Horseback Riding

One of the amenities advertised at Kliczkow was horseback riding.  Since horses are Jessica's passion, we had to give it a try.  On Tuesday morning, we walked down a lane from the castle to an old stable where we were hooked up with some horses.

I wasn't sure Luke would allow himself to be placed on the back of a horse, but he loved it.

Luke just went for a five minute walk around the yard with this cute young lady guiding the horse.  He was very pleased with himself afterwards.

Jessica and Brad took a guided ride through the woods surrounding the castle.  Poor Brad and his ginormous head - even the biggest helmet they had was too small.

I took this picture because I thought the building behind them was interesting.  Kliczkow Castle is really in the middle of nowhere.  There is nothing but forest and a few old buildings surrounding it.  All of the houses look something like this pink building in the background, broken window panes and all.

Adam took a 30 minute lesson on Lady.  His hands got really cold, but he loved it.

Here is Adam doing some stretches on the horse to learn balance.  After his lesson, he considered himself an expert horseman.

Pepper also took a 30 minute lesson with the Woman In The Big Fur Hat.

Pepper's poor teacher didn't speak hardly any English, but that didn't stop Pepper from talking to her non-stop the whole lesson.  About halfway through the lesson, she sent her little sister into the barn to get a Polish/English dictionary.  Pepper proudly told me afterwards that he taught her how to say "rope" in English.

Here are Pepper and Adam taking their lessons in the shadow of this old church.  We didn't go inside the church, but I understand it has been there at least since around 1580.  This is a scene that likely hasn't changed much in almost 500 years.