We figured it was about time to do some more exploring in our home country - Australia. Since Australia Day was a Tuesday this year, it was easy to get a really long weekend. We had always wanted to head down to the Snowy Mountains and Kosciuszko National Park. And since I (Penny) was still a bit sore from our hikes in New Zealand (see previous blog post!), we decided a horseback safari was the best way to see the countryside. We booked in for a 3 day/4 night safari with Reynella Rides. Reynella is a family run business by Roz and John Rudd. They have been doing this for over 44 years - so are a wealth of information and stories.
I am not sure what I was expecting on this trip - but I can assure you, what we got was not what I expected - it was so much more. We have really only done a handful of 2-hour rides at various places around the world. They were always lovely and fun, but the horses were generally big, old, slow and super safe (and somewhat boring). This is not what we experienced this time in terms of the horses or the time in the saddle!!
We started the holiday by driving down to the homestead on Friday afternoon. People arrived throughout the afternoon, slowly trickling in from various places. Everyone was greeted with a cup of tea, fresh fruit cake, warm hello, smile and welcome from Roz. When everyone finally arrived there was some mingling, socialising and finally dinner and some briefing notes. There would be 18 guests and 5 staff (including the owner John and one of their long-time friends Nancy). It was raining all night and we were all a bit worried about the next day would be like. It was early to bed as we were all very eager/excited/nervous for the next day. Most people were relatively new to horse riding - just like us.
Day 1 riding - After a great breakfast at the homestead, we all got geared up, piled in the bus, and headed about 30 min up the mountains to finally meet our horses! Needless to say it was a bit of a process getting all the horses saddled and matched up to their riders. Horses were slowly handed out and people took them out of the pen to walk around and get acquainted. Scott was paired with a beautiful brown mare named Cascade. More horses were handed out - and more horses - and I (Penny) waited, and waited. Finally, all the other riders were matched with horses - and I still waited..... There was some discussion, some consultation, and I was asked how I would feel about riding April. She is very spirited, loves being at the front, and is known for pulling all the time (wanting to go fast!). She is such an eager horse, she gets saddled with a breast plate and rings for the reigns - to just help her riders control her. Oh joy! I was just a little nervous!!!
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| Scott, all dressed up, and ready to go! |
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| View from the homestead - lovely rolling hills |
Off we set, riding off on a tiny track through the scrub. It was a blessing we all had long pants, chapettes, and long sleeve shirts. The trees and bushes were right there and the horses seemed to forget we were wider/taller than they are!
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| Making our way through the scrub. Lots of brush and gum trees |
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| View from horse back! This is April on the left, and Clyde the pack-horse on the right. |
The first 1-2 hours was on this single track with a slight uphill. It was good introduction to riding and our horses. As I was up the front, I was getting lots and lots of coaching and help from John on how to ride - and I felt I was doing a pretty good job. About 2 hours in, I was third in line, and Peter the pack-horse was right behind me and I could feel him getting nervous. Sure enough, Peter burst through, tearing up the track spooking my horse and the horse in front of me (Cocoa - who was being ridden by an inexperienced 10 yo boy). Peter was racing around the mountain, packs falling off, trees falling down - etc. I was doing all I could to keep April calm and still. Then both Peter and Cocoa came tearing back down the path straight at me!! Terrifying!! Luckily, Peter was quickly caught, Cocoa calmed down and all was good again. It sure made for a very exhilarating start to day 1 - and that was all before lunch. It took forever to get to lunch, as we had to keep stopping as people needed various adjustments. We finally got to Boggy Plain and had a nice long relaxing picnic lunch.
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| Meet April! Stopped for lunch. |
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| Scott and Cascade coming in for a lunch break. |
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| Lunch time - for us and the horses! |
Straight after lunch we started off on a fairly open track - and April decided it was time to run!! Luckily John had done a great job of giving me instructions all morning, so I was able to bring her under control fairly quickly (although my heart rate was through the roof!). The rest of the afternoon had much more open spaces and was relatively peaceful and beautiful (and more instructions for me about how to be a good horse rider!). We did spot a couple of packs of wild brumbies (wild horses for those non-Australians), which were amazing to see.
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| This is where the brumbies were - I wasn't fast enough to capture on film. But it does show the beautiful country side, green grassy areas, and rolling hills that we were walking through. |
We ended the day with a steep descent into camp, where we unsaddled the horses, gave them a quick rinse, and let them roam free among our tents while we all enjoyed a few hard earned drinks, and ate an amazing dinner cooked over campfire and chatted about the days events.
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| The horses just milling around our tents. |
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| view from inside my tent! |
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| Enjoying a lovely fireside chat. Beautiful setting as we were surrounded by the Snowy Mountains. |
Over dinner, John and Nancy had a quiet word with me. They said I did such a good job with April they thought I might like to try a different horse for the second day. They thought I would enjoy riding Gamble - a beautiful brown male horse. I was told he was much taller, had a longer stride and was just a joy to ride. Asking the other staff there - their description was that he was also very spirited, liked to be the front, and loved to trot - so again, another handful of a horse. So off I went to bed, fretting about meeting and working with another horse the next day...
Day 2 riding - Everyone else got back on their same horses - and I got on Gamble.
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| Meet Cascade! |
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| Getting all settled on my new horse - Gamble. |
We started off heading up that same steep hill we came down the previous day. I continued to be at the front, and continued with my tutelage from John. I should point out, as both April and Gamble are challenging horses, I had to be on and thinking about what I was doing the whole time. Thus, not much time for just sitting back, not thinking about it, and staring at the scenery - I was busy learning and thinking and practicing! Luckily I was still able to take in the scenery, have a few chats, and thoroughly enjoy myself as well.
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| The scrub on day 2 was less dense - so easier to get "off track" |
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| We even had a few wider trails to follow. |
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| Overall view of the brush, trees, mountains. It was constant views of the mountains and long green valleys. |
Day 2 had us cresting up a few hilltops, and some great photo opportunities. There was lots of space along the track, so I spent most of the day "off track", thus we weren't just following the horse in front, but rather making our path through the country-side. This was super fun and really allowed me to practice all those new skills of turning, stopping, etc that I had been learning.
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| Coming up one of the hills. Great views across the Snowies. |
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| Strolling through the bush. From left: Myles on Yanco, Penny on Gamble, Nancy on Diamond and Scott on Cascade. |
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| Another beautiful view |
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| Nancy and Carol on the hilltop |
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| Scott and I on the hilltop - great camera work John! |
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| Great little spot to stop for lunch. |
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| Billy tea and picnic lunch |
We had a super long relaxing lunch, and some great chatting. Scott even took a quick siesta in the shade on his oil skin. After lunch we were heading back to camp, when John decided some people needed to try cantering. So a couple of the more experienced riders and Scott and I went off with John for some cantering. Scott did great, and Cascade and him were able to canter very nicely up the hill and along the ridge. I had a harder time on Gamble as he kept trying to go too fast for what I was comfortable with. Luckily John was again there to help me out. He talked me through it, and put Gamble on lead with his horse (Prue) so we cantered together. Very exhilarating and another successful lesson learned!
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| Grabbing a drink at one of the many little streams. |
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| The afternoon was much more through the open valley. |
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| On Gamble - practicing all my good horse riding skills. See my head is up, my back is straight, my hands are down and close! |
Finally, back to camp. We were back a bit earlier, and it was warm, so most of us piled into the truck, and took off down to the river for a quick swim (and clean up!). The drive there was so much fun, everyone laughing and joking. The river was amazing - the perfect temperature and depth. It was awesome to cool down and "clean off". Another wonderful campfire dinner, and few more stories and tales, and then off to bed again. I should point out that these are some pretty awesome tents. Very spacious - you can stand up - and a great sleeping pad. We were also able to bring our own pillows, which makes all the difference!
Day 3 riding - This is our last day of riding. I was given the option of switching back to April, staying with Gamble or even trying another horse. I decided that I was quite happy with Gamble and chose to stay with him. However, John decided Scott was ready for a challenge and a bit more excitement, so it was time for him to switch. Scott was going to ride April for our final day!
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| Breakfast time for the horses. |
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| John - enjoying a stress-free moment before we all got on our horses and he had to start worrying about us. |
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| Beautiful "Heart" tree - conveniently placed not far from the toilet. |
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| Morning selfie with Gamble. |
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| Scott with his new ride - April. |
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| More beautiful open plains, mountains and scrub. |
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| This is my favourite picture. I can almost here John's instructions. (Something is just not quite right with Scott's form though) |
The day started relatively quietly, until we got to our first river crossing. It wasn't so bad, except it was steep going down and steep going up the other side - and we had to get 26 horses through. It was a bit scary and a bit fun - but wholly successful.
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| We have to go down this hill, across the river and back up the other side. |
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| Look at that technique and beautiful horse! |
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| Crossing the river - and getting a drink. |
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| And coming back up the other side - needed to stand in the saddle to help out! |
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| Finally back on some flat. |
A bit more walking before some of us went up the wrong hill and had to bush bash with our horses down to the lunch spot. Again, it was an interesting challenge, but luckily we had a few more skills than when we started so we were all able to do it.
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| Scott feeding the horses at lunch - he was very popular! |
After lunch, we were onto a relatively narrow track and down a long medium grade hill. This turned out to be my favourite part. Nancy, Scott, another guy, and I were all out front and all our horses were about the same speed, so off we went at a lovely pace. We kept stopping and waiting for the others, but it was a great quick walk through the forest. We ended the day with two more river crossings. These two were much bigger rivers and a lot more challenging. The first of these two had a very steep bank - this would have been fine except the pack horses came barging through and pushed both April and Gamble right on ahead. Gamble and I were on a very big cliff and my heart was pounding. Thankful Gamble is an awesome horse, and with all the instructions I was given, we successfully made it through with no dramas! Many of the horses stopped as soon as they got in the water to drink, which made the crossing a bit more difficult for the horses following and getting stuck on the steep hill entering the water.
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| Crossing the river - Scott/April are just entering here. |
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| And up and out the other side. |
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| Myles on Treacle and Emma on Rapture bring up the rear. |
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| A good shot of Scott on April. |
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| We very occasionally got to ride next to each other. This wide open plain was a good spot for it. |
The final river crossing was still slippery, but no steep banks. So by this point, it was no worries - the horses just splashed on through. Right at the end of the day, as were going along a huge open field, Scott/April had held back and with the help of one of the staff were going to do a little canter. The first canter (although quite quick for a canter) was very successful and Scott was able to stop April really well. Then he relaxed a bit too much and April took that to mean "GO!" and off she went - at full gallop with Scott hanging on for dear life. The rest of us just watched as he flew past. Luckily he brought her under control and all was good. And as if on cue, a huge herd of kangaroo appeared on the hill in front of us and were hoping around. Quite a spectacular end to our riding safari. It was then back to the homestead for a shower, a drink, and wonderful dinner with new friends. We shared lots of stories and had a great time.
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| Final river crossing - I am in the middle of the stream. |
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| Scott in the middle front. |
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| Final section - right before finishing - and right before Scott's big gallop by! |
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| Me and my fabulous teacher - John. Thanks!!! |
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| Carol (the rock star) - what a joy to have on the trip! |
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| Most of our group - unfortunately some had already left. |
Overall, I can say again - not sure what I expected - but it certainly wasn't what we got. We all had the most beautiful energetic horses, the scenery was amazing, and I, for one, learned so very very much about how to ride a horse. Thanks to John, Nancy, Myles, Louise and Emma for all their help, instruction, humour, friendship and generally being a great group of owners/staff to work with. It was also really great to meet a great group of people from around Australia (and one couple from England) - you all made this trip super fun. This is certainly a holiday I won't forget!
Just in case you want to know all the many things I heard over the three days about how to ride - sit up straight, pull your elbows back, hold a 20 cent piece between your shoulders, push your hips forward, keep your heels down and feet in, stay calm, sit still, head up (don't look down - you will fall off!), keep your hands down, keep your hands together, put the reigns between your thumb and forefinger, control the reigns with your wrists and little finger, look up, straight back, don't bounce, don't plop down in the saddle and hold the mane...........
