Sarah's Recipe for Romance

Horses are one of the many reasons I love the Regency period. If I could, I would abandon modern transportation in favor of true horsepower.

This past Fall my husband and I did exactly that. We traveled over one hundred miles on horse back through the Pyrenees Mountains in France. For me, this was possibly the closest I will ever come to knowing what it was like for the ladies and gentlemen in Regency England to traverse the countryside with a horse as their only means of transportation. 

Unlike many horseback-riding vacations, our trip was unguided. This meant we had to find our way using the maps provided by the stable and a compass. But what would travel be without a little adventure?

During the Regency era, adventure travel was the norm. The roads were often rough, not to mention the threat of bandits.  While our paths were challenging in some areas, thankfully we did not encounter bandits during our journey. 

We rode for five days through cattle ranches, small towns, and over numerous mountains.  Thanks to my husband’s amazing ability to read maps, we only lost our way once.  If it weren’t for him, I would still be there. 

Riding my horse into the courtyard of a castle built in the 13^th century was one of the highlights of this trip (see picture). Located outside of Puivert, this Cathar castle had rings built into the walls to tie the horses (just like a modern day castle would have a parking lot). When I rode across the drawbridge and through the entrance gate, I felt like a lady riding into court.  A rather underdressed lady, but I think that was for the best.  The locals would have laughed at us if I’d worn a Regency era riding habit, never mind a ball gown.  

This was our second adventure vacation on horseback (our first unguided) and I can’t wait to plan the next one. We saw a part of France rarely visited by tourists, especially American tourists.  In fact, very little English was spoken at some of the places we stayed along the way.  This became somewhat of a challenge seeing as neither of us spoke more then a few words of French and our French-English dictionary did not contain key phrases such as: “Where can I find a bale of hay?” or “Will the wild boar attack my horse?” 

I could go on and on about my adventure on horseback, but suffice to say, I envy my heroes and heroines as they depart on their morning rides in Hyde Park or race through the open fields of their family estates.