Stay and ride holidays
Wanted to send you a note once again. Thank You for the most wonderful time we had at the Brandy House Farm. The horses were excellent & we made much progress in our riding skills while enjoying the stunning scenery of Radnorshire hills....... Richard's cooking never ceased to exceed expectations. Staying in your cosy guest house - we felt like family rather than guests. You even managed to arrange sunny weather - despite a gloomy forecast.
We really are spoilt for choice that’s true! These are the questions that we will ask you when you first contact us and thinking through them might help you with your plans.
Step 1 : How many days do you want to ride for?
Step 2: how many accommodation bases do you wish to stay at
Step 3: do you wish to ride a petal ride from any of your accommodation bases and so have more than one night at that particular accommodation or do you want to ride to a new place each day.
Step 4: Do you want to have any days off en-route?
Step 5: Do you want to ride self-guided or with a guide?
Step 6: Will you require a luggage ferry?
We will then ask you for a ‘window’ of time you can ride in, check availability for you and put together a suggested itinery with costings based on your requirements and availability.
It really depends on the length of ride you are wanting to do, but we recommend that your horse needs to be able to cope with hilly terrain and cope with anything up to 8 hours out on the trail (unless you have specifically booked shorter rides). This is not endurance riding so you do not necessarily have to ride a fast pace. That choice is yours. It is important that your horse is comfortable in his tack and carrying a rider for the whole day. We recommend that you have done some full day rides of 4 -6 hours with the tack you intend to use in preparation for your ride. This should also include saddle bags you intend to carry.
Then we would recommend a 2 day taster ride with shorter distances and route options that meet your ability. Our Radnorshire hills rides have alternate distances on them so you can short cut or extend your rides as you want to. Don’t be over ambitious in the distances you plan to ride until you know how quickly you travel on unfamiliar territory with few waymarks and a map. We find that people often over-estimate what is realistic. Often guests book a guide for their first trail ride.
It may be possible but not all our accommodation providers accept dogs so it does limit the routes you can choose from. Please let us know if you would like to bring your dog and we can plan an itinery to suit you.
The weather can be unpredictable even in summer. You need to be prepared for wet and cold weather as well as packing your suncream. We advise all our guests to wear High Visbility clothing, not because of the roads you will be on – of which there are few – but more so that you can be seen on the hills should you need to be found.
Some people like to eat en-route some people find that a full cooked welsh breakfast keeps them going all day so we don’t include packed lunches as routine but they can be requested as an extra on booking. We would always recommend carrying some dried fruit or a spare museli bar with you even if you aren’t planning to ‘lunch’.
Yes, You definitely need to carry water and we recommend 2 litres per person, so 2 water bottles on your saddlebags. Again its easy to underestimate how much you will need; Its really important to keep hydrated and you never know when you might need spare water.
We have found that everyone feeds their horses differently so do not provide any hard feed at all. You will need to bring that with you and either carry it or put it on the luggage ferry.
Not all our accommodation providers keep horses themselves so hay is not always available. Please let us know if you want hay or haylage as it can go on the luggage ferry. We can buy in horseage for you if it is difficult for you to bring your own and pass it on at cost.
No this is an ‘optional’ extra unless you are booking a guide in which case a luggage ferry becomes obligatory. If you don’t wish to have a luggage ferry you will need to carry all your own luggage and feed for your horses.
Absolutely if you have a pony you want to bring as a pack pony that is not a problem! Infact we often take extra horses with us, alternating between packing and riding when we are out route checking. You would just be charged extra livery for the extra horse.
This has been done! You could travel with the luggage ferry to your next night’s destination whilst your friends take your horse on line. Or we have had guests who have taken a day out to sort out shoeing and used a horse transporter to catch up their friends that night. We can help you find a horse transporter; but no guarantees as they are few and far between and you would be liable for the additional cost.
You do need to bring your own horses but we do have one contact where it may be possible to hire a horse providing you are an experienced rider and you ride with a guide. This arrangement would be between yourself and the riding stables. Please contact us if you need information and we can pass those details on to you.
When you book a holiday we provide you with more information which includes a what to pack list for both you and your horse
You will need saddle bags. We are happy to suggest retailers that maybe stock what you require. The minimum you should be carrying is a pommel or cantle bag that allows you to carry your lunch, and water bottles, and essential first aid. We also recommend that you have the facility to carry extra clothing so you either need a saddle bag or method of attaching it to your saddle.
Our route descriptions are not ‘stand alone’, we have written them more as footnotes to the map. You do need to read the map and refer to the descriptions for additional information. It works really well for one person to ride with the map and another in the group to have the description. We would advise you ride with a guide if you are not confident with map reading.
Waymarking is vary variable and totally unreliable. Although there are ever increasing areas that are waymarked we are constantly campaigning for more waymarking. Many of our bridleways remain unmarked so we would never recommend relying on waymarking. You really do need to know where you are on the map at all times.
In an ideal world Yes! If the mist is down and you are on the open hill with few land marks then a compass can be very helpful. Many of our guests ride with a gps, having said that its still possible to become disorientated with a GPS; so yes good map reading skills and compass skills will make your ride all the more fun.
We would suggest you retrace your steps until you are confident about your position. If you are having difficulty one of us can usually assist you over the phone. However please bear in mind that you may not always have good mobile reception out in the hills.
Unfortunately this does happen; a tree can fall across a trail and block something that was perfectly rideable the day before. Unfortunately there are no guarantees. We plan and describe routes to the best of our knowledge and experience. We give you good mapping around the route but would recommend that you carry the relevant Explorer OS maps incase you do need to divert, in which case you would have to plan your own route back onto the trail. Of course if you are riding with a guide then we will more than likely have local knowledge to find an alternative route.
In the Radnor hills the rides have options to lengthen or shorten the mileage so the choice will be up to you. We can help you make that choice dependent upon the weather conditions, your experience and fitness levels.
If you are riding across Wales the average daily mileage is 15 miles. You can expect to be on the trail for 6 – 9 hours.
If you are happy riding alone, have experience trail riding and are confident with route finding and map reading then we would be happy for you to ride on the Radnor Hills network. We would not recommend ride across Wales as a lone rider. We like to recommend riding in company where possible for safety reasons or suggest you take a guide.
This can be difficult to arrange as generally people have organised to have their holiday with their own friends and family groups. As people have different riding preferences and abilities it is better to organise your own group.
Yes, children are welcome provided they have a responsible adult riding with them.
You are riding at your own risk and your horse is your responsibility but we will do what we can to help. You will not have consistent mobile signal on any of our rides, and we may not always be around to answer the phone anyway. On the more remote country across Wales if you are riding with a guide we carry a satellite phone, and are first aid trained. If you are riding self-guided then we would recommend you consider hiring a phone for the duration of you ride (contact us for details).
You would need to decide whether to get help, stay where you are or move to a place where you can get help. We provide you with a list of vets, and farriers, we recommend that you travel with a shoof boot incase you lose a shoe.
We are not licensed to transport horses but If you need transport we will do what we can to assist you getting your own transport to you or hiring a transporter. It is your responsibility to arrange transport off the ride should you need to.
Absolutely – after all that’s what we’ve done. The bridle ways are there to be ridden and the more people riding them and keeping them open the better.
Indeed the BHS have developed the Prince Llewellyn ride, the William Morgan, Radnor Forest and Sea Horse rides in Wales and Blue Remembered Hills & Jack Mytton Way in Shropshire. However, this is isolated country over some challenging terrain and you do need to be skilled at navigating with a map.
Do be mindful though that what is on the ground does not necessarily relate to what is on the map!
We have spent years putting the rides that we recommend together and our routes are always evolving as conditions change. In short if you book with us you know that your ride will be rideable!
Its hassle free place to place trail riding for you!
We do all the Logistics (route plan and check, accommodation booking, luggage ferry arrangements, horse transport if riding a linear route, back up information)
All you have to do is get your horses fit and turn up - we handle the rest for you!
Check out our testamonials to see what previous guests have said………
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Brandy House Farm, Felindre, Knighton, Powys, UK,
LD7 1YL. T: 01547 510282
