We had a very nice fall Saturday (in fact, it has been unseasonably warm and dry according to the Danes) so Malcolm and I met up with Zoe/Sarah/Steve and Kai (who slept the entire time in the Baby Bjorn sling) and went to Dyrehaven for the afternoon.
Dyrehaven ('the deer park') is a beautiful nature area just north of Copenhagen near Klampenborg. It used to be the royal hunting grounds (there’s a large hunting lodge/’hermitage’ on the grounds) and now it is home to many beautiful and ancient trees, a large herd of indigenous deer and more. There are many hiking and cykling trails through the woods and there are pony rides for the kids.
This being Denmark (and not the risk-averse, lawsuit crazy US) you ‘rent’ the pony from the stable near the southwest park entrance for 60 kr per hour, they hand you the lead and you’re off. They assume you know what you’re doing and can control a horse 
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We started with a large, black horse who had a nice temperament but he was “too fat” (as Zoe said) for the kids to straddle, so we took him ack for a nice, smaller pony.
The pony was a good size but “Picky the Pony” liked frequent stops for grass and just to take in the view, I guess 
. After a while we figured out the right boundary between authority and permissiveness so that Picky was happy as well as the kids, who alternated riding and walking Picky by the lead.
We saw lots of other riders and quite a few deer, including some with big racks of antlers. A lovely, lovely day and a great place for kids.
More snaps are here.
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