Whenever I ride out from here I have to go up a hill.  Which means that at some point we have to walk back down again.  I have discovered that riding at a walk is incredibly soothing.  Providing you aren’t workigng hard at schooling obviously.  Grooming can help in a similar way – it is a good stress relief and the pony benefits too.

No matter how stressed I am feeling – or how late I know I am going to be because I decided to squeeze in a ride – walking down the hill completely calms me.  It starts to seem almost meditative and I am sure it must be beneficial.  I feel so much better afterwards and I would recommend it to anyone!