This is a BRAND NEW festival for 2023 that we were lucky enough to be invited to. It is set in the beautiful countryside of Herefordshire, down winding lanes lined with chocolate box houses. On our drive there, we encountered a deer stood in the middle of the road. It was as calm as anything, I on the other hand, was panicking and shouting 'there's a deer in the road! Watch out!'.
Your not in Texas anymore!
Turning into Valley View Ranch is like visiting a real American Ranch, a little taste of Texas, just not as hot or dusty. Western Riders come from all over the country to visit this wonderful Ranch to ride and for western experience days. There's camping facilities too.
Everywhere was decorated with American bunting and flags. There was lots of activities throughout the day, Ranch and Reining, Western Riding demonstrations and Barrel Racing displays. The Barrel Racing displays which were incredible to watch, I've never seen anything like it before, it was so exciting with a huge crowd watching the riders. Later in the day the audience were treated to a line dance tuition with Single Star Country and Western, everyone had such fun dancing with the instructor and later some Country music for Andrew Marc Vocalist.
Shopping is never a bad idea
Not being a horse rider myself, I can't say too much about what some of the stalls were saying (simply because, I'm not quite sure!) but the bridles and reins that I did see (and recognise) were all pretty awesome. One lady handmade all of her items after learning through lockdown, such a talent!
On the field behind us were some American Cars and Trucks ran by 'The American Auto Club UK' which added to the American experience. Sadly we didn't get a chance to look at all the vehicles for as long as we'd have liked - the ones we did see were so impressive!
To wet your appetite there were a couple of food stalls selling Pizzas , Burgers, Cakes and drinks, all of which seemed very popular throughout the day
Again, again!
This was the first year of Valley View Ranch holding an American Horse festival, I do hope there will be a second one, it was a delight to attend such a fun family event, thank you for having us.
