Before you book your holiday.....About You

Your riding ability

On our trail rides we will be travelling many miles a day in the saddle, riding up and down hills and over rough terrain so you must be capable of riding in a balanced manner for your horses sake!  We will be crossing rivers, galloping along beaches and may need to jump small natural obstacles, like ditches or fallen trees - nothing too big, but you need to be a competent rider and be able to control a horse at speed.

Age

Our long distance rides are mostly for the experienced adult rider.  You must be over 18 years old at the start of your holiday unless you are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Our minimum age for long distance trails is 12 years old, and the same riding ability level as discribed above applies. However on our petal rides and daily picnic rides we can cater for unaccompanied young people over 10 years old. For the petal rides, although youngsters can ride unaccompanied, we cannot provide accommodation for unaccompanied under 18's at present. Riders on petal rides whatever age must have a good level of riding competance, however on the daily picnic rides, we can tailor the rides to suit the ability of the group, although we would probably not recommend a full days ride for complete beginners!

Weight

Due to the tough nature of our trails and the distances covered per day, we have a weight limit of 14 stone (200lbs or 90kilos).  Most of our ponies will carry 12 stone easily, but we only have a couple who are large enough to carry more weight over the steep hills and rough terrain at present – although this may change in the future.
Note added Nov 08 - We now have a larger horse capable of carrying 16 stone (102K or 225lb)

Medical conditions

If you have a medical condition, we must be made aware of this at the time of booking. You must ensure that you bring enough of any medication you may need to see you through the duration of the entire ride, as you may not be able to get what you need locally.

Other important stuff

You will be expected to help take care of your horse during the ride, just basic catching, feeding, watering, grooming and tacking-up. If you are unsure of how to do any of these things please make us aware and we will show you and help you until you feel comfortable doing them yourself - if you would prefer not to, it's no problem, we will be happy to do it for you. At certain times on the trail rides, you may be expected to dismount and lead your horse where we feel it might be unsafe to ride, or it would be unreasonable for the horse to be expected to carry you.