TRAILBLAZER
ADVANCED

6 Night/7 day package    

A one week program

COST FOR RIDE TO RESTORE ONE WEEK PACKAGE
Single: $1,842.21 USD
Double: $1,401.91 USD per person
3 or more: $1,304.48 USD per person

Many who love horses and have spent time with them also know horses are strong and smart. It is no disgrace to feel uneasy about your own sense of assurance when handling a horse. Confidence in horsemanship is developed by understanding your physical presence with the horse. This communicates to the horse who is in control and who will set the tone for a good relationship.

If you are a rider who has spent time in the saddle, has owned a horse or has worked with horses but has stepped away from daily involvement this could be the program for you.
The idea that once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget might be true for bike riders because bicycles do not sense your presence and persona. Horses certainly do and they know when your confidence is intact.

DAY ONE

Arrival at Phillip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City.  You will be met by a Banana Bank driver in our vehicle and transported the 50 miles inland to Banana Bank lodge.

After getting settled into your room likely it will be time for dinner.  Freshly home cooked meals at Banana Bank are served family style. 

DAY TWO

Horsemanship will be best experienced if both the horse and the rider are at ease so this will be the goal for this day. Banana Bank horses have been raised on trust so they can be trusted. To communicate trust is the first step in gaining confidence and control. It is part of the horses’ basic nature to want to get along. (Bill Dorrance). Your trainer will lead you in some skill sets to test your confidence and control.

DAY THREE

Today is about learning to feel and move with the horses gait, the walk, trot, canter and gallop. You will concentrate on achieve oneness with the horses’ motion by getting in time with the gait. This will take place in the large arena.

DAY FOUR

Today is a beginning instruction in learning to give directions to the horse using leg pressure and body weight shift. This discipline takes months to accomplish but every achievement starts somewhere. If you have already had experience in this level of horsemanship then the trainer will introduce to some more challenging disciplines. It puts you on the road to the next level of riding.

DAY FIVE

This will be an all day ride back to Tom’s Place, an 8 mile ride away from Banana Bank through various types of farm land. Ride through the village of Valley of Peace and see what has come from the raw edge of survival to a thriving community. Lunch will be served while there. It is a short distance on to Tom’s Place. The natural beauty will be well worth the trip. The way back to Banana Bank will be by Buggy along the Valley of Peace road.

DAY SIX

Today is a day of review.  A gymkhana will be set up and events will be timed.  Ideally there will be other riders with whom to compete and test your skills.  We will video your performance to preserve a memory of your week of accomplishment.

DAY SEVEN

After a hardy breakfast and a heartfelt good-by to your hosts, trainer and horse, you will be transported to your next destination, either another hotel, the municipal airport or the Phillip Goldson International Airport.