The stables are near a village called Deres, a few miles inland from the resort Gerani. We got to it by means of a rather expensive taxi, as the bus doesn't quite go there. The roads are "interesting", not for the faint-hearted to bring a car down, although not as exciting here as the gorge where the Aghia Sofia church is.
The manager of the stables was a young Albanian, who looked after the two dozen or so horses, and shod them and was a bit of a vet too, all for his keep and 300 Euros per month. He is in the white shirt below, saddling up Aristoteli, otherwise known as Ari, or "Ari boy"...
Below: Another view of my mate Aristoteli, while Alun says hello to Ermis in the background. Aristoteli was well named, in that he was in deep thought all the way round the ride, apart from when we overstayed at the top, and he started fidgeting. Aristoteli was a Bulgarian type horse, quiet, plodder, weight carrier. He could have done with wing mirrors, to see where he was putting his back feet. He was recently shod, so slithered somewhat on tarmac roads when we had to cross them.
In the background, Ermis tells Alun steadfastly that he ain't going anywhere. Meanwhile I stay planted on Aristoteli, begging the bloke not to let go of the bridle - suddenly had an attack of horseyphobia! The nearest horse had a fancy Italian name, and like Ermis, was a Greek type horse, and was apparently built for speed, but not while towing Aristoteli...
Here we are, ready for off, photo courtesy of taxi man who had to wait for us and mind the camera (too trusting I know).
The restaurant of the stables, where you can have a meal, or stay all week. The rides went all the way up the surrounding hills, where you could see the sea, even though it was a couple of mountains away.
