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Horse Rides and Treks

Horse rides and treks for all ages and levels in one of Greece's most beautiful environments, Papigo, one of 46 villages in the Zagori region, in the heart of the National Park of Northern Pindos. Enjoy the sunset as it paints the majestic cliff faces a deep sultry red while riding among the forefeet of the spectacular Astraka peak (2,436m).

You can also admire the endemic wildlife watching golden eagles and kestrels soaring above and hunting the smaller prey of the area. And on a lucky day you might be able to catch a glimpse of a fox, badger, hare or wild boar or see a brown bear scrambling along the cliff faces.

Our history and goals

Having and owning a herd of horses has always been a personal dream of ours and we were finally able to fulfill our dream in the fall of 2005 by opening the company "White Pegasus". We began by taking couples on short rides and treks around the area in an attempt to better sensitize people to the ecology of the area. Hopefully in the future we will be able to offer a greater variety of rides and durations according to the desires of each person.

We also hope through our rides and treks around the greater area of Papigo we can offer something to the visitor indicating the magic of the area. Hopefully each person will leave us with a better understanding of how such an area of raw natural beauty is so special and necessary and with a wonderful experience to describe to others.

Along with our love for horses, is a love of Pyrenees dogs, and therefore, we have combined rides and treks with breeding and selling purebred Pyrenees. We hope that with our Pyrenees puppies we can offer alternate solutions to the shepherds of the region to ward off wolves and bears that prey on their livestock as well as happiness and security to the families that will select to have a Pyrenees pup for their home.

General Information about the Area

The Zagori region is located in Northwestern Greece, bordering Albania and the Ionian Sea. It includes the northern part of the Pindus range, a range which transverses from northern Greece down to the Peloponnesus. There are a number of mountain ranges included in the park of Northern Pindus; the highest peak Gamila has an elevation of 2.497m. Other mountain peak names in the area are Astraka (2,436m), Lapatos (2,251m), Ploskos (2,377m), Karteros (2,478m), Megala Litharia (2,467m), and Tsouka Rossa (2,377m). Also the deepest gorge in the world, the Vikos gorge with a length of over 10 km and width from 100m to 1km and a depth of 1.250m lies within the National Park.

The most important characteristics of the area are the unsurpassed beauty (domineering mountain views and canyons, valleys, a diversity of bas-relief, extensive forests and a numerous lakes, rivers and streams), the geologic richness (potholes, dolines, cliff faces etc.), and the presence of a large variety of flora and fauna, over 1750 species of plants and almost 300 species of vertebrates - among those many rare and protected species.

The villages of Mikro and Megalo Papigo within the national park are considered to be traditional settlements and therefore retain the same style of architecture used over 200 years ago. Many of the churches in the area were built between the 10th and 12th centuries. There is a feeling of antiquity as you enter these villages which are considered cultural monuments. Along with the traditional architecture certain practices such as shepherding, making their own wine and tsipouro, and cultivating individual gardens still exist.

The importance of the area lies not only in its significance as a nationally designated Park but also in its incredibly large diversity of flora and fauna that constitute the area. In terms of vegetation, 897 different taxa of plants in the area have been recorded. Also in terms of fauna there are 10 species of amphibians, 21 species of herps, 133 species of birds and 24 species of mammals that are known to exist.

Large mammals such as brown bear (Ursus arctos), wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and the grey wolf (Canis lupus) occur within the forested slopes of the northern Pindus range. At higher elevations among and above the tree line, the lynx (Lynx lynx) and the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) can be found. The chamois population can be observed along the alpine pastures on one of our rides or treks up to the Mountain refuge, drakolimni and the Astraka plateau.

Smaller and more common mammals such as the wildcat (Felis sylvestris), the river otter (Lutra lutra), bats (Chiroptera), beech marten (Martes foina), eurasian badger (Meles meles) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) can be found within the park at a large range of elevations.

In general the park of Northern Pindos and more specifically Papigo is worth visiting as it combines natural beauty, a large diversity of flora and fauna with traditional architecture and practices and other human activities such as tourism, in the forms of agrotourism and ecotourism.

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