Today we traveled over 24 hours from Washington, DC to Cappadocia to begin our horseback riding odyssey in Turkey, a country which seems so exotic to me. Startling Europe and Asia, Turkey has a fascinating history and Cappadocia in particular has a fascinating history with horses. The word Cappadocia is said to stem from the Persian word, “katpatuka,” which roughly translates to “land of beautiful horses.”

In Cappadocia, we will be riding with Ahmet Diler for our Cappadocia equestrian adventures. He grew up in Avanos, where we will base ourselves for the first part of the trip. Ahmet is a horse lover, whose takes great care of his Arabian horses. Many are a mix of Arabian and Barb and many are full Arabians.

Ahmet picked us up from the airport and we drove to Avanos to visit the stables and scout for the upcoming days. We’re staying in Kirkit Pension, one of his hotels. The pension was the former home of a wealthy resident in Avanos, a pottery and weaving center in Turkey. We ate in the courtyard, where local gypsies play live music each night. After a long day of traveling and scouting, everything from the tomato salad to the lentil soup to the ripe peaches tasted really good. I am going to sleep very well and hope to be on Turkish time in the morning in preparation for our first ride.

Learn more about Equitrekking on PBS and the Turkey episodes and learn about exceptional equestrian vacations, including Cappadocia equestrian vacations, at EquitrekkingTravel.com.