pony trekking through wales

This weekend I was in Wales on the Gower Peninsula, riding horses through the Welsh moorlands.

It was.  The Most.  AMAZING.  Weekend.

Ever.

We stayed at Parc-Le-Breos bed and breakfast, which was the coziest and most beautiful place tucked away in the countryside of Wales.  On our first day after getting there, our whole group walked down to Three Cliffs Bay, which was a gorgeous little stretch of beach between some of the cliffs by the ocean.  We were served a three course homemade meal by the B&B for dinner, and once we'd stuffed ourselves into a coma, we sat on the floor in the living room by the fire and played Jenga.  After a few intense rounds, we headed back up to our room and lay in bed telling ghost stories until we fell asleep.

The next two days were each spent riding our horses through the Welsh moorlands all morning and afternoon, and on Friday night, we went into the town of Mumbles to walk around and visit a pub.  We covered over thirty miles on horseback, riding through herds of grazing sheep and massive cows.  We even passed right through herds of wild horses on several occasions!  They stood right by where we rode through, watching us, and over on a neighboring hillside, there was a group of them galloping around and playing - so much fun to experience!!  Plus, the views were absolutely incredible!!  I mean just look at those photos - from my iPhone!

Words cannot express how much I loved every darn minute I spent in the saddle.

It was like going home.  

I wish we'd been able to do more than just trot, because normally they would have let us canter about, but the rain from previous days had made it too muddy for them to let us.

I'm so sore from riding after such a long break from it, but it hurts in the best possible way.

I already miss it with a burning passion.

Hopefully one day soon I can get back in the saddle again on a regular basis...

hey, guess what I'm doing this weekend!!

{Photo Source}

I'll be away for the weekend, riding on horseback through the Gower Peninsula in Wales!  I'm so excited for this, you guys, you have no idea!!!  Of course I'm bringing a camera so I'll come back with hopefully some truly awesome pics.  We're going to be riding on the beaches, through the woods, and over the hills, so it's gonna be a great variety.  Then we'll also be exploring the town our bed and breakfast is in.  Doesn't it look so cute?!

We leave tomorrow morning, so I'll be back next week with the updates, as well as some more regularly scheduled posts.  Sorry it's been so spotty on the blog here lately, but school and lack of any clothing that isn't yoga pants and a sweatshirt have made it difficult to post anything worthwhile.  So unless you reeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy want to know about the paper I'm writing or all the in depth details of my desk, I got nothin' this week.

Happy almost weekend loves!

i miss...

... taking weekly riding lessons

... having my own horse and the bond that comes with it

... posting trots

... cantering

... two-point position

... sitting in an english saddle

... the smell of leather and hay

... holding the reins

... jumping

... dressage {yes, even dressage}

... sharing a carrot

... horseback riding.

I've been riding horses since I was about 6 or 7, and was involved in horsey things as much as I could be even before that.  I went to horse camps in the summer, and took weekly lessons year round.  I owned a horse through high school {Magnum - that's him in the 2nd and 3rd pictures}.  But during my senior year of high school, I had to cut the regular riding to focus on school, graduation approaching, and my ever growing and developing participation in theatre.  I always knew I wanted to take up riding again as soon as I had the time, but unfortunately that hasn't been the case yet.  I kind of have doubts, fears really, that I won't ever have the adequate time to return to weekly lessons.  It makes me incredibly sad to think that, so I try not to.  Fortunately, I have a place I can visit during the summers with my friend, but the horses there don't jump, which is what I really miss, and what I really regret not having been able to develop further.  What I really want is to start up again with lessons, but it isn't a reality right now, and I don't think it will be soon.  So I guess I'll have to do with the occasional trail ride and looking through old photos....

I apologize for no awkward and awesomes today, but the truth is that this week was neither awkward nor awesome.  Just filled with final papers and working on final projects for next week {the last week!}.