Old Horse - New tricks: The first Ride.  If you had told me five years ago that I would be navigating my way around the Essex countryside whilst on horseback I would have scoffed at the idea. But my retired Arabian gelding and I were now doing just that. I had been coerced into entering our first ever six mile pleasure ride, and despite having over twenty years of experience with horses, up until then I had never ridden over a long distance. As we pulled into a large and open field strewn with horseboxes and trailers of every kind, I could feel my anxiety rise. The sun was out and the day looked promising despite the threat of rain on the horizon. Apollo (my horse) was neighing wildly in the back of the horse box as we swayed to our parking space. My partner and two young girls were laughing their way through the noise of the radio. I, on the other hand sat wondering whether the intensity of Apollo's neighing would reflect his mood for the entire six miles. We parked the horse box safely, and I teetered over to the entry table to receive my orange competitors bib and emergency tags - Just incase I fell off my horse apparently. "Great" I thought. As I looked back toward where we had parked, the enormity of what I had set myself dawned on me. I scanned the vast, green pasture in a mix of fear and awe, the hustle and bustle of the atmosphere, contagious. An air of excitement and trepidation filled my lungs. People from all walks of life were chatting here and there, immersing themselves in the adrenaline of endurance riding. Horses could be heard neighing and snorting; riders were being hitched up onto their mounts as they jogged along in anticipation. One lady inparticular could be heard screaming, "hey, don't do that, wait for me" as her horse pulled her across the ground with exuberance. It was organised chaos and I already knew I had caught the bug! Finally we were off; alone in the rural landscape with far reaching views and stubble underfoot. I could not help myself but to let out a little squeal of excitement when we were far enough out of earshot. the noise of horses and humans gave way to the hum of nature. Birds could be heard gently singing their mid-summer song, a tractor in a field farther away, was rumbling in tune with Apollo's foot falls as we trotted up a gentle incline at the edge of a hedge-lined stubble field. It felt liberating; I felt free! The ride was a mixture of stubble fields and tracks that wound through a small copse. At one point we were riding along the edge of an air field as gliders breezed by. The entire ride was calm and consistently beautiful. The sun shone, the ground was good and we both smiled the whole way. Me; my horse and a map (and lots of arrows)! I would highly recommend it and Apollo and I will definitely be pleasure riding again. Love and light Claire x |
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