Having had a fab hack racing Frankel cob in the sun a day
before, I was genuinely hungry for a Common Riding experience, and it really
helped to take the edge off any nerves I had. I was to be riding to what was
officially labelled the hottest day of the year so far. My jacket was
definitely not coming with me this evening, even though it contained my hip
flask/Dutch courage!
My friend and I arrived early, so we had time to chat and
meet the locals. We met a bunch of ladies that were running the Common Ride
route with us. Yes, you have read that correctly – they were RUNNING it! We
also met a bunch of folk in lycra on bikes were cycling the route. Given that I
knew before we started that it was a mountainous route and it was 27oC, I
thought they were mad! Mind you, they probably looked at us and thought we were
mad to trust a live animal, rather than just relying on their feet or their
bike. Horses for courses and all that!
Mounting up is one of my least favourite things about
riding. One of worst injuries I’ve ever had was from falling off when mounting.
(The horse moved, so I went up one side and right down over the other). Abbie
hadn’t stood still at the first Common Ride, and the YO said no horse ever does
when out. This time however, I had to mount her from a wall, but once on the
wall I also had to move along. I’m terrified of heights, and was so nervous of
walking the wall, I never really noticed mounting. Abbie also stood still this
time – what a mare! I was the first person mounted up too, and it gave me time
to trot Abbie to check the stirrups. They were even, but while I can hack at
that length, I recalled the discomfort of not being able to take the light seat
in the same way due to stirrup length on ride one. I put a loop in the
leathers, and immediately I felt secure and happy, though clearly I wouldn’t be
winning any dressage awards. Today was all about safe fun though, and I don’t
think I can quite explain how those stirrups soothed me (much like I lack the
words to convey quite how they had the opposite effect on my first Common
Ride).
My friend’s mount, Nonny, was being a pain so she took him
off into town with the horses that passed. I waited until the other horses from
our lorry were leaving, but that left just me and the Official Party – The Herald
on Hugo, and all his elected compatriots on Buddy, Lucky, Gem and Sophie. We
were the last horses to join the waiting hoards, and it felt rather nice to
walk into town with them.
The Herald blasted his horn, signalling our departure, and
off we went through the town’s market square and high street. There were a lot
of folk in the streets to greet us, and I enjoyed the walk and trot through the
crowds in the sunshine. My friend and I ended up beside the ex-Herald as we
waited for our police escort: I took the chance to ask him about the ride
route, and he told me that apart from the 15mins to get out of town and back
in, this Common Ride had not a drop of road-work in it. That made me nervous,
as it likely meant lots of canters, but I knew that if I did enjoy this Common
Ride, then that would become retrospective music to my ears.
Me and Abbie leaving town to start the ride:
True to the former-Herald’s word, no sooner were we out of
town and a little uphill than we turned onto a grassy track, and left any road
work behind for another 2.5hrs. In my last ride, I felt like all I needed was
one speedy field gallop to really reassure myself that my stirrups were my
problem, and not my mind. At the end of this track, we entered a field, and ran
a slightly uphill straight line after the gate. Once getting onto the flat of
the field, Abbie took off, and we went faster than we ever did on our first
ride (or so it felt). I was grinning and whooping: this is the feeling that I had
been waiting for – the deep thrill of going fast, the sun on our backs, the
wind in our hair, Abbie not worrying about me on her back and me not worried
about staying on hers. On my first ride, almost every time I turned to my
friend after a gallop, I was at least partly forcing a smile. This time I was
like the Cheshire Cat with my grin, and gave the thumbs up. This Common Riding malarkey
really would be fun!
The ride we were on is one of the least expensive that the
yard offers each year, normally an indication that it’s short and boring (some
of the cheapies are literally only walk and trot). This ride was SO much better
than the price reflected: almost every field we entered, we cantered on it,
even if it was only short due to a change of gradient. Judging by the tracker,
it was over a dozen canters or gallops, and the waits in-between were never too
long. That’s as many as one of the biggest, fastest, and more expensive rides
of the summer!
I developed this theory the other day of why I might get a
bit nervous out Common Riding. When learning to drive or even riding my bike to
class at Uni, I always panicked if I had to take a route that I couldn’t
picture every single turn off, roundabout and set of lights on: I like to know
what is happening and when. For parts of CR 1, I was amidst the Official Party –
there were as few as 6 horses ahead of me. I decided on this ride that despite
having to adjust Abbie a lot in walk and trot to do it, that I was sitting at
least a quarter of the ride in; I wanted to see where gallops started and ended
before I did them, so I could always prepare for changing gear, and any changes
in the ground. I definitely felt better with a bit of pre-warning on this ride,
but a sign of a gallop did not come with the nerves (or an ambulance) like last
time – I cheered every time I saw them take off, and looked forward to every
bit of speed work. I cannot explain how good it felt to finally experience a
Common Ride the way I’d imagined them: like all the best bits of a hack, but
with a better view and more fields. This was living up to my expectations and
more besides!
The ride was full of fields, pasture and meadows; I’m
struggling to recall any landmarks to recall in order to serialise the ride in
my mind. (The helmet cam video does suffer a little compared to my first video
because there is less noticeable variety). There were however still some really
noticeable parts for me. I was always careful to find a balance between
steering Abbie, and then letting her follow her feet on the safest path once we
opened up. Only once did I fail to make a decision: we had a hummock of tall
grass in front of us, and I knew Abbie wouldn’t let her feet touch it. I was
prepared to go right of it, or go over, and wouldn’t you know it – my little horse
jumped it! Clever girl, and it was the easiest solution to ride too. There were
also a lots of canters, especially later on, when my little horse’s fitness
showed. Even people’s TBs were winding down at the end, and my little coloured
horse was cantering past them up a hill, while they were breathing heavily in a
trot. I could see the looks – she packs a surprising punch does Abbie!
I feel that I also have to take a moment to try and convey
the beauty of the scenery we were in. We’d seen or travelled through hay
fields, pastures, wild meadows, wooded paths, heathery hillsides, distant mountains
and valleys in a blue haze from the sun, an ancient tower (where we had our
break), and a quaint town too. The sunshine made everything glorious, and the
distant hot air balloon look like it had a view to rival ours. The whole
setting was immeasurably beautiful, and I enjoyed the quiet moments to absorb
all sights, sounds and smells at walk, just as I loved the thrill of the
canters and gallops. The ride was a beautiful balance of exhilaration and
stunningly serenity in these beautiful surroundings.
Me and Abbie walking downhill for the gallop to the tower:
Getting back to the actual riding, I also got the confidence
to kick Abbie on later in the ride: she was keen and taking me along everywhere,
but wasn’t as fast as the first field. I put my leg on and she bounced into
life; it was like she said “You want fast? I’ll give you FAST!” She started to
over-take horses that had over-taken her earlier, and I regretted not finding
this 6th gear earlier. She did not lose her head at this pace either
– the speed did not blow her brain. On the final gallop a horse beside me
napped at the gate, and I got pushed into the left and my stirrup nearly came
off. Abbie felt me wiggle my foot to try and get it onto the ball of my foot
and she immediately slowed to look after me. When I had it back, Abbie sped up
and ran that last field like it was her first. I’d accidentally got a group
ahead of my friend as well, as she’d been chatting to someone behind me, and my
little horse was marching every walk and trot to go up the queue. She said she
I looked like I’d properly gone for it, and Abbie looked rapid. Sadly my
tracker had a technical fault and didn’t record the ride details, but my friend’s
maximum speed was 26 miles/hr and that was on the last gallop. Having seen me,
she thinks I went faster than her wee TB as I had got myself the space! I
really hope it doesn’t fail next time: I’d love to see what Abbie does J We also cover more
than 13miles in all too.
I have to say, I’d recommend this ride to anyone wanting to
try them out be they local or visiting the Borders – it’s safe enough for a
novice, but enough going on to make more seasoned riders happy too. All the
canters and gallops were either uphill, on a level, or on almost negligible descending
gradients. The ground was wonderful, and there was space to over-take safely.
My only issue was on a 3-part hill where I got boxed in by unfit horses, and
they all broke into trot whereas Abbie was fit enough to canter it all. I did
however catch up with the visually impaired rider on my yard’s mare Whisperer
at this point: the girl she had set off with and who I had assumed was her
guide was no longer with her. She was doing this ride completely on her own as
it were! Whisperer is a kind, steady horse that can be held for gates, and will
follow the herd rather than take a short-cut that allows her to pull-up. Even so,
this woman’s independent riding was fantastic; if it wasn’t for the folded
cane, I wouldn’t have known she was VI. I noticed her in the photos of a Common
Ride last week – one of the fastest of the year. So, not only is she Common
Riding on a horse she hires rather than owns, she’s doing the advanced rides
too. I’d have taken my hat off to her if I could have! (You can see her on the
dark bay in the video in front of me, exactly 7mins in).
Abbie lost a shoe about 5mins after the last canter, and
about 15mins away from the ride’s end. Good timing on her part! I’d have been
worried about making her foot-sore galloping her on it, even though we were
always on grass. I spent a lot of the descent into town thinking about how
awesome she had been. When I asked her to start transitioning down to trot
earlier than the riders around me, she quickly obeyed without a fight. While
she got excited at every gate, I could hold her with the merest squeeze of
contact; equally, when the gates were wider and there was space, she happily
and safely cantered me through them and turned. She steadied up when I almost
lost my stirrup, she was exquisite downhill (L has prepared me well with the awful
hill we go down on our hack), she stood still to mount, and she didn’t
headshake much at all, even though there were lots of flies! I swatted lots off
her, and she only ever cow-kicked when we were on the break, to keep them away.
She also nibbled my toes – I like to think she was telling me to do a better
job of keeping the flies off her sides and rump too and not just her head and
neck, rather than telling me to get off! She also covered the ground on the way
down – we were the first horse in line after the Official Party and lead
Marshal for the closing ceremony, having been 100 horses back only 15mins
earlier. She took some adjusting though, as the lead horses are from our yard
and she wanted to be with them. She did settle though, and was amazing behind
the pipe band. I only wish I’d caught that bit on camera too!
One thing I should add: I only found out last week that when
I took Abbie to Lanark, this was only ever her 2nd ever Common Ride,
and it was her first in 2013. She came to the yard as an Irish 4yr old last
summer, and only did the last Common Ride of the year. This makes her calmness,
her manners at gates, her ability to run in fields with sheep and cows in them,
and willingness to walk behind a pipeband all the more remarkable. (She had a
good old nosy at the ‘cowboy’ horses though, herding loose animals away from
us). She has a brain that is mature beyond her age or Common Riding experience;
this ride was about her 5th of the season now, and she really feels
like a veteran. Round of applause for my little hoss please!
So, that’s pretty much it. I was the first person back at
the lorry, and was delighted that it meant Abbie got some water sooner than
everyone else. Endomondo has recorded the length of the ride, and it was 3hrs
11mins in the sun; gosh had Abbie earned that bucket! I also gave her lots of
polos, and as many cuddles as I could squeeze in before she was loaded. She had
been everything I needed and more; I love the bloody bones of her!
This Common Ride was also a decider of whether I went Common
Riding on the ‘yard’ ride next Tuesday. I knew it was going to be a faster
ride, but hadn’t realised it was a mid-week version of the town’s Saturday
ride, which my yard website describes as being for ‘the fast and furious’. LD,
a ride leader, promised me that I wouldn’t do a death, and I now feel ready to
take it on, rather than swap my deposit to a gentler ride. It will test my
boundaries a bit, but I know where I am on Abbie’s stirrup leathers now, I am
on a horse that is totally adjustable, and if there was a stupidly fast
downhill sections (my idea of hell), then I could bring Abbie back to trot,
worst coming to the worst. I’ll have my friend for company and support, and my
wee superstar horse to keep me right. So what’s to worry about… right?! :D
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