Activities
Tourist Guide to San Miguel
Looking for family activites or adventure get-a-ways in San Miguel de Allende and the surrounding area? Be sure to check out our Tourist Guide for San Miguel de Allende, with complete listings of all types of activities and services in San Miguel in all categories and price range.
THE ESSENCE OF CHARRO
When driving to Rancho Santa Emilia, you head toward San Miguel el Viejo, past the railroad tracks and up the rocky lanes. There, a stone entryway greets you with an open embrace and leads you into a place that leaves you dazzled. This is not because of an excessive show of opulence, but because of a reassuring feeling that everything in sight is just as it is meant to be.
There is a sense of the eternal. As your approach the stables, a whiff of lavender, blue agave cactus, the breeze and the melodic sound of the fountains are a prelude to the Mexican rodeo arena, or lienzo charro that crowns the scene like a sultan overseeing his kingdom with a benevolent gaze. To the left, a passage welcomes the visitor through a room of well-worn saddles and vintage serapes, brilliantly woven in Jalisco.
Below is a private cava of fine wine and oak-cured tequila and above, a rooftop terrace with a crystal clear view of water and mountains. Nearby, a 250 year-old log cabin or troje accommodates guests in rustic elegance. Then, of course, there are the horses. With names like Diamante and Malaguena, they are gentle, powerful creatures lovingly bred on the premises and housed in cantera-trothed stables. As you sip on the house tequila, you are transported to a time where man, horse and nature formed a divine trinity.
The owner, Jean-Jacques Diener is a Swiss-born perfumeur who created signature fragrances for Cartier, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino and Elizabeth Taylor, to name just a few. Diener has distilled his exacting taste and passion for horses into this impeccable homage to the charro tradition, named after his wife, Emilia. Here he is living the dream, where the quiet grandour of the rancho and the love of his wife and daughter form the pure essence of happiness.
This place sounds wonderful. It is not clear to me if one can arrange to ride horses here and/or visit or if the references to guests are only to those of the family. Please elaborate. Thanks.
The above is not clear as to what one does if they visit Rancho Santa Emilia. The add is very flowery prose but it gives no hint of why anyone would visit.
Is this a place where I can train? I ride dressage and jumpers in Austin and would like to continue to train when I visit for a week starting next Sunday.
Thank you,
Karen Perkins
yes you can ride at the Ranch. Trailrides, Classes, or for the braves ones Ride with the bulls.
you can call me at 415-113-5480
Karen, yes you can train at the Ranch as well
It will nice if you add more pictures
of Ranch Santa Emilia
I’ll be in Central Mexico for the month of February and would be interested in trail rides appropriate for a person who hasn’t ridden in along time. What do you offer?
re: san miguel chariadas. Is it possible to train with Javier Origel? is he still riding?
thanks
where can ride english saddle? also i have not rode for many years.