Navigate the Welsh hills and old drover routes Freerein ingeniously offers a bespoke trip whereby you get to choose your companions, your route and your start/finish dates, while Freerein do all the organising and bookings, provide route maps and detailed instructions, a helpline in case of need and, of course, fit, healthy and well-behaved horses. Choose between a twoand seven-day ride through beautiful Welsh country and enjoy the fun and challenge of navigating your route using a two-person system whereby one person reads the map, the other reads the detailed description. Located in the superb riding country of mid-Wales, where there is a network of hundreds of miles of tracks, you are well looked after in comfortable accommodation along the way. On the longest route around 100 miles of the Great Cambrian Horse trail network is covered, without any retracing of steps. You can go at your own pace, covering between 14 and 18 miles per day, while your luggage is transported to your next port of call. Enjoy the freedom with your own friends or family and fabulous hill, forest, valley and farmland routes. Price per person £347 (2 days) to £1327 (7 days). Matt Williams or Beth Hockenhull; Tel: 01497 821356 trails@freerein.co.uk; www.free-rein.co.uk
Plan it yourself, with a little help from the BHS Left: Hestasport Icelandics strut their stuff. Above: One of the Freerein routes that you can choose in Wales. Below Left: Crossing the Andes Frontier. Below right: A BHS Challenge ride in Chile.
If you fancy planning your own journey through any part of the UK, the BHS provides two very thoughtful services that will help you on your way. Started in the south of Scotland in 2006, the BHS ‘Horses Welcome’ is the UK’s first quality-assured scheme for equine bed and breakfast accommodation, which has now grown to include members all over the UK and Ireland. By using accommodation within the scheme, you can rest assured that it will be up to BHS standards for stabling, grazing and other facilities. The BHS also provide an online map of riding routes and trails throughout the UK, which is very useful to study for ideas and possibilities. You do need to check the current status of any route you choose and, as the site is maintained by volunteers, BHS are always happy to be updated with current information, from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. The BHS also organise fundraising challenge rides as far afield as Chile, Namibia and Peru. See website for details. www.bhs.org.uk www.bhsaccess.org.uk/ridemaps and also have a look at their “Map my Hack” site.
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