Riding holiday- review

Zimna Woda September 2011 review by Vanessa Badino

Our trip to Zimna Woda in September 2011 was absolutely fantastic with great riding and a very relaxing atmosphere.

We flew into Gdansk and fit in a lovely day of sightseeing in the historic city before Kinga picked us up in her 4x4 for the 3-hour drive out to the stables at Zimna Woda, a small village located in the midst of a vast logging/hunting forest. For a trip to "get away from it all" and just focus on riding it's a perfect setting - beautiful and tranquil with no TV or internet to distract. Our evenings were instead spent chatting, having a beer, reading, helping to make a school costume for Kinga's 7-year old son, stargazing, and tending the bonfire...

But back to the first day: when we arrived we settled into our rooms and tucked into the first of many hearty meals cooked by Piotrek, Kinga's husband. This time potatoes with a delicious wild mushroom stew (in season and collected from the forest around us.) The food at the farm is simple but local, tasty, and filling after a day in saddle -- and this coming from a vegetarian! (the meat-eaters on our trip also looked very happy after every meal). Likewise the accommodation is basic but comfortable and you'll sleep soundly guaranteed.

We spent a week at the farm with 6 riding days, typically a flat/dressage lesson in the morning followed by a hack in the forest, and a jumping lesson after lunch. Zimna Woda is also a breeding farm and has about 30 horses at any one time - half of them schooling horses (a mix of brood mares and geldings ranging from green to super experienced) and half of which are yearlings and foals. Every morning after an early breakfast we would find out who we were riding first and head down to the stable to tack up.

One of the best things about Zimna Woda is how down to earth and welcoming Kinga, her family, and the farm is - you do all your own grooming/tacking up and get to spend as much time as you want hanging around the stables coddling your favourite horses and the foals. As a Londoner who only gets to ride once a week normally, spending so much time with and around the horses, watching them interact and asking loads of questions was a great learning experience.
The lessons themselves were in a large outdoor arena and Kinga has a very natural and gentle teaching style, helping you focus on improving one thing at a time and building upon previous lessons over the course of the week, starting off with a lesson of horseback aerobics and bareback riding until at last culminating in a preliminary level dressage test and jumping competition on the last day.

We were a group of six but I still felt like we all received great individual feedback and attention from her. Kinga is a highly qualified rider and instructor who really seems to love what she does; her exercises were always different each day, challenging, and really focused at accomplishing and improving a specific element of our riding each time.
We also went out for a daily hacks through the surrounding forests which even included jumping over some opportune fallen trees and cantering knee-deep through a lake! Mid-week we did a full day's 7-hour hack further afield through really varied terrain which was a great balance to the otherwise intensive lesson schedule.
When we asked Kinga what she breeds for in her horses, her answer was "character" which is incredibly telling about the horses you'll find at Zimna Woda - they are all very gentle and willing and seem to really enjoy being ridden! They are very well schooled but come in all shapes and sizes and have each their own personalities - it's quite impossible to pick a favourite as they really are a lovely bunch, great for both novice and more experienced/confident riders.

Zimna Woda was the first riding holiday/clinique I've attended but it really set the bar very high indeed - I cannot wait to go back.

Amy, Zimna Woda review, September 2010

    When I travelled to Zimna Woda I’d never visited Poland before, and I didn’t really know what to expect from a week’s riding holiday. We arrived late on Sunday evening in the dark, but when I woke up the next day and went to have a look around, I knew I was going to have a fantastic time!

Not only was I surrounded by around 30 beautiful horses, ponies and foals, there were also gorgeous dogs, kittens, rabbits, chickens, calves and some pigs - and we were surrounded by beautiful pine forest. Absolute heaven for someone that loves horses and animals but rarely gets out of London!

    Kinga and Piotrek were our welcoming hosts with Kinga sorting us out on the horse side, and Piotrek keeping us fed! Our days were generally spent with a couple of lessons in the arena in the morning and a leisurely ride out in beautiful forest in the afternoon. In between all the riding, Piotrek kept our energy levels up with delicious Polish home cooking. Some of my favourite meals were Polish dumplings sprinkled with sugar, wild mushrooms from the forest, and some lovely soups.

     I had only been riding more regularly for a year when I visited Zimna Woda after a break of around 8 or 9 years, and some of the main things I needed to work on were my confidence, and improving my position. Kinga was a very intuitive and patient teacher and after one lesson had a good sense of what we all needed to improve on, and also which horses would suit us and help us to feel comfortable and improve. I didn’t ride a single horse that I didn’t feel comfortable on in the entire week and I think Kinga did an expert job of matching us all well to horses that would suit our ability. I ended the week jumping a course having not jumped for at least 8 years, and completing a dressage exercise. Having returned to riding weekly in London, I have really noticed that my confidence and position have improved tremendously.

   All the horses were well schooled and had their own very distinctive characters. I ended the week with about 4 or 5 favourites! It was also really lovely to be around the mares with their foals. There was one particularly cheeky foal that kept escaping from the field and was often found wondering round the stables! Watching the horses come in from the field by themselves and take themselves to their own stables for dinner was quite a sight to behold! But, when the foals tried to do this they weren’t quite as good at it and ended up having to be chased into the right stables instead!

   There are so many other things that made this trip special – the opportunity to make new friends, learning a few words of Polish, singing Polish songs around a fire with a group of Polish riders passing through, doing a 2 day trek through the forest, and taking a trip through the forest on a horse and cart. In fact, I had such a great time and came back feeling really refreshed and energised. I can’t wait to go back, and definitely want to have another week in Zimna Woda next year.

Zimna Woda in 2010 - By Lara, Solicitor, London

Overall
   I had a wonderful time on my week's break in Zimna Woda. I would enthusiastically recommend it to any horse lover.

Zimna Woda
    The site is a beautiful place in the middle of the forest in Poland. It has a really magical feel – like something out of a Grimm's fairy tale! I could easily imagine Hansel and Gretel emerging from the woods.

       The flora and fauna were spectacular. As a Londoner, it was great to be surrounded by all the trees and plants in the forest and all that fresh air. I particularly loved seeing all the different varieties of mushrooms in their myriad colours and being able to spot the odd prancing deer!

The horses and other animals
   The horses are great. There is a mix of horses to suit all tastes, abilities and temperaments. I had the opportunity to ride a number of different animals during the week and have fond memories, and lots of photos, of my favourites.

   There are many other animals on the farm, including dogs, cats, pigs and rabbits, and so it is a great setting for animal lovers. I especially loved the foals, which were very cute. I also loved watching the night time ritual of the horses returning to their stables for dinner – this was a magical experience!

Structure
    Most days, we had two horse riding lessons in the morning and then a hack in the afternoon. We did a mixture of dressage and jumping over the week, but this was tailored to the wishes, riding abilities, and experience levels, of the group. There was a lot of variety in the programme, which included a videoed dressage test and a jumping course. I especially loved the two day trek through the forests and the afternoon hacks – trekking through the woods was breathtaking! We also had the opportunity to travel through the woods by horse and cart, which was very memorable.
     Kinga is an excellent teacher and very patient. Her English is impressive. There was a definite improvement in my riding ability and confidence levels by the end of the week. Seeing Kinga ride her majestic and powerful stallion, expertly performing a number of dressage movements, was a real treat.

Food/refreshments
Piotrek's home cooking is fantastic – lots of hearty soups and stews to enjoy and replenish all those burnt off calories!

    Grilling sausages on an open fire, sharing vodka, and singing local Polish songs with a group of Polish trekkers, was also a very memorable experience.

Accommodation
    The accommodation is quite simple, but place has a very homely feel and the family are welcoming.

Lara Hill

Stajnia Zimna Woda tel. +48(89) 625 91 91 tel. kom +48 606 235 994 e-mail: stajnia@zimnawoda.pl

Klub Jeździecki Zimna Woda Zimna Woda 1 13-100 Nidzica e-mail: klub@zimnawoda.pl

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