Anyone want to swap areas?

[showjump2003]

Ok, I'm not complaining as such *laughs out loud* as I know I'm very lucky to live where I live and be able to keep my ponies at home but as the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side!

5 minutes hack through my village we have a lovely Beach which I know most people would kill to have but having lived here all my life it kind of looses it's appeal and gets very boring.

My village beach:

In the summer I can't hack out or use the beach at all unless it's at 6am because I live in one of the most popular holiday maker areas in North Wales. The local government actually banned horses off the beach this summer altogether so even by riding at 6am I was still breaking the law.

Hacking in my village is really shocking. To go on a decent hack there are two ways to leave the village and both are extremely dangerous hence why I don't even attempt them in the summer. So in the summer I can't hack out and alot of the time can't do much at home as the ground gets so dry. Then in the winter I can't ride at home as the fields are too wet and hacking is still a real danger. I just feel so fustrated! Even if I just lived a few miles up the road I would have much better access to hacking. We have a few mountain rides a couple of miles away but to get to them my dad has to box me up to them because of how dangerous the roads are. Last year I was hit by a car going up the main road to get to the good hacking.

I wouldn't be so bothered if I at least had a manage to ride in but the nearest school is 15 miles away and I have a dad who won't take me! lol

Ok, rant over!

 

[Sal_E]

That does sound very frustrating

 

[charlottenicol]

I am really lucky, we have miles and miles of forestry tracks where we can ride, last year it was a bit hairy as they were harvesting the bit nearest to us, but apart from that it's wonderful. We have 3 beaches, one is about a 30 min ride to get to, can make it longer if we need to, thats our swimming beach, the other is Loch Gilp, the water totally dissapears from there at low tide, so we ride over the hills to Lochgilphead and gallop along the sand to Ardrishaig. The last onewe have to transport to , that's again at low tide wonderful sand. You have to know where you are going to avoid the soft bits, and obviously check the tides

 

[vivhewe]

The views off that beach are gorgeous

but I understand exactly where you are coming from! If it took my fancy I could ride as easily to the fells as I could to the beach here, and so I suppose I'm really lucky. But like you I have some nasty roads. The end of our lonning where my neddies are has a very fast very busy B road at the end of it, and about 5 minutes in each direction I'm surrouned by two of the most lethal roads in Cumbria

So I usually have to either ride on the dangerous road, sh:tting myself in the process, to get to the nice hacking or ride through our fields to go out through a village full of vile children who insist on riding their bikes 2ft away from your horses arse

Even then the hacking isn't brilliant

and the only quiet roads go past some stables where some of the liveries were laughing at Danny when I first got him (crap tack, me riding in trackies I have to confess

and him not having his mane pulled) - Wonder if they'll be giggling now?

Rant over!

 

[showjump2003]

My horses are pretty much bomb proof on the roads, it's the drivers I don't trust. The road I would have to ride up is about half a mile long, maybe a little more and is a 60 speed limit. If the road was straight I wouldn't care but it have three major dips in it and even when I drive down it you can't soo what is in the dip till it's too late so to speak. Really makes me cringe when I see kids riding their bikes up there and mums pushing prams! I't such a dangerous road. A lady with a pram was hit over a few weeks ago on theat stretch of road, luckily both mum and baby where fine but the driver just drove away! Wouldn't be too bad if the drivers just stuck to 60 mph but they don't.

 

[Happytohack]

I understand exactly where you are coming from. Would it be possible to get your dad to box you to some local organised rides? That way you should be guaranteed a safe route and a great ride out. I expect your roads are even worse in the summer when you have holiday makers about as well.

 

[showjump2003]

Local organized rides are unfortunatly 2 hours drive away! I managed to get to two fun rides this summer but both were over the bank holiday and the 2 hour drive to get to them were awful!

The ideal solution in my mind would be for us to get a small 3.5 tonne box that I could drive but my dad refuses to sell the trailer and the 4 x 4.

 

[eekmon]

I too have rubbish hacking! My horse is kept near a beach but in summer we too are not allowed on it after 7am in the morning or after 7 at night! Then in winter when you can get on it it's full of flippin' kite surfers which are v scarey to the horses!