Rooms
Our charming country house in tuscany attracts people from all over the world. Our guests are hosted in the heart of Chianti in the 18th century country villa featuring original terra-cotta floors, wooden beamed roofs, stones walls and arched ceilings. We also have a swimming pool with glorious panoramic views of the Tuscan hills at the complete disposition of our guests.

The house has 8 guest rooms, all with bathrooms, each simply and well decorated in the 19th century tuscan style. They are all charmingly different and you can find a short description in the following pages.
Starting from the top La Piccionaia is the Tower Room with six windows that give a wonderful panoramic view over the scenic landscape surrounding Il Paretaio. You need to reserve it in advance because is the most romantic room of the house!

Apartments
We also have a small apartment (approx. 45 sq. m) on the ground floor inside the main house. It consists of 1 bedroom with ensuite bathroom and a sitting room with kitchenette and a double sofa bed. (2 to 4 guests).The main charm of the apartment comes from the decoration; the beautiful stones walls and arched ceilings. It can be an advantage travelling with young children and babies to have your own kitchen even if the guests renting the apartment generally prefer not to cook for themselves but join all the other guests for our fantastic meals.

With more than 25 years of history our horse riding centre in Tuscany has at disposal more than 30 well trained horses (Lusitanos, Anglo-arabs, Berber, Arabs, English Thoroughbred, Dutch and Italian sport horses) . They will be assigned according to the skills and wishes of the riders.

Riding lessons are divided into three groups and can be taught in fluent English and French. Lessons are often individual or shared between 2 riders (max 3) in order to give the maximum attention to the pupils.
Beginners can learn riding from the very first steps with very gentle horses.
Post-beginners can extend their knowledge and skill or partake in the beautiful riding out.
Experienced riders can take dressage lessons or combine this with riding out. The dressage lessons follow the principles of the Classical Riding giving lots of importance to balance, elasticity and lightness.

We have all-inclusive offers with halfboard and 2 riding hours per day. If you prefer you can reserve just accomodation and see here how much riding you would like to do.
Beginners do not have to bring full riding equipment - we can provide chaps, whips and riding hats.

The quality of tuition is very high: instructors and guides are FISE, BHS, CSAIN. Riding lessons are taken in one of the two training arenas and are in English, Italian or French and in German for beginners. The groups are of max. 3 riders but often private or semi-private.

Trail Riding: The rides out are calm and always accompanied by a qualified guide that will lead you through vineyards, sun flowers, poppy fields, vineyards and woods. In most cases we follow small country paths or go across the tuscan countryside. It is possible to organise riding out with wine tasting , full day rides with a pic-nic lunch or lunch in local trattorias. Besides the horse riding which is included in the weekly programmes it is possible to book additional lessons or rides out.

The Horses' Training
Our guests always leave complimenting us on the lightness and sensitivity of our horses - and they are horses which have a new rider every day! We reschool horses who have been problematic or not well ridden. We aim to bring them back to a renewed physical and mental harmony using appropriate gymnastic exercises and a sympathetic approach. With these methods we have obtained optimun results in dressage, show jumping, cross country and endurance.

During the year we try to organise, aswell as horseriding holidays, various equestrian stages, including a 2 day stage on the Tellington TTouch with Debora Sims.

What is Tellington TTouch?
Tellington TTouch is a method sucessfully practised for more than 30 years by the Canadian Linda Tellington Jones to improve the health, behaviour, physical and mental well being of the horse. This method, also very useful to improve the relationship with your horse, is taught in over 27 countries in the world, with 16 books translated in 12 languages. The method is used at all levels (from the amateur to the olympic level professional) and can be adapted to any equestrian discipline.
For further information take a look at the official website: www.tteam.it

What do the practical ttouches and ground work consist of?
TTouches - Through specific touches, applied with circular movements, it is possible to remove deep mental imprintings, traumas, pain and physical difficulties. The TTouches can appear to be a sort of massage, however with these touches the nervous system also becomes activated. The groundwork consists of the use of various obstacles and a wide range of methods of conduct. With the groundwork excersises, the horses are guided in various positions between the obstacles, increasing their capacity to learn as well as helping to show them self-control, concentration, trust, obedience, balance and co-ordination.

Originally developed by Sally Swift in the U.S.A, Centered Riding® is used by horse riders from every level, age group and interest; from beginners to Instructors, even olimpic level champions.

Centered Riding is a method that helps you to understand how to achieve an improved mental and physical harmony when riding, whichever discipline you follow. Centered Riding uses techniques from other areas such as The Alexander Technique, Thai Chi and sports psychology. Through Centered Riding you work on different ways of learning which are not nescesserily the same for all, using exercises on the ground and on horseback. Our courses are held by Hilary Bradford and assisted by Cristina Libardi who recently participated in a Feldenkrais seminar to enrich her knowledge of posture and body awareness. The next stage will take place in march and will be a first level course (A): During the year we will also propose a level B stage.

Both Giovanni and Cristina De Marchi were born with a very strong passion for horses.

Giovanni started to ride when he was just 10 and his first teacher was so impressed by Giovanni’s passion that he personally used to go to pick him up from the train station and drive him to the riding school.

Cristina, started as a child to train (or at least try to train) any animal available ranging from hamsters, cats, dogs and even crickets, making them do show jumping! She inherited her passion for horses and horse back riding from her grandmother who herself was given the passion from her family.

They met very young and 23 years ago they decided to dedicate their lives to their passion for the equestrian art. They moved from Milan to Tuscany in one of the most beautiful spots in the Chianti area where they founded the Equestrian Riding Centre Il Paretaio.

Their brilliant career as trainers started in Milan with the meeting of a French master Gerard Beckrich, followed by the meeting of Albert Moyerson, a very reputable horseman and pupil for many years of the great Nuno Oliveira. At Albert Moyerson's Centre they had the chance to meet the master Louis Valenca, one of the chief riders in the Portuguese Equestrian School.

Il Paretaio is situated in a peaceful, picturesque valley in the heart of Tuscany. Its central location makes it a good base for touring the area without changing accomodation.

Florence and Siena are just 30 minutes by car (or by bus to the town centres from San Filippo where we can drop you off and pick you up; or we can arrange a taxi for up to 7 people, at discounted rates);
Colle Val d’Elsa, San Gimignano, Certaldo,Monteriggioni, Castellina in Chianti are 20 mins by car, while
Greve in Chianti, Pienza,Volterra, Pisa, Lucca, Cortona, Thermal Baths and the Maremma are easy to reach. We will be glad to give you many tips to help you discover the secrets of this magic area.

Please contact Il Paretaio for details of availability, prices and horse riding holiday schedules, and to discuss your individual requirements. Contact details below.

CONTACT
IL PARETAIO

email: [email protected]

Il Paretaio
For bookings & enquiries:
Tel 00 39 055 8059231
Fax 0039 055 8059231
Giovanni de Marchi

www.ilparetaio.it

Il Paretaio, Strada delle Ginestre 12, Barberino val D'Elsa (FI), 50021, Italy