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When the days are cold and the nights draw in, I often cuddle up in front of the fire, and remember those long summer days spent on horseback. Oh, how I long to be in the saddle, roaming the Radnor Hills once more. What an thrill, what an experience.
For ages I had been keen to go on a horse riding holiday, and one advert caught my eye. Visit Wild Wales on horseback. It promised unescorted horse and pony hire so one could explore the Radnor Hills of mid Wales. No-one to tell you what to do! Independence! This looked exactly what I'd been searching for. Excitedly, I sent off for the brochure.
So, an adventure began. Plans were made for a 3 day trek into the wilderness. The expedition would consist of myself and another three brave explorers.
Our instructions told us to arrive at a place called Hay-On-Wye, where we were to seek refreshments and rest, prior to commencing our mission the following day. The choice of accommodation and restaurants was excellent, and enough beverages could be consumed allowing you to achieve an uninterrupted sleep. One had plenty of opportunity to obtain reading material, for Hay is known as the Book Shop Capital of England. The evening was spent perusing dusty volumes for that elusive book.
The following day the intrepid explorers squeezed into spotless jodhpurs, and consumed a full English breakfast. Donning knee high boots, we set off to meet our trusty steeds who would provide our transportation across those hills full of bracken and heather, not forgetting the sheep!(there's lovely - TechEd)
A warm and relaxed welcome was received from the FreeRein team. Pre-expedition information was given. We were shown how to use the maps and route instructions, and had to delegate a rider to read the instructions and one to read the map. Guess who landed the little job of map reading? This particular delegation of responsibility did result in the addition of many thrilling experiences. I did try to warn them!
Packing our saddle bags provided us with another problem. Had I got room to pack my make-up? What about my hairbrush? We were given hoof picks, waterproof covers for the saddles, first aid kits. It was a struggle, but the lipstick was victorious.
So finally we were ready, four intrepid horsewomen ready to face all the challenges that Radnor (and map reading) could throw at us.
To be continued....
