Mongolia Horseback Riding Tours With Stone Horse - Highlights

If you like back country and wilderness travel and want an experience in a place where life was defined by the horse for thousands of years, "Stone Horse" trips are for you. Whether you are an seasoned rider or new to the exhilarating feeling of moving across a magnificent landscape by horseback, you can choose a "Stone Horse" trip that will suit your interests, level of fitness and appetite for adventure.

We specialize in small group size, low impact, high quality horse travel that will give our guests a unique wilderness horse riding experience. Horseback travel in Mongolia is a way of life and one of the best ways to really see the country.

Our pack trips and trail rides are in two of the premier parks in Mongolia, protected for their natural, cultural and historical values. They bring you into the heartland of Mongolia - through forest steppes grazed by herds of nomadic families, and into the forest and mountain wilderness of the "Khan Khentii", revered in Mongolia as the ancient homeland of Ghengis Khan.

The staging area for all our trips is the Darkhid Valley, ideally located at the edge of the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park yet only an hours drive from the capital city Ulaanbaatar. You won't waste time with lengthy car travel to start your backcountry adventure. Accessible on horseback from here is
the largest roadless area in Mongolia and some of the most outstanding and remote natural scenery in the country.

Our Expeditions
8 Day - Gorkhi-Terelj National Park Expedition (10 days in country)
Riding into the Terelj and Tuul River Valleys in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, you will travel through meadows of wildflowers, cross rivers and mountain passes, visit historical and cultural sites and experience fantastic riding country. Accommodation in tented camps and in yurts ("Ger" in Mongolian language)

12 Day Khentii Mountains Expedition (14 days in country)
This expedition will take you deep into the Khentii Mountain wilderness, where you will experience its wild beauty, history and ancient mystical nature. A moderate to high level of fitness and wilderness experience is needed for this trip. Accommodation in tented camps.

Day Riding with Home Stay in the Darkhid Valley .
Choose a home stay in the traditional ger (felt tent) of a Mongolian host family or in the Darkhid Valley. See or take part in activities of traditional livestock husbandry. Ride with the herder. Explore the area on horseback, or on foot.

In the Darkhid Valley, we work with the local community on ecological restoration and to help improve household livelihoods. "Stone Horse Expeditions & Travel" personnel have a long history of working with local communities throughout Mongolia on conservation and rural development, and continue to do so.

On our pack trips, we will be a team of riders, saddle horses and pack horses. Our staff includes Mongolian translators and horsemen.
A typical day on a backcountry trip starts early for the staff - rounding up, saddling and packing the horses. Coffee and tea awaits you when you get up from your tent and after breakfast we set out on the day's ride. You are accompanied by the trip leader and other staff members. We carry snacks and personal gear in saddle bags. We move along at a steady pace, but take time to enjoy the scenery, to take photos, or stop to watch wildlife. We make a lunch stop for about an hour at a place that the whole team enjoys - where the horses have grass and water and the riders may have shade and a scenic view. On a long day on the trail we take other short stops to let the horses graze and stretch our legs. In forest and on high country trails, our usual speed is a fast walk. In open steppe country, our horses like to fall into a trot - an opportunity to make some distance and enjoy the landscape at a steady speed. We reach the agreed campsite where the advance crew has made camp, prepared a hot or cold drink and will make dinner. You'll have time to relax. We'll unpack and put the horses out to pasture for the rest of the day and arrange for their nights grazing. Each rider is assigned their horse for the trip and you can choose to just enjoy the day's ride with him, or you may want to help with wrangling tasks, lead him to the creek for water, and put him to pasture for the night.
On the longer pack trips, you will have spent 6-7 hours in the saddle. We give our horses enough time for grazing in the morning and evening, and we also often take a nice long lunch break at scenic spots - near a river or high up near rock formations with sweeping views of the forest steppe landscape. In camp you will also have time to relax and rest and enjoy our meals. .