A 'first' at 36

For a while now, 'A' has been driving me mad to go horse riding.  I have to say this is something I've wanted to do myself for as long as I can remember but I did wonder if at the age of 36 I was a little too old to be potentially 'falling off' a horse.  After a little discussion I finally decided to do a bit of searching online to see if I could find a suitable place for us to experience our first pony ride.  I came across a site called horsetreks.co.uk part of livetheadventure and after a few emails back and forth we booked a 45 minute hack.

The Ginny Hole centre was located in Stottesdon which was nearly an hours drive from home.  Far too much time, I have to say, to weigh up the pros and cons of why I'd finally decided to do this.  'A' was seriously looking forward to it though so I figured it was now or never.  When we arrived the staff that greeted us were so friendly they immediately put us at ease.  We discovered that I would be riding 'Apache' and 'A' would be on 'Thunder'.  We laughed when we heard the name of 'A's horse as I had mental pictures of a huge black stallion, rearing up and neighing!  It turned out that both Apache and Thunder were very lovely black and white cob horses that were extremely well behaved and calm and nothing like the the image their names conjured up.

As it turned it, 'A' and I were the only riders on this particular hack and as we'd never so much as sat on a horse before they decided it would be a good idea for us to each have our own member of staff to accompany us on the ride.  This was great as it filled us with a lot more confidence.  We were given directions on how to 'steer' the horse and get him to move and then off we went for our 45 minute walk.

We were told that the horses are extremely clever and that usually within 5 to 10 minutes they have a notion of what type of rider is 'onboard' and if they feel it's a novice then they decide to 'try it on'!  Apache tried this a couple of times by eating the hedge as we walked along and then doing some serious head shaking.  I never realised that it could be quite so difficult to control a horse.  You watch others doing it and it looks so simple, but even managing to keep your balance at such a height can be tricky if the horse decides to have a wobbly moment.  We did attempt a little trot on the way back up the lane which was fun but blimey was it knackering and we only did it for a couple of minutes!

I'm very pleased to say that neither of us fell off and both returned with our limbs all intact.  After seeing how high you are on the horse's back falling off would definitely be the last thing I'd aim to do.  We both had a fabulous time at Country Treks.  I can't see myself competing in the 2016 games but it's really something I'd like to try again at some point and 'A' has said the same.  Horses are such beautiful and intelligent creatures, it was a real honour to be so close to them even if it has taken me 36 years to get around to it.


'A' and I with 'Thunder'

Lazy days of Summer

After returning from holiday to 'not so great' British weather imagine our joy when the forecast was for the temperature to reach the dizzy heights of 24c!  Woo hoo!  As we still had a few free days from work we decided to make the most of the dry spell and headed off to Bidford-on-avon for a picnic and afternoon by the river.

A walk along the Avon

Arnold having a lazy afternoon

Frisbee!

Arnold gets his own ice-cream

We arrived around lunchtime and tootled off for a stroll along the river to let Arnold stretch his little Border legs.  We ate lunch and then spent a lovely, lazy afternoon playing games, reading and doing the crossword.  And what trip to Bidford would be complete without a trip to the chip shop for tea.  By the time we left for home it was around 8.30pm which meant we were treated to the most beautiful sunset throughout our journey.

The following night, although cloudy, we enjoyed a smashing barbecue in the garden followed by an evening around the chiminea.  Many, many games of pictionary and uno followed then lo and behold the cloud shifted and we were left with an evening of star gazing.

'A' & 'P' enjoying a night in the garden

Saturday saw us taking a drive out to Mom and Dad's caravan as they'd decided on a short break near Enville.  Another leisurely afternoon ensued with an attempt at our 2nd barbecue of the week.  Unfortunately the wind had other ideas leaving us to use the small caravan oven to cook for 7!

I've only just realised that I've not yet told you of my new addition, so now seemed a perfect opportunity.  Her name is Glinda (as in 'Wicked'/'The Wizard of Oz') and she's a beautiful Ice Blue Mini Convertible.  She arrived just before our holiday so I'd not had much chance to test drive her.  However, Saturday's sunny trip to Enville was a superb opportunity even if it did mean we had to take two cars to enable us to transport all of our junk!  It was worth it though, nothing more exhilarating than powering down the country lanes with the wind in your hair.

'Glinda'

A sunny but wet day out in Wales

A couple of weeks ago 'P' finally managed to book his White Water Rafting experience at Canolfan Tryweryn that I bought him for his 40th birthday last year.  As luck would have it, his choice of weekend was superb as the weather was far better than most we'd seen so far this year.  The location of Canolfan Tryweryn couldn't have been more perfect.  Situated in Bala, North Wales the surrounding countryside was just lovely, made even better by the fact it was warm and the sun was shining.



After a talk on rafting instructions and safety, 'P' was then bussed up to the start point to begin his rafting session.  The children and I sat at the centre, where there were picnic benches and cafe facilities, awaiting 'P's first run down the river.  A few of the participants in 'P's raft had missed their slot which meant that rather than having a full raft, there were just two others and the instructor.  This unfortunately meant that some of the tricks that are carried out on the river weren't successful as the raft simply wasn't heavy enough.  This didn't stop 'P' having a fabulous time though.  He had 4 runs down the river in total which I thought was extremely good value for money.





The children and I walked Arnold along the trail that follows the river.  This allowed us to take up different vantage points for snapping pictures as 'P' whizzed past!  By the time he was finished he was completely knackered, but he did say he'd love to go back at some point and give the kayaking a try.





I'd really recommend Canolfan Tryweryn to anyway who'd love to give rafting a go.  The venue was smashing and all the staff extremely pleasant and helpful.  We've already said we'll go back and have even talked about the prospect of group rafting.  I have to say though, it's one occasion when I'm more than happy to 'walk the dog'.  Water and I don't mix and the thought of being drenched from head to toe does not appeal in the slightest.

Welcome back weekends

We decided that 2012 would see us making a little more of our weekends.  It's all too easy to fall into the trap of housework, DIY and general 'vegging' as the weekend passes by. Running our own business we also seem to spend a lot of time planning our workload for the coming week and before we know it, Sunday evening has arrived along with the ironing of school uniform and work shirts.

Arnold, for one, has been rather pleased by the new approach to our weekends as the last two have seen us taking him on a countryside ramble and a walk by the canal.  Last Saturday we headed to Abberley nr Great Witley in Worcestershire armed with a circular walk we'd downloaded from the web and our O&S map.  I will be the first to admit here, that our map reading skills aren't the best and 'P' out and out refuses to look at the map at all due to his 'inability' in this area.  Now, you've probably guessed where I'm going with this, we did get kind of lost due to turning left instead of right at a very strategic point.  Never the less we had a lovely walk finding our way across country fields, past farms, animals and many, many (many) stiles.  The stiles themselves gave us a new challenge as most didn't have Border Terrier sized access therefore leaving us to pass Arnold back and forth between 'P' and myself.  I think he was starting to get a little narked towards the end of our 90 minute walk, God knows how St Bernard owners get on?



[caption id="attachment_1173" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="One of the few stiles with Arnold access"][/caption]



At the end of our walk we stopped at the Manor Arms in Abberley village for a quick half.  Although it was January 7th and 5pm, we sat outside with our muddy boots and muddy dog and didn't once feel the cold.  The landlord was extremely welcoming and we can't wait to pop in again.



Try visiting Walking Britain to download details of the same walk.  Maybe you'll have more luck at map reading :).