New England Summer 2018: Day 5 - Riding In Vermont
 

We woke up to a sunny day - a bit early though for J and I at 5.30am. The situation wasn't helped by the dropping in and out of the wifi. We later worked out that the router was in the office in the main barn. The nearer you were to it, the faster it was! O even went into the seating area of the barn during the day to connect!



Breakfast was had - every man for himself. O and J had yoghurt and fruit, F and I had bagels!

The house is quite old fashioned. That is not meant in a bad way. I love the wooden rooms - though as F says - it foes creak a lot (she has only lived in a modern house!)



We are staying in the white house! The house is in 190 acres of land! There are deer, foxes and bears in the forest!

It is a stunning part of the world!



Today - there was one objective - to get F riding!

I sent an email to the owner who replied quickly that we should see Amber - the manager!

We went out and Amber told us the instructor was in at 11 and we could organise it then. She also gave F free reign to come and go into the paddocks with the horses. F was in her element!

As the cupboards were bare, we decided we would drive the mile down the road to Morrisville to stock up at the supermarket. The supermarket was really well priced! Where we are is not that touristy so it is local prices!



When we got back F and J went to meet Jade, the instructor whilst O and I unpacked the shopping. They also met Poppy the spaniel!

A lesson time of 3pm was arranged!

F made lunch for us - salmon burgers with salad and fries. Desert was strawberries !

Soon it was time for F to change into her riding gear!



F was riding Cookie - a much bigger horse than she is used to riding!



F loved it! We could see that for the first few minutes she looked a little confused then realised that although she is completely bilingual, she has only ever had riding lessons in French!

Cookie worked hard and Jade the instructor was amazing - positive while giving constructive advice!

Both F and Cookie were worn out by the end!



After the lesson we headed to South Burlington (about an hour away) in a hope of getting O some books off a reading list. Unfortunately we didn't find any that he needed but he did find a book on philosophy - in his final year of school philosophy is compulsory...



The scenery is spectacular here - the picture doesn't do it justice. It is very rural but I love that!

The clouds were hugging the mountain tops!



We got home about 8pm and made club sandwiches. I gad avocado, smoked gouda cheese and lettuce. I also had a bottle of ginger beer - took me back to my childhood and the famous five! The others had a variation on the theme.

The wifi was very in and out - the boys went into the dar next to the barn door which was better! I gave up on finishing the daily report as I kept getting timed out.

I’m glad she enjoyed her ride :spin: looks a lovely place to holiday

Joan :wave:

New Photo Added by Melbatb - 2 Aug 18 1:28 PM.

Beautiful countryside, it looks amazing.

Bet the hacking there is amazing.

Just catching up with your report, looks amazing :)

That’s a great day, it all sounded very idyllic so the famous five ginger beer was a great choice. How great about the riding , looks a beaut of a horse there.

What a great location you’re in and how brilliant that F got her riding lesson.

Cookie and Poppy both look gorgeous animals too.

The riding she did was brilliant - and has really helped her!

It was a stunning place to stay!

It was - F loved the two hacks she did!

I would certainly recommend Vermont!

I loved the ginger beer! I tried another brand later on but it was pretty vile!

The horses were all beauties!

F was in her element! She loves horses so much!

Oh how lovely that F got to ride! Both of our kids love riding. We've booked somewhere in Cornwall for Christmas where they are going to have riding lessons !

I spent a while studying in France it must have been strange for F to be instructed in (American) English. Do they also wide Western style in Vermont? We found it to be quite different when we rode in Banff from how we have been instructed in England.