My name is José Ramón Casas. Since 2012, I am the owner of Catalonia Horse Trails, a horseback-riding agency from Catalonia, my home country of which I am deeply in love. For the last four years, since I decided to take on Can Jou – Catalonia Trails, our team has catered over 1200 customers from around the world. Their feedback has always expressed a high degree of satisfaction, which encourages us to always keep improving even further the experience we offer.
ABOUT US
I am involved in the equestrian universe since 1986. I travelled more than 80 thousand kilometres across Europe and North Africa on a horse. For many years, I participated in events and competitions on horses I trained myself, obtaining excellent results in Europe and abroad. In 2003, my experience with equestrian tourism began, founding a centre in Camprodon in Pyrenees.
Our club near Barcelona, in Sant Fruitós de Bages, is our current officially approved centre for training future equestrian tourism guides. The club also serves as a logistics hub and horse-training centre, where we have over forty horses fit for working. Finally, our main base is Can Sort, a reference equestrian centre for more than thirty years located in Alt Empordà.
Our exciting program for 2016 has 11 different trails, taking you through the most beautiful regions around Girona, namely l’Alt Empordà, la Garrotxa and Ripollès. You can chose among four special exclusive trails, three beach trails, two mountain trails and two “Long Weekend” formulas for an amazing three days getaway. This year, we also included a new trail in the Berguedà region, 80km away from Barcelona that will take you to Pedraforca, the magic mountain.
Each route has been designed for you to enjoy a safe and relaxing horse-riding journey. Each day is unique, taking you through new landscapes and with different riding rhythms. On the other hand, we have chosen the most charming hotels and rural houses and the staff is professional and experimented. Come and enjoy a relaxed holiday journey through dreamy landscapes!
Catalonia Horse Trails is defined by three cornerstones:
Safety: In the riding our fist priority is always safety.
Professionalism: more than eighteen years of Equestrian Tourism experience.
Welcoming: “We enjoy what we do and we are very happy to share our passion with you”.
OUR TEAM
Ramon
Born in Barcelona, Josep Ramon Casas entered the horse world more than 35 years ago, and more specifically within the discipline of Raid. President of the Club Hípic Sant Fruitós de Bages, he created in 1990, the center l’Hípic Sant Fruitós de Bages, as a riding school and training center for horses and riders for competition. Along the same lines, in 2002, he inaugurated a second center in the Catalan Pyrenees, l’Hípic Llanars-Camprodon, completing the facilities with a hotel and a bar / restaurant suitable for organizing riding camps, routes and equestrian stays in an environment privileged. Under the HIPÍC HOTEL brand, this center quickly becomes a benchmark in the field of Catalan tourism, but also for many other equestrian and horsemen throughout the national and international territory, who find there a service adapted to their stays and activities by horse. As of 2009, he decided to specialize in equestrian tourism. The result of this change in orientation is the adherence to the Itinerània program, the network of routes and trails of Ripollés, Garrotxa and Alt Empordà, as well as the 3mons route, which connects the three natural parks of Montseny, St. Llorenç del Munt i Obac and Montserrat. It creates and inaugurates the routes in stagecoaches, based on a Franco-Catalan project for the recovery of animal traction in the field of tourism, the Transhumance route is recovered, carrying a herd of 200 cows on horseback between the Alt Empordà and the Valley of Camprodon, and also happens to lead the Equustur program of the Valles del Montcau. He is a member of the Catalan Horse Riding Federation, integrated in the Equestrian Tourism Commission
Anne
French architect pensioned by nature and botany
Her enthusiasm for horses started in her childhood. Her long involvement on managing complex international projects guarantees the continuous improvement of Catalonia Horse Trails.
She speaks French, Catalan, Spanish and English. She is in charge of managing bookings, marketing, brand image and customer support while organizing the route picnics. Her communicative skills reflect her long experience in horse trails across Catalonia, both as a rider and as a support unit.
Anton Serra
Stable Manager, Trail Guide and Instructor
Born in Catalonia, Anton is passionate about animals. He started riding horses at an early age and touched on different disciplines. His native languages are Catalan and Spanish, and he is also fluent in French and English. He has a degree in Business Commerce, Administration and Finance, as well as a diploma as a level I and II Equestrian Sports Technician, which allows him to work both as an instructor and an equestrian guide. He always pursued his passion for horses and worked for more than 10 years as Ramon’s mentee. Anton is currently in charge of horse welfare and training as well as trail assistance and logistics. You will meet him during your horse-riding holiday, and enjoy his professionalism, efficiency and good spirit.
Lucy Karitacova
Trail guide
Lucy was born in Czech Republic and has been riding since she was seven years old. She competed in showjumping, and her passion for horses took her to work in England, Germany and Portugal. She also competed in endurance racing (raid) throughout Europe including CEI category races. Her work also took her to training, riding and grooming PRE horses in the classic Spanish style “dressage cowgirl”. She joined Catalonia Horse Trails in 2020 as an Equestrian Guide, and also helps with horse caring and training.
Karyn Laurence
Trail guide
Born in Rohan, France, Karyn lived in Spain for the last 30 years. Besides French, she is also fluent in English and Spanish. She is also a lover of nature and adventure, and her passion of horses started when she was seven. She worked in equestrian centres in Andalusia and Costa Brava as a tour and equestrian guide and she has taken Equestrian Technician courses in France, and in Alahurin de la Torre, Malaga and in Benalmadena in Spain, as well as Horsemanship (Parelli) and Lucy Rees on in Equina Podiatry with Rafael Caparrós. She worked with Catalonia Horse Trails as a guide since 2015.
Anne Marie Francken
Trail guide & Logistique assistance
Born in the Netherlands, Anne Marie lives in Spain for almost 20 years. She is our Dutch guide and speaks also English and Spanish. Loves horses and dogs, nature, adventure and meeting people from all over the world. She did dressage and jumping competitions until she moved to Spain and fell in love with trail riding in the stunning nature. She has been working in the north of Spain as a tour guide and stable manager at Caballos del Arlanza in Covarrubias, Burgos. From now on she is looking forward to guide you through the beautiful countryside of the Garrotxa and Alt Emporda, but also for the Cattle Drive and Mountains trails.