Kington, Herefords
"SO if you feel a little glum, To Hergest Ridge you should come.
In summer, winter, rain or sun, It's good to be on horseback." Mike Oldfield certainly had the right idea when he released his song On Horseback in 1975. It was written after his successful debut album Tubular Bells and alludes to the joy he got from being in this spectacular part of the country, where he still lives, astride a horse. He properly hit the nail on the head. The views and vastness of the landscape laid out before us were truly spectacular.
From the top of the ridge, you can look out a full 360 degrees and all the immediate views were of the Radnor and West Herefordshire country. Looking to the further horizons, it is possible to see six counties, with the Black Mountains at one limit and the Malvern Hills at the other.
Changing perspective and peering down into the valleys, one saw a wonderful patchwork of tidy grass fields and farmsteads, which then veer up to form a sharp line from verdant green to the orange, almost tan, line of bracken.
Each hill appears to be individually iced like massive birthday cakes. Among the citrus icing are the forbidding black, dense patches of gorse.
A bit like going motorway hunting, it would be impossible to pass through this area and not look up to the hills and just know a good day's sport could be had. Open tops, sheltered little gutters, thick gorse banks, no roads and only a few hardy, usually local, walkers.
A LOVELY MEET
THE Banks family gave a lovely meet at their beautiful Hergest Croft Gardens just outside the market town of Kington, which lies 20 miles north-west of Hereford on the River Arrow.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 14, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 14, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Jappeloup
A small horse who looked like two halves put together’, Jappeloup nonetheless proved to have a big heart and a huge talent”.
Collett takes two
A bumper fixture hosts 12 intermediate and open intermediate sections, as Paris contenders blow away the cobwebs
Capitalise on buyers' remorse
Equestrian properties might be in short supply, but prices are back to normal after the Covid frenzy as the capital lures buyers again
Games making
Equestrianism will be in the thick of the action in Paris, but the logistics of hosting Olympics in the heart of an iconic city are a challenge. Kate Johnson asks organisers, riders and grooms for their memories of urban Olympic sites
On the bench
Being picked as the \"fourth man\" to support a three-man Olympic team, ready to step in at any moment in the competition, requires a resilient and unflinchingly sportsmanlike mindset.
A brush with the Games
Want to know what really goes into preparing an Olympic campaign? Bethany Stone speaks to top industry grooms with star-studded CVs for the scoop
One moment in time
The Olympics is the zenith of an athlete's career but precious few scale those giddy heights. Sue Polley asks four British Olympians about their most memorable experiences
'Pride? I just felt relief
Blyth Tait on jumping barn roofs, \"freezing\" in the Atlanta heat and the day his eight-year-old prodigy won Olympic gold
Mental health advocate
Harry Dunlop retired from training in 2022, having held his licence for 16 years. He founded the Trainer Support Network in 2023
Hugo Simon
The six-time Olympian tells Bernard Bale about his \"extraterrestrial\" string of horses, changing nationality and his success at the boycotted Games