Podere Palazzone Toscana on horseback — Hotel in Pomarance

I feel compelled to leave this review after my horseback experience here in August. My husband and I booked a trek to do the horse swimming. Upon arrival after driving for 2.5 hours, we were rudely greeted by two young women who glared at us and told there was no bathroom for us to use. Since we were traveling, we had no equipment with us and their website offered helmet/equipment rentals. There were cobwebs and spiders all over the equipment in a very dirty barn area that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since 1970. The horses seemed malnourished and ribs, hips and spine were visible. Against my better judgement, we set out on the ride. My horse would only go to the edge of the road and would sometimes slip and look like it was about to fall down a steep hill. The horse did not respond to the repeated tugging of my reigns. The woman leading explained it was because the horse’s feet hurt. Everything indicated the horses were poorly taken care of. When it was time for the swim, the leader kept saying to hold the reigns shorter, which is the opposite of what you should do to let the horse swim properly and led to the horse constantly ripping the reigns out of our hands. We were also riding on roads where cars were speeding around the corners and could have easily hit us. I grew up riding English for many years and have since ridden western a handful of times including recently in Argentina and Chile. I thought things may have been done differently in Italy, but after my recent international riding experiences, I can confirm this place is very dated, doesn’t take good care of facilities or horses, and offers a rude and overall...

This summer we spent a week in Tuscany (in July) and stayed at Podere Palazzone for the first time. ||||We immediately fell in love with the beautiful place (there is a magnificent look from the pool to Volterra and the surrounding hills). ||||The room are very clean and the house (400 about years old) is very nicely decorated and restored. ||||Maura cooks delicious meals - always starting with their own olive oil and fresh bread, followed by pasta (different varieties and homemade pesto) and the main course. My family loved the desserts while I preferred espresso. One evening we had an olive oil tasting and one night Maura and Enrico offered us a Beefsteak Florentine. It was simple fantastic: very good quality and perfectly done. The meals were accompanied with Enrico's and Maura's red wine and a bottle of fresh water. As it was very dry and hot this year (no rain since May) the bottle was refilled several times. Our hosts were very attentive.||||Despite the weather we did some hiking and our daughter took riding lessons and went twice on a ride. The girl who gave the riding lessons was a good instructor and she took care of horse, rider, weather conditions and the area. ||||The four dogs, two cats, chickens and other animals are very lovely, well looked after and cared for. The horses live in a separate area and are in great shape.||||We really enjoyed our stay and we will surely come again to...

Going riding was part of our "must-do" list in Tuscany. I found Podere Palazzone online, and chose them over the myriad of other 'trail rides' in the area because of the range of experience levels they offered. If you are looking for a true ride through Tuscany on horseback, no matter what experience level, this is the place to go. Our group was of varying experience, ranging from some training in the saddle to expert, and the staff selected our horses perfectly. ||||The route was beautiful, winding along dirt roads and into a huge reserve. The pace was adjusted to fit our experience levels. But the hands-down highlight was getting to swim with the horses! I thought I would never have the opportunity to experience the joy of sitting on a swimming horse, but they made it happen. The water and the setting was gorgeous, something I will never forget. ||||If you are even considering the idea of a trail ride in Tuscany, do it and do it here. Great horses, great staff; the perfect Tuscan trail ride!||||I only wish we had found them sooner so we could have stayed...