Equirando is the biggest European meeting of cross-country horses and riders. Under the aegis of the Fédération Internationale de Tourisme Equestre (FITE), it will now become a truly international event.

Each summer, the site, the town, the area and the region welcome the participants and their horses on an enormous ad hoc camp-site, situated in the heart of a city or on its outskirts. This destination becomes the rendezvous of riders and horses from the four corners of France and Europe.

Liberty is the order of the day, since everyone may leave from where, and when he or she wishes. The ride may take 3 days, a week a month, or more. The only obligation is to cover at least 100 kms on horseback or with a horse and trap. (To be pointed in a logbook). The idea is not conceived in a spirit of competition, but in the purest respect for the horse, country life and the environment. It lends to exceptional contacts between Trekkers and the local inhabitants.

Such an influx of horses riders and their crews cannot go un-noticed. It is excellent publicity for the town, the area and the region.
It brings important media and commercial advantages for the restaurants, hotels and local commerce, and highlights the tourist attractions of a region. The occasion inspires real changes in rural life, transforming farms into gîtes/posting stations, multiplying pastureland, increasing the culture of hay and grain and attracting the installation of specific industries. Equirando is a unique event. It is the shop window of the Tourisme Equestre Français

A meeting : A festival
At the end of their trip, in the heart of the immense canvas city, the “Equirandins” lay down their saddlebags and after a well-earned rest enjoy fun and games and meeting people. Communal meals, shows, plays, visits of the town with its surroundings and a grand procession of all the horses through the streets are part of these magic days.

A bit of history ...
The first meeting was in the chateau of Polignac (Haute-Loire) in 1961 where fifty or so pioneers promised to get together each year to exchange their impressions and experience and to share their know how. The first "Rallye National de Tourisme Équestre" had taken place.

After 33 years the Équirando comes back to Alsace to take place in Saverne, where at the beginning of summer 1000 horses, mules and donkeys from other horizons will assemble.

For more information visit http://www.equirando2006saverne.com
Produced by : Organising Committee Equirando 2006