The Ardennes

While riding a horse, there sometimes comes a point when you feel both grounded and outside of yourself, connected both with your surroundings and with another living being. The Belgian Ardennes offers an ideal setting for anyone hoping to achieve this sensation. Hacking through thick woods and across trickling streams on horseback, riders get a taste of the freedom that comes from time spent with nature.

Located halfway between Brussels and Luxembourg City in Belgium’s southeastern corner, the Belgian Ardennes is a land of charming beauty. Cows graze in verdant pastures, and the picture-perfect ruins of medieval castles rest atop steep river valleys. Deep in the heart of the region lies the Grande Forêt de Saint-Hubert, a sparsely populated 247, 000-acre forest teeming with game and thousands of miles of marked hiking, mountain biking and horse-riding trails. “You can go for hours without crossing a