Horse Riding & Pony Trekking in Mid Wales

Horse Riding & Pony Trekking in Mid Wales

Mid Wales has the kind of landscape that is made for riding. Open hillsides, wide forestry tracks, ancient drovers' roads and quiet bridleways that go on for miles without meeting a car. The Cambrian Mountains, in particular, offer some of the most remote riding in Britain.

Riding centres and trekking stables operate across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia, most of them in the hills where the terrain is varied and the views are long. Half-day and full-day rides are widely available, and many centres cater for complete beginners as well as experienced riders.

The Brecon Beacons have several riding centres offering treks across the open mountain. The ground is firm, the paths are well established and on a clear day you can see across the Bristol Channel to the south and the Black Mountains to the east.

Around upland Ceredigion and the hills above Tregaron, trekking follows routes that have been used for centuries. Drovers once moved cattle along these paths to market in England, and the tracks they left behind make natural riding routes through open moorland and forestry.

Some centres offer residential riding holidays with accommodation on site or nearby. Others run beach rides along the Ceredigion coast, which are popular in summer and autumn when the sand is firm and the light is good.

Welsh cobs and mountain ponies are the breeds you will most often ride here. They are sure-footed, calm-tempered and bred for exactly this kind of country. Whether you are looking for a gentle hour's trek or a full day crossing the hills, the riding centres listed below can put together something that suits.