Horse Riding in Tuscany.

During our stay in Tuscany, we discovered a horse riding stable a few kilometres from our Villa. So one sunny afternoon, Maisy, Bronte, Teigan and I went horse riding through grape vines and olive groves.

As soon as we got to the stables we put our riding helmets on and saddled up. I'm trying to learn the colours of horses.  Maisy rode a chestnut called Pedro whom she needed a whip with. Bronte rode a pinto with a few patches of white called Daniel. Daniel was an Argentinian horse and was very soft. Teigan rode a buckskin, his mane was unusual because it had light brown hair in the middle and dark brown hair on the outside. His name was Bounty (named after the chocolate bar) and he had a twin called ‘Twix' My horse was an American quarterhorse. He was really stunning and was also EXTREMELY soft because he was getting his winter coat. His name was Calimero and he was a brown.

During our walk we went through the Tuscan landscape and around farms. There were the mountain ranges on one side of us and on the other side were fields of ploughed earth, olive trees, rows and rows of grape vines and the strong Tuscan sun above. Even though it was a slow and easy ride, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I love everything about horses.

We returned a week later, Teigan and Bronte had left so mum came along for a ride. This time mum rode Calimero and she also loved him, Maisy had Pedro again and I rode Daniel who was another amazingly soft and obedient horse.

This time we went on a longer walk and we also went through some woodlands. At this stable the horses have been trained to be ridden Western style like the cowboys ride in the movies. This is riding on a horse with one hand holding both the reins and the other hand resting on the horn of the saddle. This was a much easier style of riding, and for me, more lazily because you could hold onto the saddle so it wasn’t as dangerous and you just had to hold onto the saddle and the horse would take you for the walk. Whereas when you do Aussie riding, you lead the horse and decide where you go. Even though it wasn’t what I’m used to I quickly learnt how to Western ride.

I loved it sooooo sooooo much that that afternoon went back to the stables, but this time with apples and carrots to feed the horses. On my last piece of apple I went over to give it to Bounty and before he got it into his mouth he bit my hand and just wouldn’t let go! It lasted atleast 10 seconds without letting go until he realised it wasn’t that tasty and he gave up on eating my hand and ate the apple. 

There was also a really cute Shetland pony called Valentino. He was so small and round and had black and white patches all over him. Valentino was so friendly towards people and even let Maisy and I hug him. I wish dad would buy us a Shetland pony. It could live in our garden and mow our grass. I absolutely love horses.

www.vecchiotexas.it

Charlotte