CÉCILE LEDUC / BÉRAT

The region is full of great and often original initiatives. Cécile Leduc is a good example. We met her in Bérat, where we were very curious to find out more about equestrian tourism. Cécile is the owner of a boarding stable with around fifty horses owned by private individuals and seven of her own, and is the driving force behind “Randonnées Equitables”.

After working for several years as an instructor at a riding school, in 2015 she and her partner Bruno decided to convert part of their 100-hectare property into a stable, part of which has been kept as a farm where barley and hay are grown to feed the horses. Her interest in tourism naturally led her to quickly come up with a package combining the discovery of the region with a passion for horses.

This package offers experienced riders all-inclusive stays of between 2 and 3 days in the region or in other départements. For Cécile, it’s a real tour de force and a real network effort. Each tour involves providing accommodation for the horses and their owners, scouting the trails to make sure they are being used properly, and finding local producers to supply the nomadic troupe. Because that’s one of Cécile’s specialities (yes, she was also a restaurateur): wherever she goes, she offers travellers meals concocted by her using only produce from local producers.

Thanks to her success, Cécile now has a loyal clientele who follow her year after year. Even though moving horses limits the distances involved, every year she creates new tailor-made breaks to offer her group a whole new range of discoveries. The group sometimes includes accompanying guests guided by Bruno on mountain bikes or horse-drawn carriages.

Cécile and Bruno are passionate about their project, as evidenced by the impeccable state of the stables, the Centre tourisme équestre accreditation and the animal welfare approval.

But they don’t limit themselves to tourism, as they have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline. The next step would be to step up and develop training in carriage driving, so that Marion, who already works at the stables one day a week, can be taken on full-time. At the same time, Cécile is working with the organisation 3PA, which contributes to education and training for the ecological transition, on partnership projects that put the horse back to its utilitarian role (logging, waste collection, public transport, etc.).

In all her actions, Cécile contributes ethically to the development of the region and mobilises local energies.
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***