Day Ride to Nant Yr Arian.

I had an absolutely wonderful day today. Despite the rain that hit us during the middle of the day (and cleared up later to give bright sunshine) and the fact that my back is now somewhat sore right now. 

We (Tanya on Alice, Claire on Cody, me on Cadno and Katie from the stables on Margaret) covered 17 miles today. Iola who owns the stables was at the front taking photos.

Our route took us through farmland, along country lanes and up into the mountains behind the Red Kite Centre. In the top photo we had just ridden past a farm that bred Welsh Mountain ponies (Section A) and as we rode along the track the 12 excited ponies that you can see in the field in the background raced along the fence wanting to join us. 

Cadno is utterly reliable and easy to ride though he does have a tendency to lag behind. This gave me plenty of opportunities to admire our surroundings. My favourite scenery was when we were right up in the Cambrian mountains away from the forestry plantations. There the rocks could be seen poking out amongst the swathes of flowering heather.

Although the tracks were often steep and stony we also had some lovely long canters. I now know that cantering is a lot easier for my back than trotting. Towards the end of the day I found that by putting my hands on Cadno's neck as we trotted along helped to absorb the pressure on my back. Worst of all was right at the end when we were coming down a steep track through the woods where steps have been made from railway sleepers. We all found those hard going on our backs as the horses came down each step. But would that put us off? Not at all, we're hoping to fit in anther day ride in a couple of weeks before the bad weather sets in.

Speaking of weather, by the time we got to the horse corrals at the Red Kite Centre it was raining steadily. At least I had my bright pink cycling jacket to keep me dry. My small flask of coffee that had been carried in a saddlebag and a bar of chocolate made for a welcome snack as we stretched our legs and let the horses graze.

From the kite centre we crossed the main road and went up on the ridge on the far side passing Bwa Drain, the Bronze Age fort we walked to a few weeks ago. As we came down from the top of that ridge I suddenly realised we were on another track I had walked with the group earlier in the summer. Coming down through a couple of farms I was surprised at just how long that track was. It had hardly seemed any distance when I was walking with the group, and we were going uphill. I guess that's what happens when you are walking and chatting.

We followed the road along the valley floor for a while and then turned down a tiny track to a point where we could ford the River Rheidol. From there we rode through fields and the woods until we reached the stables. There we washed down our horses before turning them out in the field, with some feed, for the night.

I should have been going to choir tonight but wisely let our choir leader know in the morning that I fully expected to be groaning gently on the sofa tonight instead. And that is more or less what I have been doing. I've found that the microwavable eye mask sold to me by the optician for my puffy eye (which had no effect at all even after 6 months) makes an excellent heat pack for my back.

And if I haven't bored you with all my photos here and here are a couple of short FB videos that Iola took today.