An Afternoon Ride.

There was a touch of haze in the air this morning which kept things cooler. By mid-morning the haze had gone and it was a lot hotter.

I had a change to my Friday routine this week. Instead of riding in the morning we went out for a four hour hack in the afternoon.

That gave me a couple of free hours in the morning so I filled a few small holes (using the builders' adhesive Sticks like .... ) in the first section of the garden wall that I had missed before and scraped more loose paint from the next section. Painting day tomorrow!

Then off to the stables I went. We were wondering if it was going to be too hot but in fact it was fine, either in the dappled shade under trees or catching a cool breeze on the tops of the hills.

There were eight of us altogether and I rode Cody, the dressage horse. He was one of the tallest which wasn't an advantage when having to duck under branches which we did frequently but he is an easy ride. There looks to be a good crop of sloes this year and yes blackthorn is prickly.

Our route took us on roads along the Rheidol valley up past the hydro station. Then we diverted into the river to give the horses a drink and to cool off for a while. A bit more road work and then uphill on the track that leads to a friend's house which I know from having tea there on our Sunday walks. We literally rode around the back of her house on a very narrow and steep track until eventually reaching the top of the hill with views down the other side to the A44. There it was lovely and breezy and we had the chance to have a couple of canters. Going through one field we startled a hare that had been resting in a patch of thistles. 

We followed old miners' roads gradually working our way back down to the valley eventually riding into the river once more. We were encouraged to take our horses into the deeper sections to cool them off and there was much splashing about. The girl from the stables who had been riding a very small pony ended up with water half way up her boots but didn't seem to mind.

Back at the stables I found that my card was still blocked. It's now sorted after a phone call to the bank. I'm just fed up that it wasn't sorted properly on Wednesday.

 

This blackbird doesn't seem to be enjoying the heat.

Sunset last night.