It was the adventure of the holidays – a trip to the beach with four horses and the gig!!! Penny and I spent a few anxious stressful hours the day before trying to get Esther, Grace’s horse, to load on the float but finally we did it. The next day went amazingly well, with none of the possible disasters occuring (phew!) and we made it to Uretiti Beach.
We came up over the sand dunes and caught our first view of the beach! It was so exciting.
This would be Milly’s last big day out with Peony before she goes to her new home. We’ve sold her to a lovely family on a farm fairly near us.
Miles and miles of beach stretches ahead of us. What a wonderful place New Zealand is! Does it get any better than this? Riding your horse down a deserted beautiful beach.
Esther had never been to the beach before and got a bit freaked out at the waves.
Pharaoh and Peony loved walking through the shallow water
Beautiful to hear the sound of the surf and the horses’ hooves.
Pharaoh loved the water! At one point I cantered him for ages along the beach in the shallow water…on and on, just the crash of the surf, the splash of the water and the wonderful sound of his hooves on the sand. Bliss.
We finally reached the esturay and checked it out to see how deep it is. Way too deep to get the gig through unfortunately.
Ellie took Sam and Jake further along the beach to Waipu Cove. We were going to try and meet up with them for lunch but the estuary was too deep to get the gig through.
Sam spints along the beach – is it a game of rugby??
Milly squeals as Peony starts to swim!
They are really swimming now!!
I took Pharaoh swimming – I was only going to go in a wee way cos I didn’t really want to get wet, but it didn’t work out like that. He went deeper and deeper and then began swimming out to a huge rock storm wall that was built in the middle of the estuary. I couldn’t turn him around to head back to the beach and he started trying to climb up onto the rocks. I was in the water up to my neck, and slipping and sliding off and on his back as he surged around. Finally managed to swim him back towards the shore. Here he comes out chomping his bit and eager for more.
Seth had us all in hysterics – while he was in the water he sank down and got Penny and her saddlebag (and our sandwiches!!) all wet. Then he insisted on having a roll in the sand. 🙂
After all the work he thought he deserved a share of the lunch!
On the way back down the beach Penny puts Seth in the gig.
Heading back – we’ve come a long way and I’ve managed to rub my backside raw in one area with all Pharaoh’s constant dancing. But it was worth it!! What a fantastic day. Now we’re dreaming of Bailey’s Beach and 90 Mile beach….
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