The Great Clydesdale Migration
I've just had the most amazing weekend of my life, i got to be a part of The Great Clydesdale Migration! My friend Annie has had Clydesdales on the Isle of Skye for almost as long as i've been going on holiday there, it started with two, then went to three, then she started to let people ride them and since then she's had more Clydesdales than i can remember the names of. Anyway her and her partner Tim were getting a crap deal with the estate where they kept the horses so they found a place in Cumbria where they'd have a much better place and hopefully more all year business with not being in such a remote place as Skye. They were due to move to the new place in October and Annie being Annie decided to move in style, this involved cutting the journey into sections of three or four days at a time and letting people ride the horses to their new home. Definitely a one off opportunity that i just couldn't miss, especially having known her for so long. I booked onto leg 6 which was a three day ride from West Linton to Ettrickbridge stopping at Peebles and Traquair along the way.
On the first day we were led by Annie on Tommy (the ASBO horse) i was riding Sparky who's a friendly and brave young horse, the first day was mostly through farm land with beautiful weather and scenery. We started the day in style being met by three little icelandic ponies from the local riding stables, they took us at a canter past their stables and back towards the pub we had spent the night in, past the pub we came to a ford which they cantered through and we went through at a slightly more sedate pace as we were the ones that would have to spend all day with wet feet and trousers if we splashed about too much. We stopped for lunch on a track near a farm which was very muddy but had grass for the horses and a big trough of water for them. Our accomodation was at the very nice Lyne farm where we were made incredibly welcome. By the time we got there i had realised the enormity of what i has signed myself up for, i class myself as a fairly experienced rider but as i've been riding since the age of 6 riding schools have become very boring and monotonous and i've been so spoilt by the horses and the beautiful riding on Skye that i only ever ride when i'm there which is for a few weeks of the year. Therefore, i was very unfit horse-riding-wise and was in a lot of pain by the time i got off that evening, i had a hot bath after tea and that seemed to dull the aches and i was fine to get back on Sparky the next day.
The second day was again led by Annie on Tommy and consisted of mostly sunny weather, clouding over but not raining, we started by fording the river Tweed which was interesting... then spending a fair amount of time on minor roads to get round Peebles. We had lunch in a handy field and let the horses have a wander. Then we set off into woods and moorland and up onto what i'll describe as a mountain, i wouldn't have enjoyed walking up something that steep but luckily Sparky seemed raring to go, we found the highest point and stopped for a photo then began our seemingly endless search for a gate in the fence that had appeared next to us to block our progress. We all got quieter and quieter as we realised how far back we would have to go if we gave up our search for the gate. At last we were successful and headed down through farmland to Traquair. After a seemingly endless trot that caused a few of us quite a bit of pain we descovered we were on the wrong side of a large river to where the horses over night accomodation was, we decided that insted of going all the way round the road to the nearest bridge we'd just go straight through the river (why not?) none of the horses seemed at all bothered by this (they must have been with Annie long enough to expect anything) after a wonderful if not painful canter across a field on the opposite side we arrived at the horses field, dismounted, untacked and headed off to find what turned out to be an incredibly posh B&B for the night. We headed out to the local pub for dinner at 8 which was very nice, starter main and pudding i'm such a pig! Then back to the hotel for a fairly early night, after two hot baths and two lots of asprin to ease the aches i slept extremely well.
The third day was led by Tim on Gertie and i was riding Max (my favourite) as it was Sparky’s well earned day off. We reforded the river and headed up into some beautiful woodland, after an invigorating canter we headed up a very steep track and out on to the moorland above that was covered in thick fog (or low lying cloud) but luckily it was neither cold nor raining. After some time we descended through a dirt bike track to Yarrow. In Yarrow we stopped by a large field while Tim spoke to a man on a quad bike who came across the field towards us, after a few minutes we were given use of the field for the horses to have a break and all the humans (and bennydog) were invited into the village hall for tea and coffee and cake by some ladies who swore they didn’t know we were coming. It was the perfect example of Borders hospitality. After that we caught our horses (some quicker than others as Max suddenly decided that the grass on the far side of the field looked much nicer than where he was) we re-saddled and headed up through more woodland and over a ford towards a place called Black Andrew. The first place signed as ‘Black Andrew’ turned out to be a house so we stopped and asked for directions before retracing our steps back towards the ford and taking a right. We left the woods and climbed up onto the moor in much the same way as we had in the morning. After stopping for Tim to do a bit of DIY horse shoeing for Ben (while the rest of us ate cake) we descended through the woods that loomed up before us out of the fog. Once back on surfaced roads we picked up some speed which all my aches protested to and after a long walk along a farm track we passed my mum and dad (proof we were nearing our destination). We passed right by a house where the lady had taken the day off work to see the horses and had been walking round the village because she didn’t know which way we’d be coming. We then forded yet another river (only a small one this time) crossed the road opposite and headed up a farm road to meet the rest of the migration people and horses. After giving the horses their food the people that were leaving said their goodbyes and the people that were carrying on or just staying the night were taken to the local pub to get settled into their rooms. I met up with mum and dad and we walked to the pub to have some food before heading home, we were joined about half an hour later by Annie, Tim, Fraser, Dana and Bennydog and a little while after that by the rest of the riders so we got to have a chat with them before leaving. Didn’t get home until gone midnight but I didn’t have and uni the next day so I just dropped my horsy clothes at mum and dads (because Barry’s allergic) before going back to the flat.
Here’s a link to the few photo’s a took:
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/numfar_uk/album?.dir=adf2re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/numfar_uk/my_photos
Definitly the most amazing experience of my life, can't wait for the 'Exploring the Borders' trips that Tim and Annie are talking about doing.
Will update about the final leg party once i've uploaded my photo's.
Cate.