Hacking in the Cotswolds

We chose Stanton and the Vine because of it’s close proximity to an equestrian center we were going to go riding at.

Here we are on the trail ride, called a hack in England.  Maria the girls and I left the men and boy behind.

We started out with a riding evaluation what was nothing more than 2 laps of the arena while being led by people on the ground.  We had to pay for said evaluation. grrrrrr.

We then went on the hack, through the village of Stanton and up a hill through pastures and woods.  All the while I was being led or ponied by the leader.  We had a riding evaluation, paid for it and even filled out forms as to our riding ability and I was led like a little kid on a pony.  I tried hard to not get upset.  I didn’t want to seem like the arrogant American and demand to ride by myself.  Everyone else was being led, except Maggy so I tried to tell myself that maybe my horse was just a problem and needed supervision.

Yes, that is me being led.

I swallowed my pride and tried to enjoy the ride.  Beautiful it was!  We could see sheep being herded in the distance, fields of lavender and darling little villages.

 On the way back we passed the couple that was staying in the B&B with us.  They were not being led.  I was ticked off!  Customer Service isn’t what it is in the states and I knew that other than enjoying a good venting (something I didn’t think I could do without bursting into tears or yelling) there would be no way to set it right.  It’s not like the rest of the group could handle another ride nor were we coming back.  Everyone else in our party had a fantastic time and I didn’t want to sour it with a temper tantrum.  Later in the day after some discussion we came to the conclusion that our paperwork got mixed up and Maggy and my must have been switched.  Despite my frustration we would love to come back to Stanton again.