What: Screen Painting
Where: Between Farringdon and Barbican
Who: London Textiles Studio
When: Sunday 29th April at 10:30am
With: Laurence Powell
Why: I like to be creative and hadn't done anything arty yet. Plus, the package comes with tea and cake - nuff said!
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Friday 20 April 2012
Horse-Riding
As a child, the closest I got to horse-riding was either as a 5-year-old bawling my eyes out whilst sitting on top of a huge police horse, or being led around a country park on a short pony ride. As something I've seen in films and read about in books, I jumped at the chance to try out horse-riding at a discounted price.
This was a Groupon offer for a 3-hour horse-riding experience, reduced from £100 to £39. Having learnt from previous experiences that it's fun to share Something New, I took Will along with me. We headed up to Trent Park Equestrian Centre (http://www.trentpark.com/) almost right at the top of the Piccadilly line. Although this was quite a long way from central London, it was nice to see a bit of greenery and open space. The park allows more experienced riders to take part in hacks and pub rides.
I had a prejudiced image of the "typical" horse-rider: stuck-up, with a rich daddy, demanding and wanting everything just so. While the first person we encountered reinforced this opinion, everyone else helped to dispel it! The staff were friendly and courteous, and our instructor, David, easily found the right balance between teaching a lesson and encouraging a bunch of complete beginners to relax and be more confident in the saddle.
At first, I felt a little disappointed by the centre. We turned up 15 minutes before the appointed start time, as detailed in the instructions, and were swiftly kitted out in hats and boots...then left standing in the yard for a good 25 minutes while some late arrivals were attended to. While you can't expect them to abandon latecomers, I did feel one of the many staff hanging around should have encouraged us to look around, or see some of the horses.
However, once the lesson was started, the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable! My horse, Blue, was patient and not jumpy at all; Will was riding Maximus, a beautiful dun horse who constantly farted his way all around the arena in a carefree manner...! After learning how to start, walk and stop, we moved onto sitting trot, standing trot and a rising trot. I would compare horse-riding to archery, in that it's a very unnatural position to put your body in, but when it goes right, it feels good and the results reflect this. Getting the rhythm of the rising trot just right gave a real sense of satisfaction and achievement. And significantly increased the comfort factor.
After about 80 minutes of riding, we had a cup of tea and some very tasty cake in the sunshine, were shown around the tackroom , the feeding room and introduced to some of the 130 horses the centre has, from little children's ponies right up to the majestic 17-hand livery horses.
In the end, I'd say that horse-riding is a lot more challenging than it first appears; it's definitely not just sitting on top of the horse while it does all the work! I've always wanted to try it and now I have, I think I'd like to keep on trying it in the future!
This is for you if...
If, like me, you'd prefer to join the Rohirrim than the Knights of Gondor, get on a horse and try it out. And at £32 for a beginners' group lesson at Trent Park, it is nowhere near as pricey as having your own horse.
Recommendations
Make sure to wear something warm on the top half, and trousers with a flexible crotch - horses are a lot wider when you're sitting on them than they look from below!
This was a Groupon offer for a 3-hour horse-riding experience, reduced from £100 to £39. Having learnt from previous experiences that it's fun to share Something New, I took Will along with me. We headed up to Trent Park Equestrian Centre (http://www.trentpark.com/) almost right at the top of the Piccadilly line. Although this was quite a long way from central London, it was nice to see a bit of greenery and open space. The park allows more experienced riders to take part in hacks and pub rides.
I had a prejudiced image of the "typical" horse-rider: stuck-up, with a rich daddy, demanding and wanting everything just so. While the first person we encountered reinforced this opinion, everyone else helped to dispel it! The staff were friendly and courteous, and our instructor, David, easily found the right balance between teaching a lesson and encouraging a bunch of complete beginners to relax and be more confident in the saddle.
At first, I felt a little disappointed by the centre. We turned up 15 minutes before the appointed start time, as detailed in the instructions, and were swiftly kitted out in hats and boots...then left standing in the yard for a good 25 minutes while some late arrivals were attended to. While you can't expect them to abandon latecomers, I did feel one of the many staff hanging around should have encouraged us to look around, or see some of the horses.
However, once the lesson was started, the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable! My horse, Blue, was patient and not jumpy at all; Will was riding Maximus, a beautiful dun horse who constantly farted his way all around the arena in a carefree manner...! After learning how to start, walk and stop, we moved onto sitting trot, standing trot and a rising trot. I would compare horse-riding to archery, in that it's a very unnatural position to put your body in, but when it goes right, it feels good and the results reflect this. Getting the rhythm of the rising trot just right gave a real sense of satisfaction and achievement. And significantly increased the comfort factor.
After about 80 minutes of riding, we had a cup of tea and some very tasty cake in the sunshine, were shown around the tackroom , the feeding room and introduced to some of the 130 horses the centre has, from little children's ponies right up to the majestic 17-hand livery horses.
In the end, I'd say that horse-riding is a lot more challenging than it first appears; it's definitely not just sitting on top of the horse while it does all the work! I've always wanted to try it and now I have, I think I'd like to keep on trying it in the future!
This is for you if...
If, like me, you'd prefer to join the Rohirrim than the Knights of Gondor, get on a horse and try it out. And at £32 for a beginners' group lesson at Trent Park, it is nowhere near as pricey as having your own horse.
Recommendations
Make sure to wear something warm on the top half, and trousers with a flexible crotch - horses are a lot wider when you're sitting on them than they look from below!
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Hopefully not a tail of whooooa!
What: Horse-riding
Where: Trent Park, London
Who: Trent Park Equestrian Centre
When: Saturday, 14 April 2012
Why: Every medieval assassin should know how to ride a horse, and so should I.
Where: Trent Park, London
Who: Trent Park Equestrian Centre
When: Saturday, 14 April 2012
Why: Every medieval assassin should know how to ride a horse, and so should I.
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