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purpletigronI've been too happy with holidays, and then drained with after-holidays, to keep up with my journal. Oops. Here's a late report from last Tue/Wed 30/31 Jul:
G and I went for a full day horseback ride with our usual stables, at Llangenny near Abergavenny in (Old!) South Wales. We'd arranged to go on the Tuesday of G's week off, because it would be quiet, and the owner - Angela Ralph - said she'd take us on an interesting route as she knew we were up to it :-)
We rode out with her, the other lady who runs the stables and two younger girls - both experienced riders, one in her teens, the other aged about 7 (she can already canter and go over small jumps on her pony, which is amazing). We went up through the narrow, hedge-lined lanes, up on to the bracken-covered hills, and the weather was perfect - cool and cloudy, not humid, nor uncomfortably sunny nor raining. In the distance in various directions, we could see the soft grey of showers circling the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons. We rode across the `shoulder' of the hills, cantering energetically where we could, and then down on the far side of the range to have lunch in a pub.
G persuaded me that I would be OK drinking a pint of bitter with my food, which was just right - refreshing, and helped me to relax and ride even better in the afternoon. [BTW, the scientific evidence upon which the current UK drink-driving laws are based, apparently showed that below the current legal blood-alcohol limit there is no improvement in driving ability, and in many people, actually some deterioration.]
Then, back around the other shoulder of the highest crag in those hills, with two long, fast cantering stretches, and down off the hills on our usual steep route for shorter rides - past slopes covered with bracken, heather and foxgloves on one side, and wooded on the other. Five lovely hours in the saddle, very vigorous for pony-trekking!
The next day, my back and shoulders were aching rather - I wasn't sitting up straight enough in the saddle, clearly - but my legs and hips are only ached a little. G's legs were stiffer, having had less riding practise recently than I, though with less back pain thanks to better posture gained through far greater riding experience. So, to help loosen ourselves up, we went for a long, gentle walk, all the way around Roath Park Lake - we didn't spend much time sitting down on park benches, and we were out for over two hours :-)
On the way back, we treated ourselves to four-scoop cups of locally made `Thayers' brand ice cream. Rather good - but nowhere near as good as Green and Black's Chocolate Ice Cream. Then, it should have been lunchtime, but we weren't very hungry after all that ice cream - we had the following flavours: mint-choc, Rocky Road, blueberry, rum-raisin, maple-walnut, pistachio and tiramisu with amaretto :-)
G and I went for a full day horseback ride with our usual stables, at Llangenny near Abergavenny in (Old!) South Wales. We'd arranged to go on the Tuesday of G's week off, because it would be quiet, and the owner - Angela Ralph - said she'd take us on an interesting route as she knew we were up to it :-)
We rode out with her, the other lady who runs the stables and two younger girls - both experienced riders, one in her teens, the other aged about 7 (she can already canter and go over small jumps on her pony, which is amazing). We went up through the narrow, hedge-lined lanes, up on to the bracken-covered hills, and the weather was perfect - cool and cloudy, not humid, nor uncomfortably sunny nor raining. In the distance in various directions, we could see the soft grey of showers circling the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons. We rode across the `shoulder' of the hills, cantering energetically where we could, and then down on the far side of the range to have lunch in a pub.
G persuaded me that I would be OK drinking a pint of bitter with my food, which was just right - refreshing, and helped me to relax and ride even better in the afternoon. [BTW, the scientific evidence upon which the current UK drink-driving laws are based, apparently showed that below the current legal blood-alcohol limit there is no improvement in driving ability, and in many people, actually some deterioration.]
Then, back around the other shoulder of the highest crag in those hills, with two long, fast cantering stretches, and down off the hills on our usual steep route for shorter rides - past slopes covered with bracken, heather and foxgloves on one side, and wooded on the other. Five lovely hours in the saddle, very vigorous for pony-trekking!
The next day, my back and shoulders were aching rather - I wasn't sitting up straight enough in the saddle, clearly - but my legs and hips are only ached a little. G's legs were stiffer, having had less riding practise recently than I, though with less back pain thanks to better posture gained through far greater riding experience. So, to help loosen ourselves up, we went for a long, gentle walk, all the way around Roath Park Lake - we didn't spend much time sitting down on park benches, and we were out for over two hours :-)
On the way back, we treated ourselves to four-scoop cups of locally made `Thayers' brand ice cream. Rather good - but nowhere near as good as Green and Black's Chocolate Ice Cream. Then, it should have been lunchtime, but we weren't very hungry after all that ice cream - we had the following flavours: mint-choc, Rocky Road, blueberry, rum-raisin, maple-walnut, pistachio and tiramisu with amaretto :-)
