Wipe that stupid grin off your face...

I can't.

You see, we went out on a two hour hack at Craigengellan Estate yesterday.

I think the wind must have changed in the middle of one of the dozen or so canters that we had across fields and through woodland tracks, and that excitement and exhilaration got smacked onto my face so firmly that it it's here for at least the whole week.

The smile will not budge. My friends and I had such stupid grins on our faces on the drive back home, we probably looked like we were a more than a little drunk.

Tearing across fields on the back of a horse is surely up there as one of the most incredible things that you can experience in a lifetime. The fact that you can book in to do it all again whenever you like - or can afford to - is just odd, kind of like buying happiness of sorts. They say money can't do that, but I suspect any horse owner knows that this is not an entirely truthful fact.

I feel incredibly lucky to be comfortably off enough to afford this pleasure, if not a horse....although I will keep on buying the lottery tickets in hope.

Happy hacking

Travelled down Ayrshire way again last weekend for some hacking fun with my friend Jane. Two hours in the Craigengellan Estate, me on Freddy Jane on Norman.....Norman, what were they thinking when they named a horse Norman?

the handsome old boy Freddy

Our lead horse was a mare Lucy, who had been out of work for about six years foaling, and since her return is a little bit wired. She has quite a pace on her and Ros's Mum said she would only take her out with more experienced riders (!?!) as she can be a little unpredictable.

'Wow, us experienced' I thought....it was nice not to be referred to as a novice rider for a change, gave us both a much needed confidence boost. It is all in the mind this horse riding mullarkey, I am more and more convinced of that all the time.

Lucy set a crazy pace even at a walk, and Norman was hot on her heels and Freddy shaking off his twenty two years and keeping up with the speedy duo on all but the most stretched out canter. Actually I am pretty sure Norman was galloping briefly and so would Freddy had I let him. You are only as young as you feel, you know, once an eventer, always an eventer!

We came back exhausted and on a massive high....this, my friends, is what it is all about.

Hacks, Bits and Bridles



Sunny glasgow suburbs at 7am



Glorious city sunshine at 7am, perfect start to a day which had me visiting my new horse friend Merlin for a little hack. It was to be our second encounter today so I hot footed it out or suburbia to ayrshire and by 8am was in the countryside and wondering at how perfect everything looks in early morning sun.

sunny Ayrshire countryside at 8am

I am not yet at the stage where I have felt anywhere near comfortable enough to take my phone out of my pocket and fiddle around for my camera app while riding him, but I took a couple of snaps on the way along the road  and have to share the gorgeous sunshine we enjoyed. It should be known that  these pictures could be a little deceptive. We consistently get our summer in Scotland for around two weeks at the start of May so if you are ever visiting our fair and green land make sure it is in this month  - we are just as consistently and then drenched in rain for the rest of the Summer!

Hello horses....neither of them Merlin, just passing by....

The hacking route we follow is all at walk and trot on very quiet roads, and although his owner is known to make the most of a grassy verge for a canter on him, my head is not, indeed may never be, in that place. For us instead it is a relatively relaxed (as much as you can be on a strange and big horse) affair at a slow steady pace and thankfully with company to bolster confidence.

Today we got on well, Merlin and I, with me having adjusted to his little ways with the bit.  Last week I read the fidgeting and head tossing as highly strung, but today I mellowed as I realised he needed a lot of leg to keep moving, and thought 'ok, its just a habit' so ignored it and relaxed. It seemed to pay off and we had a nice time leading me to think that maybe next week I would be brave enough to take him out on my own.

Having said that I am a bit green, so this evening while writing this post I thought more about his fidgeting at the bit and decided to google the type of bridle , a gag snaffle which looks like the English Gag Snaffle in this article under the section on 'Elevator or Gag Bit'. I knew nothing about these until now - perhaps not that surprising as they are not at all common - but it seems that this type of bit is generally used only for very strong horses, pullers or those with evasion issues. I need to find out more how long he has worn it and why.  And more importantly, in the hands of a novice - I wouldn't claim to be anything but - is it a problem?

Return of the Happy Hacker

Finally today, after many months of 'thinking about it' I made it out today on a hack. This is a big moment and marks the return of the happy hacker.

You see for many years hacking was horse riding to me...the schooling stuff was a means to an end, thing that just happened the weeks in between ..... I swear I learned to canter while out pony trekking, with a yell over a shoulder of 'just hang on to the front of the saddle and you'll be fine'. It was not a collected composed experience, and I am sure I am still trying to right bad habits in the school learned through just getting on with it in big open spaces.


photo by Graham Lewis on Flickr
Creative Commons 2.0

 As a child I lived for a few years in Oban in Argyll. We spent a lot of time driving the hundred miles back and forth to Glasgow so that less adapted family could get a fix of city life.

Not for me the city (in those days)  I spent the long drive back to Oban gazing out the window fixated with the countryside.

The drive up to Argyll is dramatic and beautiful, changing through hills and forests to bare hillsides of falling shale where trees had been felled. The whole drive the eight year old me imagined myself riding, as we whizzed past the fields and the fences, I saw every inch of the landscape was there to be ridden in my imagination - cantering across, ditches, fences, my mind raced on horseback the whole journey back home. Hacking held no fear in those days.

Then things changed. I had my incident on the flighty racehorse many years back, and stayed away from horses a long while after. When I came back to riding a couple of years ago, all I wanted to do was go on a hack, still no real sense of fear. But when I finally did all changed.

The minute we got into an open field and somewhere in my subconscious, everything to do with Sam, that feeling of no control came back to me. A switch flicked, the colour drained from my face and my seat became electric. Needless to the sense of alarm in my whole body quickly got through to the horse, and I had a hack fraught with bucking, bolting and unplanned gallops. That was a year ago and I rode the painful journey back to the stables, my hands blistered with the battle of wills that had ensued, dismounted with relief to have my life in my hands. I swore as I sat quaking for 2 hours afterwards I would be happy never to go out on a hack again in my life.


Craigengillan Horses

Well the eight year old girl inside me just wouldn't let it lie, not at all happy with the notion that you could close that happy chapter.

Today marks the moment when the return of the childhood exhilaration of horse riding in through the open country, either in reality of just imagined, was once again tangible.

The scenery was wonderful through my beautiful Craigengillan Estate. My trusty stead, Trio, a beautiful grey, in need of just the right amount of encouragement to keep up as we cantered through the woodland path and only got slightly twitchy at a creaking tree - isn't it peculiar the things that set them off ? And so with delight my riding friend Jane and I will make the short jaunt to Craigengellan again for great riding, lovely scenery and good natured horses again, very, very soon!

Hacking in Scotland in January...

I haven't yet got back into the way of realising that I currently only ride once a week, which is not enough.

I was thinking that perhaps it is time for a hack, and wondering whether to head across the city to my old riding ground of Easterton Stables in Mugdock Country Park, or should it be down the coast to Ayrshire Equitation Centre.

Then I checked the weekend forecast for Glasgow .....25mph winds and rain. Fair weather rider that I am, that idea is going on ice for a couple of weeks!