A new passion of mine is this: Rural Areas. Spending most of my life in a busy city, and seeing rural areas only once or twice in a year (when we, with the whole family, leave the city for some air), I long for places such as farms, woods, and little towns (even villages).

In my last trip, I spent some quality time within woods and a little town in England, where I adored much - and when I'm back to my country, I tried to keep it that way, too.

A few years ago, I had started horse riding, taking professional lessons in the farms nearby, and spending my Sundays in that farms, watching the professional riders while they practise their riding, but after a while I reduced the days I go to the farms and preferred meeting up with friends in the city.

Which I don't prefer these days.

There are a few rural areas even in the middle of city Istanbul, especially some good quality Riding Clubs where you can go and see horse riding or even practise your riding - or just have breakfast while watching the nature; trees, dogs, cats, ducks, sheeps, cows and many others.

I prefer the ones that are closer to where I live, and started going for riding a few days in a week, taking professional lessons, learning how to sit on a horse during walk, trot and full speed, using my feet and legs to balance my body, and even ride the horse when I am on my feet only! (That's why my right leg and back are in pain right now...) Well, it's one of the most expensive hobbies probably, and hardest to process - but easier with a trainer like mine; forcing you to complete an action, though you look like in pain while trying and failing it...

Witnessing there are more foreigners on these farms than in the city, I thought it might be helpful to the foreigners living in Istanbul to write about the riding clubs I've been to.

The ones outside the city are much much better, good looking, wider and have more facilities - because they have space. Most of them have 4 maneges with different sizes. Generally two are closed, two are open area maneges. If you are a good rider and can ride on your own, you will be able to take the courses on the open ones - using any style, walking, trotting or riding full speed. If you are still taking direction from your trainer, then you will probably practise in the closed ones.

Gürman Horse Farm (Gürman At Çiftliği)

My Favourite Riding Club: The one I will recommend is Gürman Horse Farm (Gürman At Çiftliği), or Gürman Riding Club (Gürman Binicilik Klübü), located between Istanbul and Edirne. If you are going there to make friends, talk about horses or just spend your weekend there, then go on Sunday. It is busier then. But in weekdays, you will be in a very quiet environment, will watch the horses running alone in the open manege, will relax listening to the sounds of nature and smell the nature itself. The farm is located right next to a lake named Büyükçekmece Gölü, so your view will be a mix of all these: The manege, horses, woods around and a blue lake; especially on sunny days. The picture above is a view from the cafe where everyone sits and watches the competitors riding on Sundays. I took it yesterday, it was Friday and very quiet then.

The best trainer you can find in all farms in Istanbul is there, and without him, I wouldn't dare to stand on my feet on a horse at all! He gives great support and asks for the things you think you cannot do... At the end, you have to do - because if not, he shouts like a crazy. Even the horses are afraid of him!

Pricing: The price is 80 TL for one lesson, which lasts half an hour - and after this lesson, you will look wasted, because the trainer makes you practise too hard. 10 tickets that you can spend in a month is 700 TL, so one lesson will be 70 TL if you choose that option.

How to go there: By car, if you are coming from the city centre, choose the E6 road (TEM as we know it), leave the E6 when you see the sign for Hadımköy, and follow the direction to Hezarfen Airport. You must pass the airport and follow the road again to go to the Karaağaç Village (Karaağaç Köyü). You can either look up for this address on your navigation tool or ask someone around; most of them will know about Gürman.

For those who come from the other direction, same rules apply. Leave the E6 road when you see the sign for Hadımköy, and follow the rest. As it is surrounded by villages, unfortunately there is no way you can go to the farm without a car.

International K9 & Horse Club

The other options: Another option is a club near to Gürman, named International K9 & Horse Club. It is internationally approved by the European Riding Associations, and looks more professional, but doesn't look like a farm and the food is more expensive. People in Gürman are more friendly, and Sundays are much more fun in my own opinion. What makes International K9 & Horse Club more appealing is the fake lake inside the area, orange fish swimming and the dogs of course. There you can see loads loads of dogs with different types, even buy one of them if that's what you are planning to... Breakfast is tasty (I've never eaten in Gürman, so I can't compare these two), but not too cheap: 25 TL per person. They do it the traditional way and put all the dishes on your table; you take whatever you want, cheese, olive, salami, sausage, börek, bread, tea and etc. - The food is limitless.

Pricing: If you are planning to take a riding course, one single lesson here is a bit more expensive. 90 TL for one lesson, which will take half an hour, but if you buy 25 tickets that you can use any time in a year, it will be 67 TL per lesson. A friend of mine who has been a professional rider for the last 4 years recommended me the other club, so I started taking my lessons in Gürman. However, if you love rural areas as I do, I'd definitely recommend you the K9 Club as it has a different kind of natural beauty you can enjoy on your weekend.

The last club I can offer is a bit out of the city, located in a place named Silivri. Here, as I noticed, the trainers are younger and less experienced - but their closed manege is my favourite (The open one is not any interesting at all.)

Erkanlı Country offers you lovely rooms and a great environment where you can go with your children . Training is cheaper, 75 TL per lesson, 675 TL for 10 horse riding lessons, but this is not a farm you can go every week if you live in the central city, so cheap doesn't mean the best...

Below you can see a picture of mine taken in Erkanlı Country, about 3-4 years ago, when I visited the farm for the first time. This one was taken inside the closed manege I like :)

How to get there: This time following the E5 road will be a better way as the farm is linked to it somehow. From the centre, get on to the E5 road, drive about 1 hour and after passing Selimpaşa, follow the sign for Silivri; the road will direct you right to the farm. When you see the signs showing Erkanlı At Çiftliği, turn right. This is a long way to go, but just for once, you might want to do it anyway.