Cullinghood Equestrian Centre, Pangbourne
So it was Steve’s Christmas present to me of a gift voucher for riding lessons that re-ignited my love for horses. In keeping with the theme, my birthday present from Steve was another riding experience, this time he would be riding with me (no it wasn’t his choice!).
We booked through Red Letter Days (following a recommendation from Poppy) some time ago, and put it to the back of our minds as it was so far away. Yet all of a sudden, this weekend, it was here. Three hours of riding, with two hours for lunch in the middle. What could be better, on the hottest day of the year…?
We arrived in good time, and were impressed with the facilities – two large schools, cross country course, miles of post and rail turnout, and plenty of stabling. All on pancake flat land. With over 400 acres, plenty of on site hacking too.
The office was clearly signed, and we were offered a warm welcome. Hat check, loo stop and time to get on board.
I was on Polly, a small (15.1hh ish?) chestnut mare, and looking far less bulky than the weight carriers I was more used to. I questioned her ability to carry my weight, but was reassured that she would be fine. The guy who led her out to me warned she was very quick off the leg and needed gentle hands. Ok, I could do that.
Steve was on a skewbald called Murphy, and there were two other riders with us. One had ridden a couple of times as a child, but the other (and Steve) had never sat on a horse before. This led to the amusing situation of me (a bad a rider as I am) being used as the demonstrator.
We walked over to the school, and the other three were at first led around, whilst being taught the basics and practising lots of turns and changes of rein. Polly was lovely to ride, very willing to move forward, and very responsive. I actually had to slow down her walk, as we kept leaving the others far behind. This frustrated me as I constantly seek an active walk and usually it’s a battle to get one, so to be given one without trying, then have to slow it down seemed a shame.
We progressed onto trotting, and the others were led round individually, with me giving them all a lead round up front, so that Polly was working fairly hard. Steve I think was a bit overwhelmed at how hard riding actually was – he commented afterwards that he expected you’d feel so much more secure in the saddle, but he felt like he may tip off at any point. It’s funny how quickly you learn to balance though.
All three made an effort at rising trot, and Polly and I had a couple of canters – good transitions, and lots of energy, though she was rushing a bit too much and again I had to work to slow her up.
My position was fairly good, but I think I was very conscious of being correct as Mark, the instructor, kept telling everyone to look at ‘Jane’ (he got it wrong and as I didn’t correct him the first time, I felt too embarrassed to correct him later, so I became Jane all day) to see how it should be done.
Once we’d been in the school for an hour or so, Mark asked if I wanted to go out on a proper hack with him rather than a ‘walkabout’ with the others. But as I was there to spend the day with Steve on a horse, I opted to stay with the group. We went straight out from the school and along some of the wooded tracks through the grounds – it was a really lovely place to ride, and the shade was much appreciated on the hot day.
We had one of the leaders with us, just in case, and Mark was also on foot. As he was walking back with the others, I was effectively leading the ride, and had to keep checking back to make sure I wasn’t going too fast (I was).
We had a couple more trots, which I think went ok for everyone, no-one fell off anyway, then we reached the bottom of the gallops. Polly seemed to have forgotten that she was in the company of beginners, as she started getting fizzy and excited, only to have to walk along them instead of fly along. I got the feeling though that she’d be a great one to take on a fast hack.
We then headed back to the school for another 10 minutes or so as one of the fields we were going to ride through had horses in, and the others got to practice trotting again, and I got to canter a few circles.
Then it was back to dismount, untack and wash off the horses – something they were keen to involve the riders in.
Lunch was sat outside the farmhouse, and consisted of melon, lasagne and ice cream – all of which was gobbled up, then we had some time to kill before riding again. Mark then asked if we wanted to start earlier, so that we’d be able to see more of the football, so we all did.
Steve and the other guy had been swapped, so Steve was now on Barley, a lovely bay. The other girl was on a new horse too. As we started earlier, Mark was teaching someone else and so a new guy, Paul, walked out with us.
I must confess now to getting a little stroppy. Boston was nowhere near as forward going as Polly, and I was really having to work him. Paul was walking beside me, and I felt like I was being led. Paul kept trying to make conversation and I was just getting grumpier and grumpier, and wishing I’d gone on a proper hack.
But it wasn’t Paul’s fault – he hadn’t seen me ride earlier, so didn’t know I could ride, and I’d booked on a walking hack, how was he to know I didn’t need someone there ready to clip a lead rope on.
But he did eventually say I was fine, and dropped back to walk beside Steve. This seemed to free both myself and Boston, and we walked out a bit more energetically. Having not seen anyone ride, Paul only let us walk for most of the hour, then we had a little trot on the way back to the school.
I was then allowed back into the school to have a quick canter on Boston, but it was so hot, and he was so ploddy that it wasn’t very satisfying. I managed to get a canter out of him on both reins, but from his point if view, he’d gone out on a walk in the hot sun, and now he was back the last thing he wanted to do was go into the school and run around. We went once on each rein and left it at that.
Back to the yard and stripped them all off and washed them down, then we were asked if we could turn them out. We then got a lesson on turning out. I did cringe at this, but again, the girl telling us what to do had no idea that I’d had horses before, and actually I guess you do need to think about what you’re doing, to save getting into the field and getting carted off when someone lets theirs go before yours.
Boston was in a separate paddock anyway, so I walked there with Paul and made a point of asking him loads of questions and being chatty to make up for being rude earlier.
We left feeling very satisfied, if a little thirsty, and headed straight to the nearest pub for a much needed drink and to catch up on the football. Steve had enjoyed himself, but had a far greater appreciation for horse riding, having previously though, as so many do, that you get on, kick and pull and get off when you’re done.
The main thing that bothered him was how out of control he felt (the beginners’ horses kept stopping to eat, and the riders were pretty powerless in stopping them). He couldn’t quite get over the concept that you’re trying to make this huge beast do what you want rather than what they want, and found it quite intimidating. I tried explaining that that was exactly why getting them to willingly do what you want was such a good feeling, but it may take a bit longer. He’s not sure he’ll be riding again in a hurry, but hasn’t ruled it out completely.
I really enjoyed the day, and was impressed by the set up. I did feel a little disappointed with the afternoon ride, as I was expecting to ride Polly again, who had made the earlier walkabout more fun, but being on Boston seemed more like hard work with little reward. But then it was so much hotter in the afternoon, and it did me good to have to work hard again.
It did give me a bit more confidence in my ability to ride different horses, as I haven’t ridden such a forward going horse since my teens, and I just enjoyed it rather than felt scared. That said, if I had gone on a fast hack with Polly, I probably would have **** myself…
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