GUL Wales

23/07/2025

😍🐴🦄 Little Hoves Riding lessons 🐴❤️🦄

We have some space for little riders in our Little Hoves class fortnightly on a Saturday!
A half hour lesson designed specifically for introducing young children to ponies & riding.

Suitable for riders age 4+ and under 5 stone in weight.

Time: 1 - 1:30pm

Cost: £18

Please get in touch to find out more and book your place!

17/07/2025

Hello, it's Sam from the stables. I know you don't hear much from me on here but we are as busy as ever at the yard 🥰

I have set up a fundraiser to raise some much needed funds towards the approaching costs of winter. Many of our customers have asked if there's anything they can give to help so if you can, then we would really appreciate it 🥰

Please share if you can!

Thank you so much!

Hello, my name is Sam and I am fundraising for our small business 'Littlemoor Equ… Samantha Howells needs your support for Winter Feed for our Therapy Ponies

17/07/2025

It was a pleasure to welcome the Llangain WI to the stables recently. Cai came to say hello, we had a look around the stables and shared stories of some of the wonderful work that our ponies get up to 🥰

16/07/2025

How amazing is it to be able to make something you can actually use at home from a piece of freshly cut wood!? We've been working on whittling skills with our older Wednesday home ed group. Here is the not quite finished spatula we worked on last session! The children did a better job at actually finishing theirs ready for use, guess I have some homework to do before I can use mine properly!!

03/07/2025

🪵 Whittling is a skill we work on in many of our sessions. Here we were learning some basic skills which can applied to many whittling projects later on, including batoning, stop cuts and creating a point as well as a flat edge on a stick 🪵

Get in touch if this is a skill you'd be interested in learning to book your place and join one of our sessions!

07/06/2025

🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️🍄 Fairy ring! 🍄 🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️

We spotted a very young Fairy ring in the woodland the other day. It's not the best picture as they are so small but can you make out a little ring of tiny mushrooms amongst the leaves and grass??

Fairy rings are caused by an individual fungus growing underground which sprouts small threads called mycelium, in a circular shape. The following year little mushrooms pop up around this circle causing a Fairy ring to appear.🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️🍄 Each year it will grow larger mushrooms as it becomes more established.

There is a lot of folklore surrounding these Fairy rings. In English and Celtic folklore it is said that the ring is formed by fairies dancing and if you step in it you'll dance until you pass out from exhaustion and the fairies will take you to their realm forever. Others say you'll get trapped and turn invisible to everyone other than the fairies.
I don't about you but I love the old folk tales surrounding the woodland!! So much so I'm very tempted to step in a Fairy ring and see where I end up!? 🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️😅🌳

Do you know any other stories surrounding these cool little rings of fungus!?

30/05/2025

Did you know woodland areas have the potential to improve your health and wellbeing just by being there?! 💚🌳🤔 Here are a few reasons why...

There's the obvious one; going for a walk is good for your overall physical health as you are exercising by walking, but did you know being surrounded by trees can also help your immune function?! Studies have linked exposure to natural environments, (particularly woodlands) to increased levels of 'natural killer' (NK) cells, which are a type of white blood cell that plays a vital role in the immune system. This is likely a result of inhaling beneficial compounds released by trees, known as phytoncides. How amazing is that!!?

16/05/2025

💚🌳 Plant of the week 🌳💚

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)

🍃 Wood Sorrel is another indicator species for ancient woodland and will grow in clumps in undisturbed soil. It has distinctive leaves composed of three heart shaped leaflets which look a little like the leaves of clover.
🍃 The leaves and flowers are nyctinastic which means they fold up and go to sleep in dull weather and at night time 😴
🍃 The whole plant is edible and due being rich in oxalic acid they have a lemony tang and can be added to salads, soups and even lemonade 🍋
🍃 Wood Sorrel is high in vitamin C and has historically been used to treat scurvy
🍃 The flowers can be used as a source of yellowy orange natural dyes

Please note, unless you are absolutely sure you have found Wood Sorrel do not eat it! It can be confused with the wood anemone which can be toxic if eaten.

03/05/2025

Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend!

There's no Monday group running this coming week but there is still some space for our new Wednesday Woodland sessions 😀 drop us a message if you'd like your child to come and enjoy some of this beautiful woodland, make friends, and learn about the natural world around them as well as lots of very cool bushcraft skills!

We'd LOVE to see what you guys get up to this weekend so please share some pictures of some of the natural areas in the spring sunshine near you 🌞🌍

Check out all the shades of green on these young beech leaves 🍃 🌞💚

02/05/2025

Hannah and I took a wander through the ancient woodland at Penlan and were greeted by a carpet of bluebells! 🩵💙💜 so beautiful!

I'll tell you a little more about bluebells next week in my plant of the week post! So keep your eyes peeled for that 👀

But for now,
🩵 Did you know they are one of the signs of an ancient and healthy woodland
💙 They are protected by law so no digging/picking/damaging them
💜 They are one of Hannah's favourite woodland plants 😍

18/04/2025

We're not the only ones who enjoy the shelter the base camp provides! We were excited to spot this little cluster of moss appear by the roof supports, not sure who it belongs to yet but we're keeping a close eye 👀

There are lots of regular visitors to the shelter during sessions and I can only imagine the wildlife that calls in when it's quiet to pick at the crumbs we leave behind...maybe we need to find a wildlife camera to find out just who pops by! 🎥

07/10/2024

We have 2 spaces available in our Friday (age 11+) term time stable sessions! If you would like to find out more, please get in touch 🐴