RANCH AFTASS

Aftass means 'beach' in Amazigh (berber) language, and the beaches of the region of Essaouira are endless and breathtaking.

As a small ‘family run’ ranch we cater to your specific requests. We love to host smaller groups with a personal touch to preserve the quality of real human interaction and assure a nice contact between you and our horses.

Each horse has its personality - just as humans do - and we love to make a good match between a rider and his four legged companion.
Respect for the animals and nature is always central in what we do.

Ranch Aftass is based at the the river of the village Diabat just next to Essaouira. The village is known for the passage of Jimi Hendrix in 1969 and a strong concentration of hippies in the 60's and 70's. 

Today it has become the 'village of horses' with probably more horses then people living there. 

WHO ARE WE?

Ahmad Saltani has been organising guided walks on horseback since 2009. He has hosted people from all over the world. People that never had been on a horse before or experienced riders. He always finds the good connection between a rider and one of his horses.

He was born and raised in the village of Diabat and knows the region of Essaouira by heart as well as many stories and anecdotes. The location of the ranch used to be a small cow-farm run by his grandmother.

Maaike Wuyts came to Essaouira for the first time in 2018. As a music professional she came to assist the annual Gnaoua Music Festival. She fell in love with this magical place and its ocean with endless beaches and especially the beautiful barb-arab horses. In 2019 she decided to come and live in Diabat for a while and bought her own horse to go for rides every day. This is how she met Ahmad and they teamed up in life. She has been riding horses from the age of 4, has done competition in both dressage and jumping but was always really more in it for the connection with the horses while going for adventurous hikes.