It is like riding a bicycle

You never forget how to do it.

Although I imagine when you are older riding a bicycle might get a little tricky as your balance could be affected.

I am hoping to do a very interesting ride in NZ early next year and having bought some riding tights (I know who knew such a thing existed) I thought I had better see if I could still do it.  I hoiked out my old riding boots and half chaps (discovered they need some stitching but they held together for today) but I wasn't able to use my 'new' hat.  They have changed the rules and you have to wear EU approved hats PAS015 if you are competing and in this case riding someone elses horse.  I was surprised that this hat didn't have that spec as I know the one I was wearing when I landed on my head back in 1997 was a PAS015 (see first entry on this blog for that story) as was the one I bought next.

I booked a two hour ride with Derbyshire-Trekking which is all off road and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It was a mixture of places that I already knew plus some I didn't. Their immediate surroundings were just on the edge of where I could reach on a long ride from one of the places I used to keep my horse.  It rained the whole time but it was brilliant.  I wont be able to walk for the next couple of days but I am so pleased I have got back on a horse since selling mine 10 years ago (ignoring the bit of riding I did in the Canadian Rockies in 2013).

What I particularly liked about today was that I took my sister in law Ann with me in spirit in the form of her old riding/drover's coat.  It kept the rain off me and I hope she enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

RIP Ann.  We had a good day today didnt we chuck x