Backcountry Saddle Expeditions

Backcountry Saddle Expeditions The Hidden Valley is as special as it sounds. Come and explore it with Debs and her Appaloosa horses. The treks leave once daily at either 10.00am or 1.30pm.
(620)

Backcountry Saddle Expeditions operates all year round with quiet, well mannered Appaloosa horses. They are equipped with western saddles which offer comfort and security, especially for children or beginner riders. The western saddle is designed to be sat in for long periods of time, and helps minimize discomfort. (You are required to arrive 30 minutes prior to the departure time.) The Winter rid

e departs at 11.00am only (May-September). Please check with Debs the daily departure time. Rates:
Adults and Children 10 and over: $150.00

Children (Under 10 years MINIMUM AGE 5 years): $125.00
NB: All children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. All people requiring to be led for either safety or who are aged 5/6 years an extra: $25.00

Bookings are essential. Minimum of 2 people required. "Bespoke Ride" options are available. Please talk to Debs about different options. The trek route winds through the stunning Hidden Valley in Earnscleugh near Alexandra and Clyde. The area is steeped with gold mining history and as we wind through the valley and up into the high country farm plateaus, Debs shares facts about the interesting flora and fauna of a truly beautiful part of Central Otago.

Not my favourite time of the year 😳
20/08/2025

Not my favourite time of the year 😳

Loving our beautiful autumn days 🤠🐴
07/04/2024

Loving our beautiful autumn days 🤠🐴

A little rest at the viewpoint for the horses whilst Champagne and a Platter were being enjoyed 🍾🥂Talk to Debs about doi...
21/03/2024

A little rest at the viewpoint for the horses whilst Champagne and a Platter were being enjoyed 🍾🥂
Talk to Debs about doing a “Bespoke” ride and having both her and her horses to yourself 🤠❤️🐴

Digger School at Backcountry Saddles 🤣🐴😂🐴
06/11/2023

Digger School at Backcountry Saddles 🤣🐴😂🐴

Still got that purple cast on people 💜
24/08/2023

Still got that purple cast on people 💜

I’ve been a bit quiet lately but soooo good to get back on a horse with my “gate opening and shutting” ladies 😉So lovely...
23/08/2023

I’ve been a bit quiet lately but soooo good to get back on a horse with my “gate opening and shutting” ladies 😉

So lovely to have Rosie, Ash, Stacey, Ivy and Pernille (my Norwegian cowgirl) to ride out with me after 5 weeks with my leg up 🙄🤠🐴

Went up to check if we had sun above the fog 🌞 But by the time we got there it had gone ❄️Still amazingly beautiful out ...
18/06/2023

Went up to check if we had sun above the fog 🌞
But by the time we got there it had gone ❄️

Still amazingly beautiful out there 🤠

Fogbows in the sometimes “Hidden” Valley ❤️Very mysterious and mystical and then stunningly beautiful blue skies WOW 🤩
17/06/2023

Fogbows in the sometimes “Hidden” Valley ❤️
Very mysterious and mystical and then stunningly beautiful blue skies WOW 🤩

Snow in May never stays… but it looks pretty while it’s there ❄️❄️❄️
12/05/2023

Snow in May never stays… but it looks pretty while it’s there ❄️❄️❄️

OMG 😱 The Autumn Colours are amazing at the moment 😍Love this time of the year 🥰
18/04/2023

OMG 😱
The Autumn Colours are amazing at the moment 😍
Love this time of the year 🥰

The Appaloosa is a horse breed associated historically with the Nez Perce (Niimipu) Tribe. The name may originate from “...
08/04/2023

The Appaloosa is a horse breed associated historically with the Nez Perce (Niimipu) Tribe. The name may originate from “a Palouse,” which referred to the region where the horses were bred. It is likely that these horses originally came from a variety of Spanish horses—so-called spotted horses—that were traded into the Northwest by the mid to late eighteenth century. The horses were then bred by the Nez Perce.

The Appaloosa is also known as the Nez Perce Horse. The first documented reports of horses in Oregon are in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who noted spotted horses similar to the Appaloosa among the Nez Perce Tribe.

The Nez Perce valued the Appaloosa for its intelligent temperament, sure-footedness, endurance, and speed. They required their horses to negotiate the treacherous trails from their winter quarters in the Wallowa Valley of eastern Oregon through the Rocky Mountains to the summer encampments on the Plains. The horses were fast enough to catch a bison and paso fino—that is, smooth-gaited—enough to allow a hunter to fire with accuracy from a full gallop.

The original Nez Perce Appaloosa nearly died out after the Nez Perce War in 1876, when the U.S. military confiscated the Tribe’s herds. A few of the breed survived into the twentieth century, however, and in the 1930s horsemen in eastern Oregon worked to revive it. As a modern horse breed, the Appaloosa is distinctive for its mottled skin, visible sclera (the white outer layer of the eye), and vertical-striped hooves.

The Appaloosa is one of the most distinctive and valued American horse breeds in the world. The Nez Perce Tribe and other horse ranchers in the region are continuing to develop the desirable traits that were bred into the original breed in the nineteenth century.

By David Lewis (Takelma, Chinook,
Molalla, Santiam Kalapuya)

Photo via Holdyourhorsies

05/04/2023

It totally depended on what direction you were looking at today 😉

Blue skies one way and grey and rainy the other 🤠😊

Address

153 Fraser Dam Road
Earnscleugh
9391

Telephone

640275443815

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