Riding in Cornwall

I'm back from Cornwall with several bruises and sore muscles and a strange fore-arm tan. The weather was perfect and so was the farm / riding school. Turns out riding 5 days in a row after not riding for 5 years is really exhausting!

The first night I was there I wandered out into the fields and hung out with the horses (and a bunch of wild rabbits).

The miniature ponies who lived next door.

A pony named Storm who was very slow (and too small for me).

I caught up on my riding skills in the evenings via the "Young Riders Handbook" from ~1970.

The horses (all 60+ of them) lived as a herd in the giant paddocks and about 15 of them were brought in to the outdoor stables each day. I think I had ridden about 6 different horses by the end of the week.

This is Pogo, the farm dog. He lived outside all day and slept in the barn in a giant dog bed at night.

Out on a evening 'hack.'

There was a little village nearby that we visited on horseback.

An example of one of the 'bridleways' which are maintained by the Council. Really nice and flat/safe, so we got to canter around a lot.

A wild pony! Not really wild, but we couldn't figure out where his farm was.

The farm is surrounded by old tin mines/smelters - apparently Redruth was at one point the wealthiest city in England because of the mining industry. All that is left now are the old chimneys and dilapidated brick buildings covered in ivy.

The horses were so brave/well trained we got to ride through the 'ruins.'

Me on 'Jasmine,' an ex-steeple chase horse.

Riding on the beach. It's hard to see in this picture, but the lighthouse in the distance is THE lighthouse. As in, "To the Lighthouse" / Virginia Woolf. I was had no idea!

My gentleman guide who was about 70 and about as English as you can possibly get.

Stella, a fat pony.

The back patio, which I had to myself because I was the only person 'on holiday.'

Home cooked meals every night.

A glass of wine in the jacuzzi, overlooking a field of horses. Not bad.

I have a million more pictures but uploading them to the blog takes forever. I hope this gives you 'the idea' - it was really great! I'm back in Bristol for another 10 days now, then it is off to Copenhagen!