After a lovely, quiet and productive morning at Glentunnel Holiday Park, we headed into Springfield to find some brunch. We're running a bit low on groceries, and didn't want to stock up again just before we leave, so we stopped at a cafe for a couple of Americano coffees and some food. Hubby picked a Veggie Fritata while I had a 3-cheese beef lasagna. Delicious! Afterward, we headed out to the Rubicon Valley Horse Ranch, arriving a bit early, but giving us plenty of time to get organized. The owner, Chris, was undoubtedly more safety conscious than any of the previous two rides (we found out later he was a former police officer, which probably accounted for it), and he spent quite a bit of time of basics, even though four out of five of us were highly experienced. The one newby became the focus of Chris' attention, and he was quite wonderful in helping her master the basics, at least as one can master them in a 3 hour ride :-). It was a bit wasted (and wasteful, we thought) on the rest of us, but we all just smiled and carried on. He was very strict about no one trotting or cantering until we asked first and were given permission,, and the horses were pretty unresponsive except when we reached those areas of the trail where they had obviously been "given permission" in the past. That said, we more experienced riders did get numerous chances to trot and canter, though Hubby's horse never did make it out of a trot, or rather pace, as they were all former trotting racers. My horse, Nugget, was pretty responsive when it came to jumping into a canter, but Hubby never could get his horse Sampson to canter. I was a bit put off by the fact that neither of the trail guides even bothered to try to learn anyone's name (didn't even pretend to), instead we were informed we would be called by the horses' name, period. So Nugget it was for me, for three hours! The horses were a bit sluggish, dead on both their sides and mouths, so all the warnings about them being former race horses were a bit wasted. Nevertheless, the views were gorgeous, as we've come to expect in New Zealand, and the ride was satisfactory. For beginners, it would be a great ride, and for experienced riders, it's an okay ride. Still, our favorite ride was with HorseM on the North Island, no comparison! After the ride, we headed into Springfield with the intention of picking up some meat for dinner and staying at the local Holiday Park, but something had evidently happened at the local grocery store, as there was a policman outside speaking with the manager or owner, and the door sign said closed, even though it was just after five! When I asked, she only said it had closed just after four, and the nearest groceries were in Darfield, 20 kilometers away. So off we went to Darfield, picked up some groceries, and again inquiring about places to camp, were once again directed to the Glentunnel Holiday Park. We decided that would be a good place for the night, as it would give us an opportunity to clean up the campervan before we turn it in tomorrow. So dinner first, then some clean up, then to bed!
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