Wednesday 15 February 2012

Visit John O' Groats website
 View the starting point at the link above. John O' Groats is not the most northerly point in England, but it is the point furthest away from Land's End. 

Friday 10 February 2012

Navigation and maps

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/info/practical/maps-for-walkers.htm Follow this link for a very good site on use maps and the types of navigation available, this site also has the rout for the Sabrina way- which i will be following for 200 miles from Harrington station to great barrington. Both the horses had a visit from the horse physiotherapist today. The timing is spot on as invarriably after the physio they have to have a few days off, to allow their muscles to adjust after being worked on and as it snowed last night, they would have had to have a few days off anyway, to let the snow and ice melt. I worked a ten hour night shift last night, finishing at 7 this morning. So I went and had a sleep, planning to come backand hold the horses for the physio, but ended up sleeping right through! The horses were done without me, but I missed out on the chance to talk to the physio directly. Harry was sore behind the saddle and the physio suggested that it was either because I was sitting too far back on him, or that the western saddle may be too Long for his back. As I've been having lessons on Harry and my instructor is happy with my position, I am going to stick to his English saddle from now on, as it has been professionally fitted to him. Cognac was stiff, but being an older horse and over due for the physio, I think that this wasnt due to anything in particular. Im going to incorporate carrot stretches into his daily warm up routine to help keep him supple and comfortable. As we set out for the ride in 5 months time and between then and now we will being doing a lot of training, I will try and schedule the horses to see the physio again before we go and possibly a few weeks after we return.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Harry in the western saddle- what a smart chappie!

Western saddles!

Having first learnt to ride with Rhia Tapper at Zara Stud, Sidlesham (www.zarastud.co.uk) it is a logical choice for me to choose a western saddle for a long distance ride, not only are they more comfortable over long distances for both horse and rider, they are also easier to load equipment on to. So I thought I'd try my mums western saddle on harry last night and he looked fab, as far as I know he hasn't ever had a western saddle in before, so I was slow to put it on him, letting him look at and smell each but if equipment first and putting the big pad on and off several times before putting the saddle on. Harry was completely unfazed and look great! We only went for a short hack in walk, but hopefully I'll give him another go today- if the black ice in the roads ever melts, or the school un- freezes!

Katrina Littlechild

Monday 6 February 2012

Harry haffy having a spruce up- looking rather trim(mer!)

How far can you get on one set of shoes?

So on Friday our farrier came and fitted cognac with a shiny new set of shoes. Because if the distances I will travel along my ride I wil need to arrange t get the horses shoes redone several times and I need to arrange this in advance. So with the help of endomondo I'm going to try to record just how many riding miles I get from cognacs new pair within the next 6weeks- my estimate is 120 miles!

Katrina Littlechild

Me after completing Land's end to John O' Groats on my mountain bike.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Updated route plan

I've now spent over £100 on maps!! I still would benefit from help, so if anyone knows Scotland/ Cumbria/ Bristol area/s please do not hesitate to contact me.
So far the route plan is as follows:
Set out from John O'Groats on 1st July, head towards Inverness (slightly vague! Not sure if heading west first then dropping down or heading down east coast- awaiting yet MORE maps) ride along great glen way( loch mess and loch lochy) to fort William, west highland way down to Glasgow, shadow Pennine wat until it joins Pennine bridleway at Hebdon bridge, follow trail to great barrington. Along Sabrina way, Cotswolds, cheddar gorge, Somerset, Dorset, devon (dartmoor), finish along the kernow horse trail in cornwall to Land's end- the home! Simple.
Katrina Littlechild