Jordan Guide
Petra and around
Horseriding
At Petra's Visitor Centre you can book and pay for a horse to take you down to the Siq entrance, although at JD7 for a walk of 800m, it's not much of a thrill. Of this sum, JD5 goes to the owner of the horse (who is, almost without exception, not the person holding the reins) and JD2 goes to the Petra authorities. The only income gained by the handler is in tips.
It's forbidden to ride horses through the Siq, but a horse and carriage seating two can be taken all the way through the Siq to the Treasury for JD20 return – also bookable at the Visitor Centre. These are officially reserved for the elderly and infirm, but in practice can be booked by anyone. For the return leg, there are always plenty of carriages waiting for business from tired sightseers as the afternoon draws on, but if you arrange with a particular carriage-driver to be at the Treasury at a set time for your return ride, he will turn up: his fee depends on it. Resist the temptation to copy the many weary visitors who just get into the first carriage they see; this a breach of honour, and also leads to underhand competition between carriage-drivers to muscle in on each other's business. Ugly arguments over cash between two stalled carriages in the Siq are a feature of Petra afternoons.
If you see a horse or donkey being mistreated, you can refer the matter to the Brooke Hospital for Animals (Sat– Thurs 8am–3pm; 
03 215 6379, 
www.thebrooke.org), an English-run charity located to the left of the gate.