Kyrgyzstan is no longer a secret haven for horse lovers. The world now knows about this glorious, mountainous country layered in history. Tourism is growing fast, so how does the discerning adventure rider avoid the well-worn tourist loop and get the real experience?

We've been offering rides here for seven years. We choose family operators with excellent English who ride routes known only to them. Most of the support team are family members, and most of the horses are their own. You'll stay in the yurts of old school friends and ride where the guides were taken by their grandparents during long summers on the mountain meadows. This is as local as it gets.

Kyrgyzstan is a breath of fresh air. Nicknamed the Switzerland of the East for its mountain landscapes, a visit here is also an experiment in time travel: life in the high pastures has barely changed in centuries. The country was part of the USSR until 1991, and the Soviet influence is still felt in the cities, where Russian is widely spoken. In the mountains, people speak Kyrgyz, a Turkic language, and spend their summers in yurts, living off the land.

We offer two rides that show the very best of the country. Both are family-run, both have long riding days with fast gallops and awe-inspiring mountain riding, and both take you to corners of the country far from the tourist trail. Both ask riders to be confident with heights and steep, uneven terrain, to be willing and able to walk downhill leading their horse when needed, and to have a real appetite for adventure.

CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS - £2,495

11 Day Adventure Trail, 9 riding days of up to 7 hours, 5 nights camping in simple dome tents, 2 nights in Yurts, 2 nights in a mountain guesthouse with sauna, one night in a 4-star hotel in Bishkek, steep mountain riding up to 4,000 m, support vehicle every riding day. Group size 8 + Black Saddle host.

11 days / 10 nights / 9 riding days · up to 7 hours a day · 8 riders + Black Saddle host

This is the ride for adventurers who want to make the most of their time in the country. A full day’s drive south from Bishkek into the At-Bashy region, you ride south through high summer pastures to the Aksai Valley on the Chinese border, then west along the border with China to finish at the Silk Road caravanserai of Tash Rabat. Six of the nine riding days are a full seven hours in the saddle, covering 30–40 km, with fast canters on the steppe areas. This ride feels more separated from civilisation and is a true exploration of the ancient Silk Road routes.

Highlights

Lake Köl-Tör and Kel Suu and the remote Aksai Valley on the Chinese border, with ibex, Marco Polo sheep, yak herds and Milky Way skies
A day riding out to Kel Suu Lake from your mountain guesthouse
Soviet-era buildings in the Ak-Sai Valley, including a former cultural centre
Chatyr-Kol, the last lake before the Chinese border, and a final climb to 4,000 m over shale above the grass line
Tash Rabat, the best-preserved caravanserai in Kyrgyzstan and one of its oldest buildings. Some believe it began as a Nestorian Christian monastery

Where you stay: family yurts at Kamandy Jailoo on the first night, dome tents with a shared mess tent on five nights, two nights at the Golden Moon guesthouse in the Kok-Kiya Valley with a wood-fired sauna, ensuite twin yurts at Tash Rabat, and the 4-star Ambassador Hotel in Bishkek, a five-minute walk from Ala-Too Square. All accommodation is twin share; single rooms in Bishkek are on request.

Support: a 4x4 carries all the luggage and camp kit every riding day, and all camps are reachable by vehicle. A border permit for the Chinese border zone, all meals, transfers and bottled water are included.

2027 dates: 18–28 July and 02–12 August. Hosted by Black Saddle.

APPALOOSAS OF THE ALA TOO - BLACK SADDLE EXCLUSIVE - £2,045

9 Day Mountain Trail, 7 riding days of up to 8 hours (one up to 9), 3 Nights camping in simple dome tents, 3 Nights in Yurts, One night in a Family Guesthouse, One night in a Hotel in Bishkek, technical mountain riding over passes up to 3,600 m, support vehicle on all but one night. Group size 8.

This shorter itinerary has less driving. Just three hours after leaving Bishkek, over the Too-Ashuu Pass, you're in the Suusamyr Valley, where your Chaar At appaloosa horses are waiting. You're hosted by horseman Norlan and Kalyinur, whose family is known for saving this native spotted breed. His mother holds a French honour for her work teaching French to Kyrgyz children, and the family makes incredible French cheese that you'll enjoy on the trail.

Starting high in the alpine meadows, you follow shepherds' routes over mountain saddles, ride through spectacular wildflower meadows and enjoy free gallops across open valleys. The riding can be technical, you may cross permafrost on the highest passes and ride some steep descents and cross many low rivers. Don't expect shorter days: riding is 2–8 hours a day, and Day 6 crosses two passes above 3,400 m in up to nine hours, so there is plenty of riding!

Highlights

Hosted by Kalyinur and his influential family. This is a very local experience.
Muztor Pass at 3,600 m, with a picnic by a glacial lake
Ancient petroglyphs and a Kok-Boru game at Ters Jailoo
Ride in the Garden of Eden on the longest day surrounded by wildflowers
A final ride to Toktogul Reservoir and a swim with your horse

Where you stay: the first night in Kalyinur's family yurts (modern, with real beds), simple dome tents on three nights, traditional yurts on two nights, the family guesthouse in Toktogul, and the Navat Hotel in Bishkek on the last night.

Support: a support vehicle on all but one night when you carry your kit in saddle bags. All meals, transfers and bottled water are included.

2027 dates: 23 June–01 July, 08–16 July, 23–31 July and 07–15 August.

SO HOW TO CHOOSE?

Choose Celestial Mountains if you want the bigger journey: two extra nights and two extra riding days, the remote Chinese border country, a visit to the iconic Kel Suu lake and a finish at the historically significant Tash Rabat. This ride is more challenging as you have more consecutive days in the saddle and the rocky mountain pass on your last riding day as you reach Tash Rabat. See more of the country and experience the remote summer migration with thousands of free roaming animals.

Choose Appaloosas of the Ala-Too if you have less time or want less driving. You spend the trip with one family and their own horses, and the riding days are just as long, with the longest day of either ride. You finish with a swim with your horse in Toktogul Reservoir. This ride feels like visiting your friends. The guides provide alcohol (not provided on the Celestial Mountains ride) and your horseman is also a talented musician! You’re very unlikely to see any other foreign tourists on this route though you are closer to the beating heart of locals spending their summers in the mountains as they have done for thousands of years.