A morning on the beach with some beautiful animals (A horse riding adventure)

Woke up ready for what I could only imagine to be a slow doddle up the beach. Having ridden horses for many years on our farm, and having Roz and Penny as total novices, both had never been on a horse, I was less than excited about going out.

We get there and look at the stables, they’re cool, the person at the front desk is super nice and after getting some jean leggings put around our calves the horses are already ready and it’s time to go.

Find a helmet that fits you is my first tip for this activity, I didn’t and it sat just on my eyebrows the entire ride, quite irritating really, also not good for photos, I looked like a dork.

Secondly, make sure you wear shoes you are ok with getting wet, that’s if you’d like to take you horse into the waves… I highly recommend it, it’s quite a rush having the waves breaking onto you and your pony.

We took the 1 hour ride, traveling a fair distance down the beach, chatting to the guides and getting some photo’s along the way.

Roz and Penny were being led by 2 of the guides while Tyler and I were getting our horses revved up and galloping up and down the beach, dropping in and out of the waves, fabulous fun.

We stop for about 15 minutes and get some more photos of the group, there is a nice pub on the beach, has Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones painted all over it, I recommend you pop in there for a beer, nice spot. There are some great photos of some big name surfers on their wall who have come and surfed on that beach. When you see the break, you can see that there is some good surfing done right there, a really good looking left. More about that another day.

We head back and both Penny and Roz’s horses get into a little canter, closely watched by the guides who have let go of the reins right now. They both are clearly not in control however they are having a ball, laughing and giggling as they bop up and down kinda like rag dolls. Really funny to watch.

For me, it’s great to be back in the saddle, my horse is responsive and the thrill of being at one with my beautiful animal is sensational, it’s been way too long, I can’t even remember when last I rode. The inside of my legs were feeling a little chaffed by the end, clearly not used to it, but a small price to pay.

It all slows down as we head back off the beach onto a back road towards the stables on a leisurely walk. The houses are pretty impressive on the beach here. We get back to the start for a well deserved bottled water. We’re offered lunch however we have to go.

I give it:

Off the richter scale: 7 (as long as you know how to ride)
Value for money: 8 ($65 for the hour)
Scenery: 5 (only because it’s really beach only, I like variety)
Cultural: 3 (Only really met the locals in the bar)
Family: 8 (Absolutely, no matter what level ability, smiles all round)

Check out our facebook page to see some of the other cool adventures we are getting up to.