Skib
Well-Known Member
There was a thread some time ago asking about riding in Hyde Park - whether it was worth it or just plain dull?
This was something my OH and I wanted to do. We love London and the history of riding in London so we celebrated our golden wedding by riding in Hyde Park from Ross Nye Stables. They took care to find horses that suited us. I loved the horse I rode. That is a big plus.
The ride was designed entirely to suit us, meaning you could have ridden further and faster than we chose. Our original plan had been to canter - but my OH had a crashing fall recently and is only now getting back into riding, so we asked to take it slow and steady.
One of the things that happens when you get on a horse in a city or near historical buildings is that the perspective changes. An art historian told me that stately homes and parks used to be designed to be admired from horseback -that is from a slightly elevated view point. From a riding perspective, our hack might seem boring, but as an experience it was a privilege to get that view point, to ride by the Serpentine and near Marble Arch on horseback. So often on holiday I have photographed city riders and mounted Police. This morning the Park was busy with visitors enjoying the sunshine and we ourselves were a tourist attraction.
The horses were amazing, unruffled by all the activity and the traffic on the busy road and the noisy mowing machine. At one point the scent of mown grass was so strong that even we riders could smell it. Yet the horses went softly and obediently forward. I never get tired of hacking and I always think how lucky I am to be on a horse.
Today I was especially lucky.
For an accomplished rider, who owns or competes horses and with home ground on which to ride them, there might be other more riding centred equestrian experiences and there are better ways of spending just one precious day in London which is what the original poster was asking. We who live here take the art and museums for granted. We went to the British Museum on Monday and took grandchildren for a walk round Roman London last week. But riding in the Park today was a treat, a tourist treat, and we thank the young women and the horses who gave it to us.
Brilliant.
This was something my OH and I wanted to do. We love London and the history of riding in London so we celebrated our golden wedding by riding in Hyde Park from Ross Nye Stables. They took care to find horses that suited us. I loved the horse I rode. That is a big plus.
The ride was designed entirely to suit us, meaning you could have ridden further and faster than we chose. Our original plan had been to canter - but my OH had a crashing fall recently and is only now getting back into riding, so we asked to take it slow and steady.
One of the things that happens when you get on a horse in a city or near historical buildings is that the perspective changes. An art historian told me that stately homes and parks used to be designed to be admired from horseback -that is from a slightly elevated view point. From a riding perspective, our hack might seem boring, but as an experience it was a privilege to get that view point, to ride by the Serpentine and near Marble Arch on horseback. So often on holiday I have photographed city riders and mounted Police. This morning the Park was busy with visitors enjoying the sunshine and we ourselves were a tourist attraction.
The horses were amazing, unruffled by all the activity and the traffic on the busy road and the noisy mowing machine. At one point the scent of mown grass was so strong that even we riders could smell it. Yet the horses went softly and obediently forward. I never get tired of hacking and I always think how lucky I am to be on a horse.
Today I was especially lucky.
For an accomplished rider, who owns or competes horses and with home ground on which to ride them, there might be other more riding centred equestrian experiences and there are better ways of spending just one precious day in London which is what the original poster was asking. We who live here take the art and museums for granted. We went to the British Museum on Monday and took grandchildren for a walk round Roman London last week. But riding in the Park today was a treat, a tourist treat, and we thank the young women and the horses who gave it to us.
Brilliant.