Saddle up for a coastal canter in Kent
YOU never know what will cause a horse to ‘spook’. Mine, a 16-year-old former racehorse called Stop The Show, is even troubled by graffiti.
But I’ve dreamed of cantering on the beach, so I’ve brought him to Minnis Bay, in Birchington on the north Kent coast. He avoids puddles, so what will he make of the sea?
I’m billeting him at Plum Pudding Stables, a friendly livery yard and riding school two minutes from the beach, run by Jacky and Trevor, who have been here for nearly 20 years.
It’s clear from the relaxed horses, clean stables and comforting sound of hay being munched, that the horses are in safe hands.
Once we’re settled, I saddle up and we briefly view the choppy waters at high tide. Stop The Show snorts.
Then, exploring some of the verdant trails around the stables, he bounces along happily. The next day, Trevor accompanies me on our first beach ride. Minnis Bay is about a mile and a half long. Time it right at low tide and you can ride all the way to Margate.
Stop The Show takes to it immediately. And over the next few days, we wade through the sea, canter on the wet sand and skirt seaweed. We’re here out of season, so I can ride any time, depending on the tide.
Half of the 40 stables at Plum Pudding are DIY liveries and the rest are used as riding school horses.
There’s space to camp, as well as wooden glamping pods for hire, but we’re staying at the fantastic Waves B& B two minutes’ drive away. It’s right on the seafront and an all-day breakfast is served in its popular cafe.
We visit Margate for two great dinners; pizzas and wine on tap from the Great British Pizza Company and a new seafood restaurant called Angela’s.
Whitstable is charming and Broadstairs has intriguing shops, a romantic seafront, and there’s wonderful fish and chips from Star Of The Sea.
I took up riding six years ago (after a 30-year hiatus) in a racing stable on this same horse for a charity race at Cheltenham.
After my first spin up the gallops, my knuckles were bleeding, my legs jelly, I was winded, but ecstatic. Now, as we return to Plum Pudding stables from the beach, I feel exactly the same — but wonderfully exhilarated.