The Story of Cortijo Los Lobos
We Are Happy To Share Our Harmonious Home With You
Cortijo Los Lobos is owned and run exclusively by ourselves, Clive and June, meaning you are guaranteed a personal service – guest happiness is our priority. We moved to our lovely old farmhouse in the spring of 2000 with our three young children. The farmhouse was named after our surname Wolfe, Cortijo Los Lobos means "Farmhouse of Wolves". Within two weeks we had acquired our first horse, Polly, after hearing that she desperately needed a home. That was the start of our horse rescue journey, within two years our herd had grown to six and within two more years we had 15 horses to care for, as well as abandoned cats and dogs, a couple of goats, sheep and chickens.
How It All Started
Our riding holiday business was started as a means of funding the care of the horses and other animals and is our only income. Over the years it has grown from strength to strength. We started with just one cottage, the pool and stables, building and restoring with our own bare hands, and year by year the farm grew to provide more accommodation and the beautiful landscaped gardens you see today.
It has been a labour of love and we are very proud of what we have achieved. We still work tirelessly to maintain and improve the farm, to provide you with stylish and comfortable accommodation and beautiful surroundings.
BEFORE
AFTER
Kindness Is Our Ethos
We have rehabilitated and trained our horses using positive reinforcement, they are all bitless and barefoot and are much loved family pets who will be with us until the day they die. As the herd ages, as well as making our rides walk only, we have moved into a lot more ground based work, hosting courses such as clicker training and agility, hoof trimming, equine massage, all designed to benefit both horses and guests, so that when the day eventually comes, that all our horses are too old to ride, we can still provide horse holidays to interest guests, even taking a horse for a walk in hand is a fun thing to do. We have been accepted by the Non Ridden Equine Association. This means that we also promote non ridden horse activities.
IRENE BEFORE
IRENE AFTER
Meet Our Happy Herd
We currently have 10 horses, most of them enjoying their retirement days. The animals are all very gentle and completely safe with children. You will also love our friendly, well behaved cats and two dogs as well as our funny hens and cockerel who free range the garden and lay delicious eggs for us. Many of our guests have used their stay to build their children’s confidence with animals. If you or any of your family are nervous with dogs, let us know and we will introduce the animals to you at the start. *We occasionally have guests who dislike dogs or cats. This is stressful for us and our pets, who are very friendly and used to people liking them, finding it confusing when they go to greet people with a waggy tail only to be told to go away. It is not an easy option for us to keep them shut away if you don't like them, though we are mindful and do our best, but all accommodations have their own private courtyards with doors that can be kept shut and if we keep our dogs inside, it is unfair on other guests , often repeats, who look forward to seeing the dogs when they come back .
June's Books
In June's book No Time For a Siesta you can find out all about the family's journey to Spain, and the life on the farm. In the new sequel Too Much Time for a Siesta June shares the story of their struggle to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
An Inspiring Read
"June and Clive’s family move to a Spanish mountain farmhouse, with ups and downs and the setting up of their holiday cottages and riding holidays along the way. With 20 years running a successful holiday business now, they still have no time for a siesta!"
- TRACEY C.