FreeRein trail ride report (*pics galore!*)

[joosie]

For those who haven’t heard of it, there’s a riding centre called FreeRein that offer unescorted trails in mid-Wales – you only go with the people you book with, and rather than having a guide, you are given maps and detailed route descriptions to follow. You can pick how many days you want to go for and the type of overnight accommodation you want them to book for you (guesthouse, B&B, farms, inns etc). I did a 3-day trail 8 years ago with my best friend, and I have a friend on another horse forum has done quite a few, so we decided to do a trail together while I was on holiday in the UK recently.

The trail we selected was a 2-day trail staying overnight at a B&B. It’s a new trail that only a handful of groups have done, and heads out in a totally different direction to all their other trails, so we were looking forward to being adventurous!

DAY ONE

We arrived on the Thursday morning, went through our maps and route descriptions, sorted out our luggage and saddlebags, and went to prepare our beasts. I had asked for a forward-going pony and they had selected Poppy, a gorgeous black mare who was about 13.2 – my friend Helen had specifically requested Obi, a skewbald mare who she has ridden on several other trails. The weather was beautiful, we couldn’t have asked for a better day!

First we headed along the quiet lanes away from the riding centre and towards the hills. We made our first mistake quite early on :lol: but managed to get ourselves back on track when we reassessed our interpretation of the route description. Other than that the morning passed without complication. There was one stretch along a wide grassy verge next to a busy road, but Poppy and Obi were totally unphased by the traffic. Other than that the route took us along bridleways, grassy verges, narrow tracks, quiet lanes, through woodland, small villages, and on several occasions took us right to the banks of the gorgeous River Wye.

[joosie]

Around 3pm we arrived in a village where we could stop for lunch at one of the pubs. It was really hot though and neither of us was massively hungry (besides, we had plenty of snacks in our saddlebags to keep us going ) so we just stopped for some drinks instead. Then we continued on our way, crossing some open commonland on several occasions and had a couple of nice canters, before doing a little more roadwork where we made our second error of the day – failing to spot the postbox that marked our turning because we were too busy nattering and messing around We had to retrace our steps for a good 10 minutes before we got back on track.

Once we came off the road we followed an old drover’s trail between high hedgerows and along the edge of some fields, before emerging onto the open hillside. We had a wickedly fast canter to the top of the first hill and then followed the lane down past a farm and across more grassy tracks for more fab canters. By this time the late-afternoon sun was turning orange and the air was pleasantly cool. We scattered a group of wild ponies on our way up one hill, including a couple of gorgeous dinky foals, who looked at us disdainfully as we zoomed past!

However, once on top of the big hill we then began to have trouble finding our way. The route description was a bit vague at this point and we couldn’t find the track we were looking for to take us off the hill and down into the valley. We retraced our steps several times and tried different directions without success. Unfortunately by this time the sun was setting and we were rapidly running out of daylight, so we had to call FreeRein for backup... We had to ride down the road in the dark for about 10 minutes until we found something that they could use to identify our position on the map!

They did find us of course, and we got escorted to our overnight stop in the village of Felin Fach... ironically, after 9 hours in the saddle, we had managed to get lost just 2 miles from our destination! The ponies were turned out at the B&B, we met our hosts and were shown to our rooms, and then popped down to the pub for dinner – where we were immediately identified as “the girls that got lost up in the hills” I had macaroni cheese, Helen had canneloni and then we headed back to the B&B and zonked out in our beds. It had been a long, long day!

[joosie]

DAY TWO

The next day, after a massive breakfast, we got the ponies tacked up and headed out on the trail again. The weather was superb yet again. We rode through Felin Fach and made our way along a quiet road back up into the hills. This time we found our way without a hitch and had some absolutely stonking canters along the wide grassy tracks between the bracken. We had more fun scattering ponies and sheep, before leaving the hillside (where Helen found the house of her dreams!) and descending into a beautiful valley.

The road brought us to the small village of Llansteffan, where we crossed the River Wye again... this time across a rather intimidating suspension bridge! It was barely wide enough for a car and we were quite high up, and as we reached the far end there was a HOLE in the wooden floor and you could look down to the water below! Poppy and Obi both gave a little spook as they passed it, which added to the general feeling of insecurity! It was a gorgeous view though. Then we headed along some private tracks before emerging once more onto the hills. Cue another couple of canters before we followed some tracks through an area of forestry, where the cool shade revived both riders and ponies.

We emerged onto a bridleway taking us to a small church, where we decided to stop for a break and let the ponies graze for a while. As they munched away, we had some food and looked over our afternoon’s maps, because we had a couple of options and needed to decide which route we wanted to take.

[joosie]

A farm track led us uphill and the route directed us across a number of fields. We cantered across a couple of them and then headed into the next one... and only as we went through the gate did we realise that there was a group of ponies inside! Wild-looking things they were, all fur and teeth and pinned-back ears – 6 of them I think – and they charged over and clustered around us as we closed the gate. There was a lot of squealing and kicking out, mostly from an evil grey thing who was hellbent on making our passage through the field as difficult as possible! Obi kept out of it as best she could but Poppy retaliated by bucking and kicking like a thing possessed... so rather than walking across the field and being bullied all the way, we made the decision to LEG IT as quickly as possible!! We kicked on and zoomed across the field at full pelt with the ponies in hot pursuit, Poppy and Obi were faster and we got to the opposite gate with maybe 5 seconds to spare. I leapt off to get the gate open, the ponies arrived in a ball of fur and hooves, and we had a mad dash to squeeze ourselves out through the gate and close it behind us without letting the little beasts out of the field. We did it, but it was a close call!!

The adrenaline was pumping for a while after that as you can imagine, but we regained our composure and continued on our way at a more sensible pace. Over the next couple of hours we had more fabulous long, fast canters across the hills, including a deliberate detour up to the top of a very big hill called the Roundabout where we were treated to yet another stunning panoramic view. Eventually we left the open hill and headed back into the valley towards FreeRein along a couple of very narrow tracks and then onto the lanes that we had embarked on the previous morning. We decided to swap ponies for a while, Helen liked Poppy and I liked Obi but we were both happy to get back onto our original partners for the final descent. We followed a track down through the woods behind FreeRein and emerged from the trees back at base.













Cookies if you got to the end of this, hope you enjoyed reading! I didn’t actually know Helen in real life before going on the trail with her but she was a fab hacking companion and we had a real blast. Definitely want to go again when I can. FreeRein’s season finishes at the end of October but if anyone fancies a post-to-post trail ride next year, and you want something different, this is the place to go. There are guided trails available as well but the chance to do these rides unescorted really is one in a million. And even if you get lost like we did, it’s not the end of the world!

[learningcurve]

Fantastic pictures...looks a wonderful trip.

All day in the saddle though...OMG probably need a holiday to recover.

[liz_scarlet]

wow!!!!! amazing photos!!!!! I'd be worried I got lost lol !!!

[Flipo's Mum]

OMG that sounds wonderful, and the tracks look fantastic for riding through. So want to do this!

[MightyQuin]

This sounds fantastic - really enjoyed reading about your trip It's definately something I would love to do! Great pics too

[Jane&Ziggy]

What absolutely unbelievable weather you had for a 2 day ride in Wales!

Stunning pictures, amazing riding. Wonderful. You write really well too. Thanks for sharing.

[Kis Vihar]

Fab report Joosie. Amazing photos.

You would NEVER get me over that bridge in a million years.

[Stormin]

Fabulous write up of a great adventure with magnificent scenery.
Definitely something to consider if/when in the region
Thanks for posting the great photos !

[ladywiththebaby]

Wow - thanks for that. I feel like I've just done the ride myself but without any of the nerves or aches and pains from being in the saddle so long!!

Thanks for all the lovely photos! Looks beautiful.

[beakysian]

Wow it looks amazing!! I've been receiving FreeRein's brochures for about 10 years and my parents were never going to pay for it and these days I still can't afford it I love their newsletter though - it's written by the horses

[sophie33]

I have the freerein catalogue in my bedside cabinet for late night dreaming!
Sounds fantastic! Great pics and great descriptions.

[daisysp8]

Fantastic write up, i loved reading it, almost felt i was there with you and the photo`s of the scenery are just breath taking ... wow !!!!!

Would just love to do something like this