Author: Daniel Foo

DARC Beginner Introductory Session

DARC Beginner Introductory Session is the basic lessons for new riders in Denai Alam Recreational and Riding Club. I had the opportunity to sit into the session conducted by Ara and Trisya from DARC Y.E.S. (Young Equestrian Stars) Club.

The Beginner Introductory Session started off by Ara sharing basic information on how many movement horses have: walk, trot, canter and gallop.

She moved on to explain the basic equipment involved in riding such as saddle, snaffle (or commonly known as bit accordingly Ara), girth, bridle, stirrup, saddle cloth and saddle pad.

Then, Trisya took over the stage to explain the different colors for horses and the marking we can find on horses.

This briefing took about 30 minutes and then we moved on to the stables.

We gathered at Zone A in front of the stable.

Trisya gave us a quick briefing before entering the stables. She has prepared some cut carrots for us to feed the horses. Carrot is the favorite snack for our four leg friends! Trisya showed us the correct way to put the carrot on our palm to feed a horse.

Once we entered the stable, Trisya distributed the cut carrot for us to feed the horses. The kids got excited and they were totally loving it!

While we were in the stable, Ara and Trisya gave us more explanation on different horses. The kids were paying full attention to the briefing. One of the kids was asking Trisya how can we tell if a horse is a male or female.

We spent approximately another 30 minutes in the stables and we moved on to the washing bay for horse care briefing.

Trisya explained the importance of hoof care. The horse in front of us is called Bulan.

Trisya showed us how to clean the hoof.

Trisya explained the different type of brushes.

Once the grooming is completed, Ara showed us how to tact a horse.

After fitting the saddle, Ara explained how to put on a bridle.

The horse care and tacking session also took about another 30 min.

We move on to the grazing area. Ara and Trisya gave us a certificate of achievement for attending the introductory session.

You will be getting a certificate as following for completing the Core Skills Horse Care and Management.

It has been an informative and fun session conducted by the Y.E.S. Club. Ara and Trisya are both very knowledgeable in answering our questions and skillful in handling the horses.

If you are interested to join a session, please contact Mr. Sulaiman at +60 10-240 2606. They will conduct such session every Saturday at 2.30PM – 4.00PM.

You can visit DARC website or visit the riding club here:

3S Equestrian Centre Cyberjaya Horse Riding

3S Equestrian Centre is strategically located right next to Taman Tasik Cyberjaya. It is a favorite leisure riding place for many kids and adults who like to try riding a horse for the first time.

3S Equestrian Centre

There is a paddock for general riding purpose. You can take riding lessons or a joyride in the paddock.

3S Equestrian Centre paddock

The center houses about 6 stables. 4 stables facing the front and another 2 facing the back.

3S Equestrian Centre stables
3S Equestrian Centre stables back

The stables are fully occupied with a good mixture of different horses, pony and even a baby horse!

This baby horse is only about 6 month old and he is still staying with his mother.

Khalifa – a horse previously used for jumping and currently staying in the stable. He is a tall horse and is very suitable for taller adult riders.

Queen – a very calm mare, currently own by a private owner. Queen is perfect for a relaxing leisure outride. She is busy munching her breakfast!

Queen

There is also a pony who can be really loud when he neighs.

Cyberjaya Pony

There is a small hang out area right next to the paddock. Riders can sit there to hang out while seeing other riders ride.

Hang out area

Sometimes I go there for an easy practice ride in the paddock with my favorite horse, Albait. But usually, I will go for a trail ride.

On the way out to the trail.

Horse riding at street - 3S Equestrian Centre

3S Equestrian Centre trail route in the morning.

Cyberjaya Trail Ride - 3S Equestrian Centre

Chilling at the tree area for horses to rest.

Daniel on Albait

We passed by a lake on our way out.

We exited the trail.

Cyberjaya street - 3S Equestrian Centre

Passing by another small lake along Cyberjaya road.

The trail ride is approximately 11KM and will take about 1.5 hour depending on how fast you ride.

More Information at 3S Equestrian Centre

Here is the location to 3S Equestrian Centre. To find out more, please contact Along at +60 11-6456 3259 or Tuan Syed at +60 12-727 9002.

If you want to find out more, please contact the manager Mr. Sulaiman at +60 10-240 2606 or visit DARC website.

MAEPS Revisit

It’s been many months since I last visited MAEPS. I like MAEPS track because it has a mixture of farm trail and jungle trail, it’s a rather enjoyable & relax ride.

The arena looks slightly different from the time since I last visited. I guess they are doing some refurbishment. I definition look forward to the arena with better condition in the future.

Without much delay, we proceed to mount on our horses as the horses were already tact up upon our arrival. Very well prepared by Firdaus and his team.

We were pleasantly companied by Firdaus, our friendly and very accommodating guide who is also the operator for outride activities in MAEPS.

We are on our way into our track.

Firdaus putting on a satisfying smile on his face while riding.

We also passed by some durian trees. Jac got excited with the durians!

About 1/3 of our trail, we rested a while at a peak.

I was on Ross and Jac was on Malika. Both of the horses are beautiful KKA.

We continued to walk around the open area. We enjoyed pretty good view overseeing the surrounding of MAEPS.

Firdaus was kind enough to take some photos for us while we were walking around.

Along the way, I exchanged horse with Firdaus.

Coffee is a slightly taller ex-polo. Since Firdaus is taller than me so I adjusted the stirrups so that I can ride more comfortably.

Firdaus is a really thoughtful horseman. He kept Coffee for himself initially because he was worried that I can’t handle Coffee, as Coffee could get into fast cantering rather quickly if not handled well.

He asked me to give it a try anyway in a short track. I started off with steady trotting and then got into slow cantering. It was pretty comfortable to ride Coffee’s canter.

Coffee was responsive and was very light to ride with. Coffee is a really well-trained horse with good handling. Coffee was cantering with comfortable speed all the way up to the peak in MAEPS where the little hut is located. I only had to slightly lift the rein when I want to have more speed while cantering up hill.

We rested again in the little hut at the peak for about 20 minutes.

We let the horses to roam around for their grass snack.

The camera man behind the scene.

Jac definitely has a more nurturing side with horses.

We came down from the peak after we had our break. On our way back we were mostly walking and slow trotting.

In overall, we covered 11KM. We spent approximately 2.5 hour in total where about 30 minutes was resting time. This was recorded using my Amazfit T-Rex.

Feel free to contact Firdaus (+60 11-1037 4872) to book your ride.

Amigo Horse Riding

Amigo Horse Riding is strategically located in Pasir Gudang, which is 30 minutes or 27 KM away from Johor Bahru. It’s a great weekend getaway for Singaporeans to spend some horsey time while staying in Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort which is right next to Amigo Horse Riding stables.

This is the signage you will see while driving in. You can search for the location accurate in Google Map.

The road that leads to Amigo Horse Riding stables.

Here we are at Amigo Horse Riding stable!

Amigo Horse Riding stables is owned and operated personally by Mos, an Iranian who has been in Malaysia for decades and running the stables for more than 10 years. Most importantly, Mos is a very skillful and experienced horseman.

My friends and I booked 2 rides with Mos. One in the Sunday evening and another on Monday morning. When we arrived, Mos has already parked our horses at the round pen while the groomer was tacking up the horses for us.

Kai Sing wanted to use her own endurance stirrup. Mos was helping her to set it up.

We had a few minutes of walking in the arena and Mos lead us out to the trail.

The horses were pretty calm and easy to work with. The trail was mainly flat land. We started off with walking, some trotting and a little bit of slow cantering. We arrived to the river bank in about 30 minutes later.

We continued our trail…


There were very few rocky paths. I believe Mos purposely pick the softer ground which are good for the hoof.

Pretty scenic trail to ride on a Sunday evening.

You can definitely cool your eyes with so much of greenery along the trail.

Mos also took us into Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort for quick tour.

Jac was having so much fun on her horse back on our way heading back to stables.

Passing by the entrance the stables on our way back.

Mos is keeping a lovely parrot in his stable that can speak “I love you” in a really cute voice.

We spent some time hanging out in the stables and were chatting with Mos. He shared his experiences and many other funny stories running the stables . Mos is definitely one of the coolest guys you can hang out with in the stables. It was a a great time and time flied! Before we knew it, the sky turned dark and it was time for us to head for dinner.

We ended the day with a delicious crab meal in JB town.

A video of our evening ride with Mos.

On the next day we have a morning ride with Mos. He led us out through another exit which is next to Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort.

Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort is on the left and stable is on the right. We were following Mos to walk till end end of the street to enter the trail.

We entered the trail…

Turned back for photo in the terrain.

We head to the river bank that we visited yesterday.

Jac with her favorite pose on her horse…

Jac and Mos at river bank.

Mos and Daniel.

Daniel and Jac in uniform

We continued our trail…

We head back to the stable in slightly less than an hour as the sun is getting really warm.

When we came back, Mos was kind enough to let us play with his painted horse in the round pen.

If you wish to ride in Amigo Horse Riding, please contact your friendly horseman, Mos at +60 12-796 6806 or at his Facebook and he will be glad to assist you.

Riding fees varies depend on whether it’s on a weekend or weekday or if Mos is running a promotion. We paid RM165 per pax for 1.5 hour ride on Sunday and RM94 for 1 hour ride on Monday.

Have fun riding in Amigo Horse Riding!

Bidaisari Stables – Post MCO Training

It’s the first week after cross-state travel is allowed since MCO, Jac and I went to Bidaisari Stables in Janda Baik for an outride on Sunday. Here is our awesome hacking group photo.

  • From Left: Aimy, Daniel, Jac, Adib and Bull
  • Jac on Bomber and Daniel on Solea.

Warming up in paddock.

We went to the kampung trail today. It was not a very long trail since the horses are just getting started again after a long break. It was approximately 8km and we completed that in about an hour.

  • In the trail

While coming back, we took some time to pose for photos.

  • Aimy posing on horse
  • Bull upon entering Bidaisari Resort
  • Heading back to Bidaisari Resort

Upon coming back to the stable, I dismounted first while the other riders continue riding in the paddock.

Solea looking a little tired after coming back from kampung trail. It’s the first time I ride with Solea. She was naughty in the paddock trying to canter around on her free will for a short while. She has been a really good girl out in the trail by following the horses in front. Her trotting is easy and cantering is smooth. I think she can be a good horse for taking to endurance.

  • Solea and Daniel in paddock

After we came back, we saw Natasya was practicing her walking and trotting on Bella.

  • Natasya training with Bella.

Natasya has been absent from riding for some time. She was trying to get back her rhythm on the horse. Jac was busy body kind enough to help her out by leading the horse in front.

Coach Yasman was giving some extra pointers to Natasya after a few more rounds of riding in the big paddock.

I didn’t get to play with Bomber today but she has always been such as a darling for the us in Bidaisari Stable. Go try riding with Bomber, it’s so fun!

Here is a couple a video of us training the rested horses a week before inside the paddock.

Here is an outride video we did back in November 2019 where we took an endurance trail for almost 20KM. It was a really fun trip, be sure to check out the video!

Here is the address: Jalan Cherengin 1 28750 Kampung Janda Baik, Pahang, Malaysia. You can also check out the Google Map.

For more information, please contact Yasman at (+60 11-3229 3111) or visit Bidaisari Stable Facebook page.

Until next time!

Seremban Equestrian Center

Seremban Equestrian Center is located approximately 70km away from Kuala Lumpur.

It is not an overly popular spot for horse riding. I’m guessing it is mainly due to the stable being slightly remote compare other stables in the southern region.

It took me 45 minutes to get there from Kajang. If you are coming from KL, it will probably take you 1 hour and above.

I have been there twice. The 1st time was with Jaclyn. The 2nd time was with Suki, as her final farewell ride before heading back to Netherlands.

During our first ride, the guide took Jaclyn and I to a big open spot as you can see from the above video. The area is probably reserved for future construction. It was like a super big fence-less arena. We had our horses there to canter freely. Yeeeeeeeeeehar!

It was fun to be able to canter freely in the open area but it is something that you only want to do it once in a while.

Few weeks later, Suki and I went to Seremban Equestrian Center again.

I always like to ride horses in the track instead of the arena, regardless how big the arena is.

This time I have specifically asked the guide not to take me to the big fence-less arena again.

As a result, Suki and I went to the track. The track is not very long. But we did enjoy the greens along the track.

The unfortunate time was during our ride it started raining and it was a really wet ride.

We didn’t have a guide taking us into the track. We had to remember the instruction given by the guide prior to entering the track.

Well, at some point we got lost. The next thing we did was let our reins loose and let the horses take us back.

More Information on Seremban Equestrian Center

The outride fee was RM100 per session. If you are interested to pay a visit, feel free to contact Along at +6017-3120814.

Have fun!

Terengganu International Endurance Park, T.I.E.P. (Day 3)

3rd day of our 3-day horse riding trip across Peninsular Malaysia! We selected Terengganu International Endurance Park (T.I.E.P.) as our final destination.

Terengganu International Endurance Park (T.I.E.P.) is my most looking-forward-to track to ride since my endurance competition last year.

Our accomodation is fairly near to T.I.E.P. It took us about 15 min drive to get there. (Look at Suki’s sleepy eyes!)

Good morning horsies!

The girls abandoned me in the car while I was parking. They ran over to welcome the horses instead!

Jaclyn got Princess, I got Jacq and Suki got Langkasari.

Wasted no time, we started off our ride in T.I.E.P. – one of the top 10 endurance tracks in the world!

The initial track that we planned for was 14KM.

Upon completing the 14KM, we didn’t get enough of umh! and requested our guide, Anuar to bring us to another round of 10KM.

In total, we completed 24KM in the track as you can see in the following video.

Upon coming back, horses rest and drink before heading back to the stables.

This is an emotional moment for me.

I took Jacq for my 40km last year. I spent fair amount of time training with him back in Batu Arang last year (average of 3-4 times in a week).

Jacq was sold to another private stable in Terengganu, which means I can’t see him and ride with him as frequent as I used to.

Because of the endurance training, my riding style has changed so much to fit to Jacq. When I was riding Jacq, we feels in-sync with each others’ movement.

Jacq has got a lot more thinner than he used to be. Frankly, I have such an unspokeable heartache to see him again.

As much as I felt reluctant to leave Jacq, but it’s time to move on after petting and feeding Jacq.

I carried a heavy heart to come back to Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

It was as if I farewell to a long time friend.

It was really good seeing you again, Jacq.

Pusat Equestrian Pahang (Day 2)

2nd day of our 3-day horse riding trip across Peninsular Malaysia! We selected Pahang Equestrian Centre (also known as Pusat Equestrian Pahang) because riding at the beach is one of Suki’s bucket list items. Jaclyn and I have never done beach riding as well so we were really looking forward to ride at the beach.

We got there in the morning about 8.00 AM.

The stables are not located right next to the beach. We had to cross a busy street in order to get to the beach. The traffic started building up at that hour so we had to wait until approximately 9.00 AM for the traffic to be clearer.

The good news is, that gives us a lot more time to play with our horses in the arena. Yay!

Jaclyn got on Pekan (right), I got on Goldie (middle) and Suki got on Putra (left).

Flatwork in the arena.

We had to trot for almost 1KM in the village road before arriving to the beach.

Around 9.30AM, the sun was high and bright. We were already sweating before even arriving to the beach.

Here we are at the beach, Tanjung Lumpur!

Suki overtook everyone and started cantering at the beach!

Jaclyn with her signature pose.

Goldie is trotting freely at the beach.

We passed a small stream while riding at the beach.

Jaclyn cantering fast from my right.

Suki cantering fast from my left.

 

The girls are having good time posing with their horses after exiting the beach.

After exiting the beach, we passed through a long strech of village road.

We stopped at an open field to take a rest before heading back to the stables.

Back to the stables. Suki posing with Putra.

Here is at track recorded by Jaclyn’s smart watch.

Cantering on the endless beach is an unique experience for us who are mostly riding in the arena or trail. It is an experience that every rider must try!

Further Details on Pahang Equestrian Centre / Pusat Equestrian Pahang

We had a chance to take photo with the crew members who went out ridng with us.

Pahang Equestrian Centre, Pusat Equestrian Pahang

This is the location to Pahang Equestrian Centre / Pusat Equestrian Pahang. The riding fee is RM200. If you would like to visit, please give Cikgu Paiza a call, +601113237416.

Up next, we are heading to T.I.E.P. (Terengganu International Endurance Park) – one of the top 10 endurance track in the world!