Horse and pony riding in Cornwall

Whilst we were away we visited a place called Dairyland, near Newquay, so the children had something to do other than look around places with us.

One of the activities they could do was to have a pony ride, so of course it was the first thing we did.

Leah was really excited even before getting on the pony....

....and even more so once she was in the saddle. She loved it! Teh pony was called Muffin and was very cute. Look at her excited little face!

She really enjoyed it.

And William did too!

A week later it was my turn and I went riding at Mount Pleasant riding stables in Porthtowan, just up the road from where we stay.

I rode a piebald mare called Phoebe who was very girly! She was a lovely ride and very comfortable too.

We rode over the cliffs over looking the beach and the views were breathtaking.

Say 'Cheese!'

Finally some of my holiday snaps!

I am so sorry for not bloggging much lately, I juat have a lot going on at the moment. I wanted to share some photos of our holiday in South Devon at the beginning of June. We stayed in a small village just outside Salcome and had a lovely time.

We went to the beach a few times, especially Burgh Island which was beautiful. Leah loved it on the sand.....

....and splashing around in the water!

We also took a trip at the beginning of the week to the Miniature Pony Centre on Dartmoor, and although the weather wasn't that great Leah had a lovely time. She had a couple of pony rides and even though her face doesn't look like it, she really enjoyed herself!

I think it was more concentration than anything else! We had a great time and are all now loking forward to our trip to Cornwall in the middle of August!

The riding school fair

We went to the riding school's fair over the weekend, but the day before Leah decided to lounge in the garden with a mini milk....
...lounge is definitely the right word!

I took some photos of the ponies....(I don't know this one's name - as I don't ever ride them that small)...

..this is Denver one of the escort horses...

...then Guiness and Columbus.....

....and last of all my favourite Dandini!

we went for a walk afterwards in the woods and came across this little chap...

and more of Leah!

Another good ride

I had a great two hour ride yesterday and got to ride one of the big horses at the stables whose name is Chaka. it was a really good ride and quite uneventful compared to some of the others we have been on.

I think the most eventful thing was coming across a tractor and plough on one of the tracks which none of the horses liked, but luckily no one came to any misdemeanor!

The weather stayed dry and as it was overcast there weren't too many dog walkers about which is always a relief. He was really well behaved, the only thing with such a big horse (he is 18hh plus) is that the transition from canter to trot is sooooo bumpy it bumped me out of the sassle each time! He also needs a lot of room to get his strides in, so he didn't stay in canter as long as some of the ponies. I still enjoyed him though, although I know I will be aching today adn tomorrow, especially my thighs and shoulders!

A new horserider in the family?

Just before I went horse riding yesterday I found a certain someone wearing my riding hat! I couldn't resist taking a photo of her as I think she looks really cute haha!

I don't think she would be allowed to ride with her dummy in though (we keep trying to hide it from her but she manages to find it somehow) and I think the horses are a little big for her still. Where I ride the insurance they have says that children have to be four before being allowed on even a pony ride.....what a shame.

I rode one of my favourites yesterday - Puzzle - who I haven't ridden since before I was pregnant, so getting on for 3 years! She was as good as I remember and I had a lovely ride. I also booked a 2 hour hack for Easter Monday so I am looking forward to that now.

A busy weekend ahead (for a change!)

This weekend is going to busy for me for a change. it starts tomorrow evening with a night in with the girls at my friend's house. We are having pizza, watching a DVD and I'm going to make a coffee and walnut cake to take round. We should be able to have a good gossip too!

Saturday I'm off to Olympia 2 in London to the Stitch and Craft Show 2009 which I am hoping will be a good day out. I should be able to get some good things to bring home :o)

Sunday is Mother's day and although we haven't got anything planned I am going riding in the morning, so that's my little treat to myself. Hopefully I won't get Jacob again this week as he was a bit of a naughtly boy on Sunday, bucking during the canters!!!

Off to get dinner now, chicken in a pesto and creme fraiche sauce with veg and rice (got to have my veggies!!)

Blog award!

There have been plenty of these awards doing the rounds at the moment, and as Jackie over at Button Tree Crafts was kind enough to award me, I thought it only polite to return the favour.

I have to tell you 5 things I am addicted to and pass it on to 5 more lovely blogs.

Here are my 5 things - and congratulations to Cotton and Cloud, The Knitting Den, Frazzy Dazzles, JoJo-Caramel and Rachael Rabbit.

so, the 5 things I am addicted to are:-

1. My daughter - I just can't get enough! I love to kiss and cuddle her and when she gives me a kiss of her own accord I just melt :o)

2. Horse riding and horses - although I can still get nervous there is nothing better than feeling the wind in my face during a canter or gallop.

3. Knitting and yarn- say no more; especially with the size of my stash growing, and growing and growing.....

4. a good cuppa, I can't get by without one!

5. A good crime drama, nothing better than a bit of excitement on the box!

Another horsey picture

I rode another horse at the weekend, his name is Jacob and he can be a handful! He's only young and is still learning, so you have to be kind to him whilst riding.

He was forward going and didn't trip too much, so that was a bonus for me. My legs still ached though as he is quite a wide boy!

Not much to blog about this weekend

Seeing as we haven't done much today (I'm still waiting for the kitchen to be finished so we're going out for dinner shortly) so I thought I would post a picture of the horse I rode last Sunday. Her name is Echo and she is great fun to ride. Once I had got into the saddle the woman taking us out said that I didn't need to squeeze her on at all so I knew I was in for a good ride. She was fast, fun, but not jumpy and I got back without having my arms ripped out from their sockets.

I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to ride her next Sunday (I'm not riding tomorrow) and I will be very spoilt if I do! She is a favourite of a few of us, so I always feel special when I get to ride her.

You can find the horses at Belfairs Riding School here

She wanted to go horse riding....

Leah wanted to go 'horse riding' this morning, so I got her pony out and she went for a ride!


My friend got her the rocking horse for her Christening last year, and it has only been recently that she has wanted to ride it. She never stays on for long, but seems to enjoy it whilst she does. I can't wait until she is old enough to have pony rides - where I ride they have to be 4 before they can ride due to insurance. I can't wait - only 2 and a bit years to go...

Not much happening due to a little someone....

There hasn't been much time for anything of a knitted theme lately, as Leah (who is suffering with a cold as well as the rest of us) and hasn't wanted to sleep in the evenings. She goes down well at first but keeps waking again and again - so as you can imagine the knitting has been interrupted!

I have managed to make this simple facecloth - I have seen so many on Ravelry so thought I'd give one a go. I am also finishing off the embossed leaves socks for my friend, so hopefully that won't take too long now.


I did squeeze in a two hour ride over the holidays, as really enjoyed riding in the cold. There were a few problems during the two hours (one man pulling a muscle and a young girl falling off) so we ended up being out for two and a half hours, not that I minded!

I now have to look forward to (GULP!) being without a kitchen for two weeks starting the twelfth of January while we have the new one fitted. I know it will be worth it but I am dreading it already!!

Had a great ride on my favourite pony!

I just wanted to show you a picture of the lovely pony I rode yesterday - I love him! He's about 14hh and is getting on a bit now, but I had such a good time.

The stables have quite a few new horses and ponies at the moment which they are still learning about, so I was the sensible one, following up the rear and helping to keep an eye on everyone.

The ground is so muddy we weren't able to do much, but we were able to have a few good canters on one of the dryer tracks. We held back a bit to give us some space and Dandini was raring to go. Bless him, he was jumping on the spot getting all impatient!

I haven't ridden him for about a year, but you wouldn't have guessed that as I easily fit back into the riding rhythm with him. He's such a good boy but you have to be firm from the start otherwise he'll take the mickey out of you big time!!

Jasper - Cornwall on a wet and windy ride!

Here I am horse riding last Tuesday, looking dry for the moment. Would you believe that 5 minutes after this photo was taken the heavens well and truly opened! I still had a good ride and Jasper looked after me well, he was such a sweet horse.

Here I am afterwards, looking a bit bedraggled but happy - as always :o)

Brooklyn....

I just thought I'd post a picture of me in the saddle a few months back. I'm sitting on my friend's mare called Brooklyn and she's a real sweetheart.

Saying that, on this ride out she took me down a ditch backwards!! I don't think she wanted to continue and that was her way of telling me - we got out in the end anyway and I stayed on too :o)

The stables are at the back of the house (next door to Mum and Dad's ) so we never have to go far - it also gives my Dad an endless supply of manure for the garden vegetables. The potatoes seem to like it.....

What hard work today......

I've been horseriding this morning and the horse I rode was really hard work today. For some reason she didn't want to trot to catch the horse in front, so I used all my energy trying to get her moving. We did have some good canters, but she wasn't as forward going as she has been before. I think she's getting bored LOL!

In this picture she looks as good as gold :o)

She is still one of my favourites, just a bit more challenging now. Hopefully she'll be better the next time I ride her, although I still had a good time today, especially as the sun was shining.

I'm still tired from yesterday as we went to bed a bit later as Mum and Dad stayed over, and I've been awake since 6.30 am when Leah woke up. I'm tempted to have a nap whilst she is asleep although I ought to write some letters..........my eyes feel very heavy..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzz