Previous riders in the Welsh Borders
If you've ridden the Welsh Borders with Bridle Rides, send us your photos and stories and we'll put them up here for you.
Jennifer Sneddon & friends - March 2008
Jenny and her friends, Dori and Jill, booked a one-centre holiday at Felindre near Newtown, and were the very first bridle riders of the 2008 season. They e-mailed a couple of weeks later to say "Thank you so much for organising horses and re-organising accommodation (twice) at Brandy House Farm. We had a great time and Billy's horses were great, although we were expecting cobs rather than fit hunters. (2 of the ladies hired horses from Heart of Wales Equestrian Centre)
The photo above is of Jenny riding on Crown-owned common land on Newhouse Hill, and the one on the left is of some wild Welsh Mountain ponies drinking at a pond high in the hills.
The ladies lost one of their planned riding days because it snowed. Bobbie from Bridle Rides advises "Because many of the rides in the Welsh Borders are over 1,000 feet above sea level, snow and low cloud can affect this area early and late in the season - which is why it is best to book from mid-April onwards, until the weather closes in again at the end of September".
Anna Tucker - July 2007
Here are a selection of Anna's photos. In the one above, you can just about see her and her horse, Benson (Ben for short), crossing the bridge at Llanbister Road Station, which carries about 6 trains per day - 3 in each direction.
Anna was accompanied by her partner, Paul, who was obviously behind the camera most of the time - you can just about see his mountain bike in the photo on the left.
Anna e-mailed us with lots of detailed feedback about the routes, which was really helpful when it came to locating a handful of bridleway maintenance items to report to Powys County Council Rights of Way team. She also returned her feedback form, with the following comment:- "Excellent marked maps and route guides - only I discovered I couldn't read either when we met other horses because Ben was jiggling about all the time! Great holiday, lovely location and we were lucky with the weather. Thanks .... Anna"
Sue Okell with her partner, Frank, and daughter Olivia - August 2006
Frank e-mailed us after the ride to say "The Welsh Marches are very special. We've been to New Zealand before and can't see what all the fuss is about with Wales on our doorstep. As always. made much more pleasant by your directions and background notes. We enjoyed the moorland section near Felindre, but our favourite was seeing the Shropshire farmland with fields of golden corn".
The photo above is of Olivia and Sue stopping for a picnic lunch near Brampton Bryan.

The one on the right was taken by Offa's Dyke to the north of Presteigne.

Sue, Frank and Olivia did a very popular 3-day place to place ride around hosts based near Newtown, Presteigne and Bucknell ... as did Terry and Jules Hobin below.
Terry & Jules Hobin - July 2006
Terry and Jules sent us a whole write-up of their first ever bridle ride in the Welsh Borders. They did the same 3 day itinerary as Sue Okell and Fank Sibly, and we've included a couple of the best bits below:-

"Jules and I have just finished our short holiday. BRILLIANT! It was great with fantastic hosts and places to stay, and the maps were so well marked with the written directions so meticulous in detail that we only needed to refer to our maps a few times throughout our break".

After some very detailed feedback on the hosts and routes, Terry concluded by saying "As I said earlier your written directions were very accurate, and how long it must have taken you is beyond my comprehension. You should write a series of books on bridleway routes in different areas and you'd make a fortune! Seriously, though, a huge pat on the back for you - it was great spending that much time with our horses. Thanks for a wonderful holiday."
The photo top left is of Jules riding Cannon on the Glyndwyr's Way - and the one below is of Terry on Quest by one of the estate houses in Brampton Bryan. As you can see, both horses are kitted out in Western tack!
Janet & Tim Peters and Liz Pitcher - May 2005
Janet, Tim and Liz are seasoned Bridle Riders who have tried most of our networks from the Cotswolds southwards, and they opted for a 3 day holiday which took in most of the network area, plus a 4th rest day in the middle of the ride. They told us that the Welsh Borders was one of the most enjoyable rides they've done to date. They sent us so many lovely photos - and we've included a selection of the best ones here!
The photo on the right is of Liz and her horse, Delhi, in Brampton Bryan Park on the Shropshire side of the border.
They said "overall the countryside on the rides was fabulous, with lovely going on Days 2 and 3 in particular". (This covers the northern and eastern part of the network, parts of which are also accessible from the one-centre holiday). "There was quite a lot of minor road on Day 4, but the scenery was lovely after midday - and the gates were of mixed quality!!".
The picture below is of the three happy horses in the field at the end of their last day.
The three musketeers (or is it six!) leaving Felindre at the start of their second day. From left to right are Tim on Sahara, Janet on Tess and Liz on Delhi.