Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

When I was a kid, I went through a pretty intense horse-girl phase. I was obsessed with learning the breeds, drawing them, and especially wanting to own one. Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron was my favorite movie and I even convinced (begged) my grandma to bring me to 4-H Horse meetings (I didn’t have a horse). This coincided with my pioneer phase, in which I would dress as a pioneer, pack a 1800’s style picnic in a basket and go eat it in the field with the dogs (only child, much?).

My world exploded when I was lucky enough to get my first horse when I was 10. After searching the penny-saver newspapers for years, I found her. She was an old barrel-racing Quarter Horse named Molly who grew a wooly, curly coat in the winter. She was technically $100, but my grandpa ended up doing some backhoe work for the folks that owned her, as a trade. We think she was around 30 years old. She was perfect.

My grandparents let me keep her at their house since they had a barn and acreage. I mostly rode her bareback, usually in my black cowboy hat and leather vest. It was one of my favorite eras of my childhood by a long shot.

Fast forward to 33 years old and planning our trip to New Zealand, I saw a reel of folks in NZ riding horses to a lake and cantering along a trail. It was Wanaka Horse Trekking and immediately I knew this was something that we needed to book! Matt and I found a way to fit it into our itinerary, at the end of our trip, and I booked us for the Lake Ride.

The day before our ride, and one of our last days in Aotearoa, the folks from Wanaka Horse Trekking reached out to me as the weather forecast was looking sub-optimal for the next day. We found a way to move our ride to later in the day, hoping to miss most of the rain and wind that was to come. We were going to need to be flexible and knew it could possibly be cancelled.

On the day of our ride, we drove from Queenstown (where we were staying) out to Wanaka Horse Trekking and saw the massive amounts of flooding occurring from the overnight rain. We learned that the nearby river was fed by six glaciers, which explained the amount of water!

We parked and met our guide, Axel, and got situated with gear and signed waivers. Matt and I donned big black rain jackets designed for horse-back riding and I immediately felt like we were on the set of Tombstone.

Axel explained that, while the rain had stopped for now, the wind beyond the ridge where the trail continued, was completely exposed and didn’t feel it was safe to do the Lake Ride. Ideally, the ride would’ve also involved swimming in the lake, and with the cold, grey skies, I was totally okay doing what was most safe as I likely wasn’t going to swim anyways! We opted for an alternate ride in which Axel would take us around and try to extend the ride (as able) by using different trails.

From there we finally got to meet our horses! I was to ride Ben, an introverted guy that I could tell you needed to earn his love but once you did, he would show you his softer side. Matt was to ride Big Boy, who used to have another name but they called him Big Boy so much it completely stuck. He was huge!

We got refreshed with the basics of riding, and were off! My horse, Ben, really was itching to go fast the entire ride. He definitely wanted to lead, and had a pep in his step from the get-go. I was so stoked as with past rides, I somehow ended up on the horse that was the slowest and hung way, way back.

We rode through trails that were semi-close to the lake’s edge before we started climbing up the ridge. When we climbed, we got to canter for the first time and man was it fun! I hadn’t been able to go fast like that in so many years since usually trail rides are just walking due to legality issues.

Along the upper ridge, we saw cows, deer, sheep, and bunnies. We were riding within a 16,000 acre working farm and the groups of animals were everywhere with lots of baby animals. I was in heaven!

Axel took pictures along the way, and at one point instructed Matt and I to go up on a little ledge so he could take a picture of us with the lake and mountains in the background. Just as Matt and I got our horses in position, a huge gust of wind ripped through the small valley and smacked us all in the face. And it didn’t let up! It really felt like it came out of no where and the horses were immediately spooked. The sound of the wind cracking our long rain coats sounded like a tarp left out in a hurricane. Everyone’s horses started rearing up, circling, and wanting to run for the hills. I tried my best to remain calm and most importantly, remain seated on Ben. Even Axel’s horse was acting wild and off to the side I saw Big Boy buck with anxiety while Matt rode it out like a pro.

Axel yelled instructions at us while he got control of his horse, and told us to head down the hill and into the valley below to get out of the wind. Ben wanted to RUN and I tried my best to keep that from happening and reassure him, as we headed down the hill.

Out of the wind and giving reassurance to our horses that everything was okay, the three of us looked at each other like ‘holy shit that was wild!’. I definitely felt out of my element, but also super proud of Matt and I for staying on our horses and gaining control again!

We continued along the trail and even got to see a particular mountain that was shot in one of the fly-over scenes for The Lord of the Rings! The landscape was so incredibly beautiful, rough, and epic in every direction all around us.

The three of us continued along the trail and Axel asked us if we were up for an adventure to go assess one of the beaches and determine if other horse treks could venture there, too. Call me egotistical but did this mean that Matt and I had proven ourselves as riders to our horse guide? We were both up for the adventure, obviously, and headed toward the lake.

The beach was definitely flooded. Axel attempted to describe how the beach normally looks – clear waters gently lapping sand- but it was hard to picture with the brownish-grey murky flood waters that ate up the beach and nearby brush.

We stayed in our line-up and coaxed our horses into the water. Ben wasn’t stoked to head into the water, but the good boy obliged my request and waded in. Big Boy, staying true to his personality, kindly told Matt, ‘no’. Going around and basically through a tree, Matt was finally able to get Big Boy to head into the water, as there was literally no other way forward. It did get a little deep in one spot and the video Axel took of Matt and Big Boy heading into the water hilariously captures his thick French accent saying ‘oh shit!’.

As we neared the pastures and our starting point, it was made clear that the port-a-potty door was flapping around each time a gust of wind blew through and needed to be secured. After the incident on the hill earlier, we all dismounted our horses to guide them through the gate and past the scary door, avoiding another incident of everyone getting spooked.

I was not ready to say goodbye to these big, lovely new friends of mine so I asked Axel if we could help with post-ride chores. We secured our horses to the fencing where we first had met them, and gave them some feed to munch on. Matt and I then sprayed their backs where the saddle had been sitting with a water-iodine mixture and brushed it into their coats, while giving them loving scratches all the while. From there, we led the three horses into the pasture and all at once, took off their bridles and let them be free. We walked further into the pasture and met a majority of the other horses, each with their own quirky personality, coat color, size, and backstory. A few were uber curious and stayed by us the entire time. I was in heaven.

I could’ve probably stayed there all day but, per usual, my need for food dictated that we needed to head out. We got a couple restaurant recommendations from Axel and all hugged goodbye. He told us if he could have riders like us every day, every day would be a great day. Literally the best compliment coming from a guide! I’m reminded how lucky we were this trip in that each guided activity we met, we got the chance to meet the coolest, nicest people.

We had some delicious food at Kai Whakapai Eatery before heading back to Queenstown and our Airbnb. I had the Katsu burger, Matt had their Salchicha pizza with martinez chorizo, jalapeño, red onion, roasted red peppers, and we also split their loaded kimchi fries (drool). Clearly we had worked up an appetite!

I am so hopeful that one day Matt and I can return and complete the Lake Ride as originally planned. I think it would be so fun to swim with the horses! Even so, I am so incredibly grateful that we were able to keep our booking and have the experience we did.