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

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.

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.

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

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!

Cognac getting used to the tent.

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