Down Under Day 8: Horse Riding at The Grampians

One of the things I was really looking forward to for this trip was horse riding in the Australian outbacks.

It's something I have always wanted to try since young, so you can imagine how excited i was when i woke up that morning.

The plan was to go to The Grampians Horse Riding Adventures which i had found through internet research, prior to our trip.

I cooked breakfast with whatever little ingredients we had from our trip to the supermarket. As i mentioned previously, the supermarket was not well stocked. We only managed to buy a tiny box of button mushrooms and a carton of eggs. The loaf of bread came complimentary with our stay. No bacon, no ham or sausages, none of those fresh ingredients for that sumptuous breakfast i was looking forward to cooking.

But we just had to make do with whatever we had.

Our sad looking breakfast. I wish the portion of mushrooms could have been bigger but that's all we had, unfortunately.

En route to the Horseriding Centre, we spotted this female Kangaroo and her joey. You really need to be extra alert when driving in Australia, to ensure you don't knock down any wildlife.

We also spotted a field of sheep and what we found very amusing, was how they all stopped in their heels to STARE at the car, when we parked to take photos. Reminded me of this movie The Invaders starring Nicole Kidman.

After a 90 mins drive, we reached the horse riding centre to discover that there wasn't a single soul.

Our hearts sank.

We were so disappointed that we weren't able to try out horse riding. As we were supposed to drive back to Melbourne city the next day, there was no way we could return on another day to try our luck.

Just as we were starting the car to make the long drive back to Halls Gap, a tall man walked up to us and introduced himself as Cameron. He told us we should have made a reservation because he wasn't at the stables all day, but he could take us riding in the afternoon with another couple who had already booked a slot with him. He then suggested we go do some sightseeing at the McKenzie Falls and have lunch before returning.

The less than impressive McKenzie Falls

After lunch, we returned to the horse riding centre and Cameron gave us a short introduction to horse riding, before fitting us with safety helmets and boots.

I had asked Cameron to give us smaller horses to ride, if possible, especially since I was so small. He showed us to our horses, Pete and Sebastian, which were already saddled up. According to him, our horses were "best buds" and would "take things slowly", perfect for a couple like us with no prior experience.

After we got on our horses, Cameron taught us to get the horse to move, stop and turn. We were given the analogy of it being like driving a car, moving from gear to gear.

Cameron was right. Our horses were very easy-going. Too relaxed in fact! The fiance had some trouble getting good old Sebastian to move faster and lagged behind while the rest of the group was constantly moving ahead.

Once we got the hang of things, we were taught to trot. Trotting by the way is extremely physically exhausting. You aren't supposed to just sit back and relax on the saddle as the horse trots but literally need to lift your butt up and down, in sync with the rhythm of the horse's trot, to protect your butt from the impact of all that bouncing (does that make sense to you?).

We spent the next 2 hours alternating between trotting and walking among the outbacks. No cantering for us as we were novice riders.

Not that i was complaining.

I could feel the adrenalin rush even while trotting and there were times where i felt like i might have gotten thrown off by the speed.

I had some trouble with Pete towards the end because he kept stopping to feed. Every time i pulled the reins up, he would bend his head down to chomp at the grass again. Look who's the master now?

The 2.5 hours were over before we knew it, as we made our way back to the stables.

Even though my butt and thigh muscles ached for the next few days from the trotting (you have no idea), I loved the experience.

Glad to be able to strike this off my 'must do' list.

Doubt i'll ever be good enough to gallop with the wind (a secret childhood dream of mine), but this, is good enough for me :)