Themed weekends Mérens horse breeding farm - Ariège Pyrenees

Organic Mérens horse farm in the French Pyrenees

History of the Mérens

Our Methods & Traditions

Horses for sale

The Transhumance

Horseback Riding

Homeopathic Care

Our Guarantees

Themed Weekends

Gîtes and B & B

The dates of our themed weekends (1 per month, for 8 to 10 people maximum in our bed and breakfast:

2008

17-20 January
Hog butchering

14-17 February
preparing foie gras, confits and milhas

13-16 March
Branding the horses

29 May - 1st June
Transhumance (up)

19-22 June
Foaling

18-21 September
Mushroom gathering

9-12 October
Transhumance (down)

7-9 November
Apple pressing, chestnuts

20-23 November
Jam-making

8-11 January 2009
Pig butchering

HPS

the SAVIGNOL family
Peyroutets
09230 Lasserre
Ariège-Pyrénées
France

Tel: (33)
(0)5 61 66 65 34
contact@
merens-ariege.com

English spoken
Hablamas español

JANUARY : Hog butchering Learn the mysteries of producing blood sausage, pâtés, hams, sausages and crackling.

FEBRUARY, NOVEMBER : Foie gras We have been preparing our own foie gras and duck confits for generations. Join us to learn how it's made traditionally

MARCH : branding The horses are branded with HPS in anticipation of the 5 months they'll spend free in the mountains. First we have to select the young males and females to be branded and eventually any older mares not yet marked. Plenty of hands are needed to hold the horses as no anesthesia is used.

MAY : foaling You'll be the first to touch a foal, to accustom him to contact with humans, to witness the mare's first caresses and the newborn's first sucking at the teat.

JUNE & OCTOBER : the transhumance You'll help bring the herd to the summer grazing pastures in the high mountains at 2000 m. About 20 kms a day of easy riding or walking, we'll follow roads and trails, joining up with herds of cows and flocks of sheep, with festivities along the way and camping out under the stars. www.transhumance-pyrenees.com Watch video

JUNE & NOVEMBER : jam making You'll help us pick the organically grown fruit from our trees and make your own conserves in our kitchen in a convivial atmosphere.

SEPTEMBER : mushroom gathering Join us in mushroom gathering in the surrounding forests. If we're lucky, you'll savour them in your next meal. If not, you'll have enjoyed some fine autumn walks. Watch video

OCTOBER : apple pressing and eau de vie We'll have already picked the apples, so you can help with the grinding and pressing (using a manual American apple press dating from 1895) and then the bottling of the apple juice. And if the "bouilleur de cru" comes round with his still you'll see apple brandy distilled the old fashioned way. Watch video

Transhumance weekend

Mushroom weekend

Apple pressing weekend