Mark
4th Sep 2003, 07:26 PM
Just got back from France where I had a very enjoyable hack. Before I left the UK I threw my riding gear in the back of the car at the last minute not expecting to use it - but I was glad I took it in the end.
I get worried about changing stables in the UK because of unfamiliar surroundings, horses, people etc so I was nervous about dropping in at a local stables with the added problem of the language barrier and trying to explain what I wanted to do. Nevertheless I plucked up courage, learned some French riding terminoloy, took my hire bike and cycled a couple of miles to a stables. No joy there, they said they couldn't take just one person out and there wasn't a group ride I could join. So I cycled up the road to another stables sited in a forest with a large outdoor sand-school. They had a board outside which had all the certificates from the French equivalent of the BHS (sorry, forgotten what it's called). I went down the drive and found the owner, who lived in a magnificent house on site and manged to explain in rusty schoolboy French that I wanted to go for a hack (faire le randonner a cheval - or something like that, sorry for murdering your language if there are any French people reading this, I expect I sound like the policeman in 'Allo, Allo'!) 'Pas de problem - demain a dix heure' he said. 'Est-ce qu'on peut aller au petit gallop (canter)?' I said, 'Oui si vous voulez'.
I arrived the next day and they introduced me to a bay jument (mare) about 16, 2 hands who they assured me was very steady, although she looked disturbingly lean and fit to me. I wasn't too sure about the bright yellow and purple bridle and reins they put on her though - never seen any that colour before!
Off we went, just me amd the guide, we just about managed to sustain a conversation in my broken French which caused him some puzzlement. I gathered he was an eventer and a student who worked weekends and holidays at the stables. My 'jument' was very forward going but I felt in control, just about! We trotted along a few lanes before turning onto a track running through some open fields, the guide turned and said, 'Galloper?' 'Oui, bien sure' I said, now was this the 'petit gallop' (canter) I wondered or the full monty flat out gallop? Off we went in to a 'petit gallop' although quite a fast one, and it was long, much longer than any canter I've mamnaged in the UK. I realised how much more space there is there than many places in the UK. The countryside was open and you could see there wasn't another soul for miles about, no sharp bends with walkers and cyclists the other side or low branches. If that was long the second one was an epic, it just didn't stop, down a long straight, round a bend, down a slope, round another bend, up a slight hill, down another long straight, and I we broke into le grand gallop at one point. And I should point out that the guide didn't wear a hat at all - I had mine of course - that's one big difference from riding at home.
It was a great ride so if you're in France on holiday try checking out the local stables - it's interesting to compare with the experience at home.
I get worried about changing stables in the UK because of unfamiliar surroundings, horses, people etc so I was nervous about dropping in at a local stables with the added problem of the language barrier and trying to explain what I wanted to do. Nevertheless I plucked up courage, learned some French riding terminoloy, took my hire bike and cycled a couple of miles to a stables. No joy there, they said they couldn't take just one person out and there wasn't a group ride I could join. So I cycled up the road to another stables sited in a forest with a large outdoor sand-school. They had a board outside which had all the certificates from the French equivalent of the BHS (sorry, forgotten what it's called). I went down the drive and found the owner, who lived in a magnificent house on site and manged to explain in rusty schoolboy French that I wanted to go for a hack (faire le randonner a cheval - or something like that, sorry for murdering your language if there are any French people reading this, I expect I sound like the policeman in 'Allo, Allo'!) 'Pas de problem - demain a dix heure' he said. 'Est-ce qu'on peut aller au petit gallop (canter)?' I said, 'Oui si vous voulez'.
I arrived the next day and they introduced me to a bay jument (mare) about 16, 2 hands who they assured me was very steady, although she looked disturbingly lean and fit to me. I wasn't too sure about the bright yellow and purple bridle and reins they put on her though - never seen any that colour before!
Off we went, just me amd the guide, we just about managed to sustain a conversation in my broken French which caused him some puzzlement. I gathered he was an eventer and a student who worked weekends and holidays at the stables. My 'jument' was very forward going but I felt in control, just about! We trotted along a few lanes before turning onto a track running through some open fields, the guide turned and said, 'Galloper?' 'Oui, bien sure' I said, now was this the 'petit gallop' (canter) I wondered or the full monty flat out gallop? Off we went in to a 'petit gallop' although quite a fast one, and it was long, much longer than any canter I've mamnaged in the UK. I realised how much more space there is there than many places in the UK. The countryside was open and you could see there wasn't another soul for miles about, no sharp bends with walkers and cyclists the other side or low branches. If that was long the second one was an epic, it just didn't stop, down a long straight, round a bend, down a slope, round another bend, up a slight hill, down another long straight, and I we broke into le grand gallop at one point. And I should point out that the guide didn't wear a hat at all - I had mine of course - that's one big difference from riding at home.
It was a great ride so if you're in France on holiday try checking out the local stables - it's interesting to compare with the experience at home.