Horse Riding in Glenorchy
by Emily Davies - June 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Adventure, South Island.I am not one of these people who have grown up around horses; however, while visiting Queenstown, I was keen to head out of town and experience some of the beautiful surroundings that have come to be familiar through films such as Lord of the Rings – and what better way to enjoy this experience than at a slow relaxed pace in the great outdoors on horse back?
After being collected from Queenstown in a shuttle bus, my small group and I enjoyed our hour-long journey, passing beautiful snow capped mountains and the spectacular Lake Wakatipu on our way out to Glenorchy.
Situated in what seems like the middle of nowhere is a huge sheep station belonging to High Country Horses. As we pulled up in the car park, I saw our eight horses all rugged up in the paddock and ready to be paired up with each of us eager customers.
After admitting to having no experience with horses at all, I was introduced to a smaller horse, who, I was told, had something of an eating problem, in that he simply couldn’t stop! At first I didn’t see this as a problem, however ten minutes in and at my horse’s fifth attempt to stop and munch at the grass below him, I realised I had picked a real character!
Being winter, we all wrapped up in hats and gloves and began a slow trot away from the paddock. Our guides were incredibly professional, accepting that there was a mixed bag of ability on the trip, leading one small group off for some more serious cantering while the rest of us less experienced happily continued our slow paced trot, through glacial fed rivers and across acres of the sheep station. Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be a stunning backdrop of snow-capped mountains and it truly set the scene for the afternoon.
Being an avid photographer, I was delighted that we were able to stop a number of times to take photographs, of both ourselves on our horses and also of the incredible scenery. The groups were pretty small which meant I got to know the others I was riding with as we shared in our experience of first-time horse riding.
After a couple of hours, the winter light started to fade and we headed back home to base. Hopping off my greedy little horse, whom I had strangely become quite attached to, I was so grateful that he not only hadn’t thrown me off his back but that he had also returned me home in one piece!
High Country Horses offer horse riding for all ages and abilities and it’s a fabulous way to get out and about and experience the extraordinary landscape that surrounds Queenstown.
Click here for more information.
