Friday 29 June 2012

Setting out from John o' Groats

We arrived at Bencorragh House B&B yesterday afternoon amid heavy rain and very grey skies! Eric Gillie Horse Transport dropped Cognac off, safe and well and just after 9pm and we turned him out in the paddock in front of the house for the night. He was calm, but alert, standing and looking intently in each direction as if getting his bearings. I put his lightweight rug on as although the rain had stopped, the wind was whipping straight across the flat land from the sea.

We tacked up after breakfast and walked the three miles to John o' Groats, Cognac was really chilled as we headed down, but was not keen on hanging around at the signpost when we were waiting to get our photo taken!

So we set out at an energetic trot and easily covered the 20 miles to Thurso, where we are staying tonight with Carol and Raymond at Pennyland B&B, I've checked tomorrows route with Raymond and Carol, and I am just looking over my route through Northumberland before I send all my maps (!) home with Jez tomorrow, for him to send up to me in groups as I need them. It would be impossible to carry all 40 of the maps I need to ride my route, but I have literally taken my box of maps everywhere with me the last month or so, so that if I got a moment I could work on my route, and the thought of not having access to them worries me!!

John O'Groats

Monday 25 June 2012

Cognac has left for Scotland!

He's staying in Newbury tonight and up to Kelso, in the Scottish borders tomorrow night. They was nice and calm before he left, and looking very fit and well. I presented him to the 10 horse lorry and he wasn't sure- he put his front feet on the ramp, but wasn't in a rush to go any further. With a bit of encouragement we had him in within 5 minutes and away he went. Joe from Jsbeephotography came down to take some photos of him being loaded for the Midhurst and Petworth Observer.

Sunday 24 June 2012

LRG Summer News

For anyone interested in long distance riding around the world check out the news update on the Long Riders Guild website: http://www.thelongridersguild.com/news.htm 
Very interesting information about riders around the world undertaking amazing journeys across the globe, a real inspiration!

Cognac leaves tomorrow!

Four days until he reaches John o' Groats, then we set out on Friday, I'm nervous. Hope it all goes okay and I've done enough preparation and training rides to be able to cope with two months in the saddle! Looking forward to meeting all the great people who have been so kind to offer Cognac and myself accommodation and who have helped me with route planning and general advice.

Saturday 23 June 2012

John o' Groats


"A mound near the John O'Groats House Hotel marks the site where Jan de Groot, a Dutchman, built his famous house in the reign of James IV (1488 - 1513). His seven descendants quarrelled about precedence and Jan de Groot solved this problem by building an octagonal house with eight doors, one for each of his seven sons and himself, and an eight sided table so that no one occupied the head of the table. Jan de Groot ran a ferry to Orkney and charged 2p a trip. The coin for this denomination became known as the 'groat'. Jan de Groot is buried in Canisbay churchyard where his tombstone can be seen, now moved to inside the entrance porch for protection against the weather. Over a period of time the name Jan de Groot has subsequently changed to John O'Groats"

The story of how John o' Groats got its name, taken from the visit John o' Groats website at http://www.visitjohnogroats.com/index.htm

Cognac, myself and Jez will be spending our first night at Sandy and Ron Barton B&B Bencorragh House, which is a working croft farm just 3 miles west of John o'Groats

Friday 22 June 2012

Equine Ramblers UK

http://www.equineramblersuk.co.uk/index.php

I just wanted to take a moment to thank Jenni at Equine Ramblers UK for her fantastic website which has been a fantastic resource for helping me plan my ride. I would recommend this site to anyone who is planning a long- distance horse ride in the UK, or if you are looking for a like minded riding partner local to where you live.

In their own words:
"Equine Ramblers UK exists to support and promote Long Distance non-competitive horse riding. First begun to create a network of Trail Partners UK wide that are available to help travelling long distance horse riders with local information on access and accommodation it now provides much more.
We love to peruse maps, research and plan routes, and ride them seeing the maps turn into three dimensions like a pop-up book. Our experience can help riders that are tired of riding in circles, or endurance speeds, get out into the countryside riding longer distances than a happy hacker. We want to promote the joy and freedom of improving the relationship with riders' horses as they partner their steeds through the roads, tracks and bridleways of the UK."

last minute preparations

Eric Gillie Horse Transport got in contact with me this morning to let me know that they were now going to pick Cognac up on Monday (I won't see him for FOUR days before we start our ride!). I was also contacted by Jane Hunt at the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, who is going to come along with a photograph to get some photos  off Cognac setting off for Scotland. I am also going to send an update each week, with a photo, of where Cognac and I are and how we are getting on. Jez and myself are planning to set off Tuesday morning on our 14 hour! drive to the top of Scotland. We are going to take our three man tent and will find somewhere to stop overnight. We are also thinking of stopping at some of the places I am planning to stay at on my ride to drop off some horse feed. We also had Duane the farrier tighten up the clenches on Cognac's shoes today, I am currently working out (trying to guesstimate!) where we will need to get new shoes fitted and trying to get some contacts for farriers in that area- farriers get booked up well in advance and have their regular clientele, but it is very difficult to know when Cognac's shoes will need replacing. I'd rather under- estimate than over- estimate as we can't get very far fast on worn or loose shoes!

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Cognac getting used to the tent.

Looks massive in this photo, but actually only big enough to lie down in. Weighs only 1kg.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Only two weeks until we set out for Scotland!

It seems to have come round so fast! I am eager to get going although a little apprehensive about Cognac travelling up the first few days, I'm sure it wont take long for us to settle into a routine once we get going.

Cognac saw Natalie the physio again yesterday, she used the H-wave machine on his back, just behind his saddle area, but overall said that he was good. She also showed me a few exercises and stretches I could do with him while out on our ride, to help loosen him up if he is feeling tired or stiff. One involves lifting up each foreleg in turn and stretching them first up, then forward, then down... another involved standing to one side of him and with my hand on top of this neck, gently rocking his neck towards me. I then work my way down towards his withers and as I reach his back, cupping my hand gently along his spine and rocking him towards me and then pushing him back with my belly, all the way down to his tail. He seems to enjoy this gentle stretch and  it makes him nice and relaxed. Natalie also suggested using a hot water bottle (wrapped in a towel) on his back/ pelvis area to help ease tired or tight muscles.

I've almost got all my equipment together for my ride now and I am hoping to do one last trial run with my saddle bags packed with the actual equipment we will be taking with us. I ordered Cognac's saddle blanket yesterday from an army surplus store and a couple of days ago I got a full length wax jacket that I tired in the saddle for the first time yesterday- just waiting for a really rainy day (maybe Friday) to carry out a rigorous rain check! Originally I wasn't going to take a wax jacket, as they are quite heavy, but my lightweight waterproofs have just not been up to the horrendous wind and rain that I have been riding in recently. It is very hard to thing straight and concentrate on map reading and looking after a horse when you are wet and cold and can't wait to get to your accommodation for the night. So I think the wax coat is the right choice to make.

I also payed up the full balance for Cognac's transport to Scotland with Eric Gillie Horse Transport. It is going to take him three days travelling to get there. I am slightly worried about him under- taking such a long journey without me- all I can think of is that he's going to think I've sold him! Although he travels well when we go to shows, he hasn't done a lot of travelling while I've had him and never without me there. I trust the transport company will look after him well and that they are professionals and have a lot of experience travelling horses the length and breadth of the country but... I won't be able to relax until I meet him safely at the other end.


Sunday 10 June 2012

EGB Fordingbridge Riding Club team endurance

Yesterday I headed over to The New Forest with the endurance team from Rogate and District Riding Club, there were four of us in the team, myself on Cognac, Dawn Knee on Derry, Oona Hickson on Aggie and Sharon Wright on Aisie. I was quite a drive over with the trailer and meant an early start all round. After a bad weather report luckily the weather managed to stay fairly dry while we got round. The going was really lovely, all 33km of it and It was really nice to finish the ride on the long, straight grassy stretches of the UK Chasers course.

After a bit of a hectic ride last time the endurance team headed out, we decided to split into two groups, so Cognac and I paired up with Dawn and Derry for the ride. Cognac was impeccably well behaved around the ride and returned to the venue still bouncing. As we took the horses down to the final vetting I thought we had a grade 1 in the bag, only for Cognac to throw a wobbly in front of the vet, which sent his heart rate rocketing and when we managed to hold him still long enough to get a pulse rate, it measured in at 60 bpm! So we finished with a completion but were un-graded.

Thank- you so much to Dawn for organising the team and all our entries, Shaun for driving us over (and holding Cognac for me when he was being a pain) and Paige for crewing and taking photos.




Wednesday 6 June 2012

Article in the Observer

Thank- you to Jane Hunt, for the wonderful article she wrote about the ride that appeared in the Midhurst/ Petworth and the Chichester Observer.
Also thank-you to the RDRC who have put a piece I wrote about the ride in their May newsletter, you can view this by clicking on the following link: http://www.rogaterc.co.uk/Newsletters/May%202012.pdf

NGS Open Gardens Day at Upwaltham Barns

After seeing the article on my ride in the Observer, Cognac and I were invited over to Upwaltham Barns (http://www.upwalthambarns-weddings.co.uk/home.html) to talk to people about the ride and to hopefully raise some sponsorship money. Upwaltham Barns is a wedding venue, made up of converted barns and surrounded by beautiful gardens, set in rolling downland.  Cognac and I rode over the day before, Cognac stayed in a field knee deep in grass and Jez and I camped in the field alongside him (we woke up in the morning to find he had cropped the grass surrounding the tent while we had slept) In the morning I tacked Cognac up, with his saddle bags on, and took him down to the main courtyard, where they were doing tea, coffee, cake and light lunches. Cognac was a good physical 'prop' and was impeccably behaved while everyone admired him and asked questions about his tack.
Thank- you to the Kersley family for having us over, especially thank- you to Sue for her wonderful cake!
While we were at Upwaltham, we decided to head 'just over the hill' to the Jubilee beacon lighting at The Nore, Eartham. So just as the sun was setting we set out, myself on Cognac and Jez on a bike, however we managed to get horribly lost in Eartham woods and probably criss- crossed back and forth for what felt like hours, frustratingly we could hear the laughter and could see flickers of the light at times through the trees, but all the paths seemed to lead around it and we only seemed to go around it. When we finally got there, everyone had cleared off home! and the few people who were still there as they were camping that night, where rather bemused to see a horse appear out of the woods! The view from the top of the Nore was (almost!!) worth the journey and we could Cognac cast a pretty picture in the light of the beacon, looking out to the coast. We stayed long enough for Cognac to graze and to have a glass of wine. I had a good chat with Sophie, who was very interested in our ride as she had ridden all her life until moving to London and said that as a child she has taken donkeys to France and they had trekked over 100 miles!

Pub Ride

Cognac and I rode to Upwaltham Barns for the NGS open garden days that they had at the weekend. On the way over we stopped at a few pubs, The Keepers Arms in Trotton, The Hamilton Arms in Stedham and The Half Moon in Midhurst. We had a good chat with the landlady at the Keepers Arms, who thought Cognac was beautiful and is planning to put up tie rings outside the pub for horses. We also got a good contact from Rachel Helmore, who recommended I get hold of Robin and Louella Hanbury Tension, who own three holiday cottages near Bodmin Moor, Cornwall (www.cabilla.co.uk) and are two of the founders of the long riders guild and who have under-taken many long- distance expeditions and also written books about their travels. At the Hamilton Arms we met a very friendly cat, who scared me by walking straight underneath Cognac's legs and rubbing his head on the back of one of his front legs! Luckily cognac stood stock still while we ushered the cat out from between his legs! We will be back over to the Hamilton Arms on the 16th June, when Cognac and I are leading a 10 mile social ride around Stedham and Iping Commons ( email katlittle@aol.com to book a place). Finally we headed over to the Half Moon in Midhurst, when we had a very warm welcome from the staff and all the customers, with Cognac receiving carrots, a bucket of water and lots of attention! We were offered lots of helpful advice from the locals, regarding promoting the ride and local companies to contact for sponsorship and we also received donations for the ride. Thank- you to everyone!!