Some Comments and a Report from the Riders 2010
To
“It was very well marked, and very professionally managed on the day, yes the tracks were hard in some places, but the organisers cannot be blamed for that!”
“We had a fantastic day and even managed to see the fantastic views. The new venue was a huge improvement and the weather was much better than last year.”
“I enjoyed my 40km ride and did not find it too hot. There was a brisk breeze on the moors which was lovely.”
“Many thanks to Sylvia, Karen and their team. You had obviously worked hard to find a good venue and to improve the route”
“I too enjoyed the 40 km ride and the views were fantastic”
“there was a lovely breeze so it didn’t feel so hot”
“New venue is terrific....all that space!! “
“forest tracks were great”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the 26km ride”
“I enjoyed the 2kms out onto the moors and back again.“
“The going was great and we cantered most of it"
“It is a very challenging route”
“this is a championship course and should present a challenge to the endurance combination.”
EXCELLENT ELEPHANT TREES
What a difference a year makes! Last year thick mist, this year hot & sunny, plus we could enjoy the great views.
We loved the new venue, Douglas in particular enjoyed a speedy start & finish. We have not done much riding lately thanks to my trip to A&E (not a riding accident) strapped to a spinal board. CAT scans & Xrays revealed no nasty injuries just concussion which left me with vertigo for a few weeks & still no idea of exactly what happened. Sensibly I did not ask when it was OK to ride again! I had to wear anti travel sickness bands in the car & on horseback for about 6 weeks. I did not do much riding especially as I did not have the mental energy to “be an effective leader”, Douglas loved that & went back to doing his “own thing”, lots of head tossing & pirouettes!! We let Douglas dictate walk v trot as we were unsure just how fit the old boy was....silly us he was just as fit as ever!
Compared to last year there were plenty of barefoot friendly forest tracks & it was all nicely marked so we did not waste time map reading. The moorland section on the 25km route was not canter friendly much to Douglas’ disgust. Douglas was a bit puzzled by all the sunbathing stewards we came across, kept him on his toes! We were pleased the talk round had warned us about the “blasted heath” area, Douglas delicately picked his way across it, and the rather boggy bits that followed on the uphill bridleway. It was getting hotter & I was worried we had bitten off more than we could chew but the tracks after CP3/4 seemed to be cooler & Douglas chose to canter along the verges, ears pricked, it felt really good. There was another of those “improved tracks” we hate but we mooched along, at least it had views & we knew there were the lovely fields at the end. We had a slosh on our return to CP3/4,that perked the ponies up, many thanks for having water at the check point; an exciting canter downhill on the track through the fields after CP3/4 on a reinvigorated pony.
As soon as we hit the tarmac after the forest car park Douglas was bouncing, looking for the turn to home! It was lovely to feel his long trot stride on the nice woodland track & know just how much he enjoys his rides, Darna, too, happily following & just as eager to canter home across those fields.
Thank you to Sylvia & Karen, plus their army of helpers for a lovely well marked ride.
Ed & Laura-Jane Macholc
