beautiful horses, wonderful park. Looking forward to my next visit.

The trip was wonderful. but we were very disappointed of one thing> we booked through telephone with a lady who could definitely understand English but not speak very well...she told us clearly that the price we would pay was going to be the discounted price because we booked in advance with her. Then we arrived there and paid. We were very excited about the horse riding and ignored the receipts. After we returned to Germany, we found out that the price we paid was NOT the discounted price agreed on Telephone. We paid the full price as other people who have not booked in advance. It was very annoying because we feel we are cheated. We tried many times to call them or to write E-mails in English, but they refuse to give the money back. It was very unpleasant experience.It is nothing to do with some euros, but the dishonesty of doing business is really not acceptable. The horse riding trip was very amazing, but they speak hardly any English and no instructions at all in English. Besides, they ignored our argumentation of asking the extra money paid. This business behavior is very rude, and it ruins its image.Sorry, i would never go there again and will like communicate our bad experience with others.

I booked 2 day trips with them via their website. It resulted in 4 rides of 2 hours (spread over 2 days) with a tasty light lunch (fresh sandwich, a sweet and bottle of water) in between. The rides were absolutely fantastic. I tried 2 different horses - really good, well behaved, well trained and in fine condition, also the gear. They have real Camargue horses but also other white (taller) crossbreeds. The girls that accompanied me were nice, and 2 of them even wore a hat/cap.Their English is not well - but they try! They were all very friendly, and enjoy their job.I am a regular rider so speed is necessary for a successful trail :) And because of me, being the only costumer that 2nd day, I had the best beach races ever. For me a day trip is more then 4 hours of riding but I had a great time so I leave it to that.About the price, yes it isn't cheep. But this might scare the annoying tourist which riding abilities are nothing but terror for the horses (and other riders).

I previously wrote a review "dissapointed" with Les Arnelles, Soon after, I was contacted by the management. They were very professional explaining the mix up and offered us a free coupon in order to finally have that horseback ride. I haven't used it yet, but I wanted to mention their gesture which I appreciated.

With my 2 girls we booked a horse riding day at Les Arnelles. I kept contact with them by email and everything was all set. But when we got there, the woman had forgotten to write our names down and everything was full booked.After 4 hours of driving, we were dissapointed and i thought this was very unprofessional.It may be a very good place, but i can't write about it..

We found this horse riding centre, following a friend's recommendation, and looked it up on the web - we had already booked in a lovely hotel just across the road, all less than a mile from the centre of Les Saintes and the beaches there.We were delighted by the total experience, very picturesque, an impressive selection of delightful horses, of all sizes, always well chosen by the staff according to the needs of the riders. We found the staff to be very welcoming, serious, responsible. During our week's stay in Les Saintes, we had several rides here - we have ridden before - and we had the opportunity to gallop on several occasions. We put our daughter, aged 7, into the riding instructor's hands, so that she would be more at ease on horse back for future rides. The whole place is kept extremely clean and equipment is obviously renewed regularly. An altogether memorable experience, and their very complete (English and French) website with videos and photos of the various activities there, of Serge and Karine, the owners, all bring back wonderful memories - we shall definitely make another visit there next year and we can highly recommend them. Their website gives details of the different types of rides, lessons and tariffs, and the you can even buy gift vouchers for horse-rides there, to offer friends visiting the Camargue - a lovely idea !If you read this, we hope you have a wonderful season, Serge and Karine, we really enjoyed your company and your kindness, and we wish you an excellent year too ( I believe you are open all year round)Look forward to seeing you again next July,Rebecca, John and Kirsty Hampshire, GB

If you are into horses, you will enjoy it. The difference is made by the horses which are lovely, very alert and they like to run. We have been three times; two of the guides (ladies) did not have any interest to tell us anything about the visited location or Camargue. The third was nice, talkative and she made an effort to give us details and explanations. The place should also improve safety and replace the tack more often. Really loved the horses and cantering on the beach.

When you see the main Instructor/Guide riding without a hat and flicking cigarette ash on the kid on the tethered pony next to her, you know that standards are going to be poor, and they were. The scenery is beautiful and the ponies pleasant enough but the stables have all the hallmarks of a badly run outfit that runs for profit rather than visitor enjoyment. Find somewhere else, there seems lots of choice. Cost about 250 euros for 3 people for 2 walks each of about 90 minutes, interspersed with a cheap lunch. Three soft drinks in the adjacent restaurant 16 euros. Everyone was put in the same group, from about age 5 upwards and with no riding experience, and groups of up to 15-20.

We discovered this place last year after having tried many others in this region and highly recvommend it both for beginners and even more importantly for advanced riders. Contrary to other places we found that we were not bored by endless caravans of beginners (sorry). Normally groups are limited to 10 or so horses and when there are a lot of beginners, there are two accompanying persons, which makes it possible for groups to split up and let the advanced riders galop along the beach or in the marches, while the others follow a more mellow pace. It is also possible to take riding lessons and even to pass "galops", I believe they even teach in English (not 100% sure as we all speak French too). This year we did the sun-down ride...really memorable.

Pour les 8 ans de notre fille, passionnée de chevaux, nous avons accepté de monter à cheval pour une balade en camargue... Excellent accueil téléphonique d'une jeune fille prête à expliquer les prestations du centre mais également les manades, les dates de sorties des taureaux, qui a pris le temps de nous aider à préparer notre we (nous ne sommes pas de camargue). Louise, notre monitrice du matin, a pris le temps de nous mettre en confiance le matin, où nous avons fait du manège puis une tranquille balade dans les marais à 4! Nous avons donc eu des explications sur les chevaux mais également les oiseaux et les taureaux. Après le déjeuner, retour au centre, pour 2h15 de balades dans les marais et sur la plage avec un groupe plus conséquent, où ceux qui le voulaient pouvaient faire du galop. Nous appréhendions réellement de monter, mais tant Louise qu'Aude nous ont aider à surmonter nos craintes; nous gardons donc de cette journée un magnifique souvenir, et notre fille a été aux anges. A tel point que nous le referons! 50 euros la prestation. Hygiène respectée (charlotte sous la bombe), sécurité bien évidemment, et animaux très bien soignés. Une bonne adresse, à conseiller.

Le stage d'initiation est vraiment inutile sauf si vous tenez à relancer l'économie du centre, et comme c'est celui qui marche le mieux c'est vraiment inutile! Plus sérieusement, la seule chose à faire c'est monter sur le cheval ensuite il pourrait faire la balade les yeux fermés. Bref c'est super, Stéphanie est aussi super rien à dire si ce n'est que j'ai l'impression d'avoir perdu de l'argent, j'aurais dû prendre seulement la balade de 2h.