Remember when you begged and begged your parents to buy you a pony, and when you finally gave up your dream to be a steeplechaser like Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet and went off to journalism school, they bought one for your little sister? No?
Don’t let your kids grow up bitter travel bloggers, is all I’m saying. Budding equestrians between the ages of 7 and 16 who stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire in bucolic Hampshire, England can take advantage of the “Own a Pony Day” experience, which gives them charge for 24 hours of one of the hotel’s hoofed residents. Riding is part of the package, but it’s not all carrots and crossrails — ponies don’t shovel their own manure (read: help hotel save on grooms’ fees by putting younger guests to work mucking stalls and cleaning tack).
Photo: Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire
If your inner equestrian is more cowboy than hunt seat, saddle up for the Calgary Stampede, which runs July 3 to 12, 2009. Highlights include annual rodeo events, with top-tier bull riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing and more, along with chuckwagon races, a Grandstand concert schedule that includes performances by Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney and George Strait, and, perhaps most importantly, all-you-can-eat pancakes. General admission is $12 for adults, $7 for kids 7 to 12, little ones 6 and younger stampede for free. Book the Cattle, Rattle, Saddle & Paddle Package (starts at $305 per person) for a full trip of horseback riding, white water rafting and a cool trip down the luge in Calgary’s Ice House. cs.calgarystampede.com
