Long distance riding

Native Lover

Native Lover

Native Pony Fan
Jul 13, 2009
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Lincolnshire,wheres the hills?
stores.shop.ebay.co.uk
Now I have gotten the hacking but I want to start thinking about a long held dream of mine which is t d some longer distance riding either long weekends away too full weeks of day long rides and either camping or staying over in a hired horsebox.

I would also like to know if anybody else would be interested in doing this??? and how I go about getting me and the ponies ready for this.... anybody have any ideas how you would begin too think about doing this

:D come on ladies ideas please...anybody got any books on on this?

Anybody interested in joining me on a ride or planning one ??? LOL
 
I've done a 2 day ride and stayed out overnight in a horse b and b (well horses stayed at someones yard in a field overnight and they gave us a lift to the local pub and then picked us back up in the morning and took us back to our horses).

I'm really hoping to do a bit of 'wild camping' with my girl in the forests around here, using a highline for her and a hammock for me. Lots of people in the USA seem to do this, although they tend to have designated 'horse campsites' and use their trailers to sleep in.
 
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I am on another forum and always reading about there adventures but it doesnt seem as common in this country.... this is my goal too start getting fitter doing LDR then camp out over night with my ponies.

I have read about the high lining and such and want too learn to train mine to do this....

No Angel did you have a list of equipment you took with you???
 
It's awesome :D I would definitely recommend it, I feel it's really changed mine and Jess's relationship for the better and it's great going new places and for me I enjoy the planning too, oh the lists, I love lists :oops::p
There are some really good web sites out there which can help you pick routes, emagin is really helpful and covers the whole country, planning your own route in an area you don't know can be pretty hard work and you have to be prepared for access to have changed when you get there and be pretty handy with a map to find an alternative route. It depends if you plan to do loops back to a set camp or a progressive ride, I'm hoping to do some where I carry all the gear I need and wild camp on the route (I'm not really crazy) so far I've only done it supported by my mum with a truck setting up camp for us each night.
I'm planning to ride from the north coast of wales to the south coast next year (the great dragon ride), hopefully SJP1 will be coming too, it will be about a month all told including the days off and travelling :D Then I want to do coast to coast across Scotland too. I was meant to be finishing up my big ride from this summer next weekend, 50 miles over 3 days, which is easy going, but I've postponed it after an awful week last week, I'm now hoping to do it for the new year as I have a week off work.
I'm very lucky to be right on the edge of thetford forest (56,000 acres) so we can easily do many day rides with very little road work which is great for training, if you could get here you'd be very welcome :) More than happy to talk lists and 'the things I can't do without' too :D
 
I had about 2 A4 pages of stuff I took with me, granted I didn't use half of it, but it was there 'just in case'.

We had 2 saddle bags each (pommel and cantle bags) and shared the stuff between us. Main things I took were first aid kit, hoof picks, clothes for me, feed for him and lots of water bottles. I planned my routes so we would go past streams and fords so horses could drink on route.

This is the boy and me ready to set off :D
 
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Jessey said:
It's awesome :D I would definitely recommend it, I feel it's really changed mine and Jess's relationship for the better and it's great going new places and for me I enjoy the planning too, oh the lists, I love lists :oops::p
There are some really good web sites out there which can help you pick routes, emagin is really helpful and covers the whole country, planning your own route in an area you don't know can be pretty hard work and you have to be prepared for access to have changed when you get there and be pretty handy with a map to find an alternative route. It depends if you plan to do loops back to a set camp or a progressive ride, I'm hoping to do some where I carry all the gear I need and wild camp on the route (I'm not really crazy) so far I've only done it supported by my mum with a truck setting up camp for us each night.
I'm planning to ride from the north coast of wales to the south coast next year (the great dragon ride), hopefully SJP1 will be coming too, it will be about a month all told including the days off and travelling :D Then I want to do coast to coast across Scotland too. I was meant to be finishing up my big ride from this summer next weekend, 50 miles over 3 days, which is easy going, but I've postponed it after an awful week last week, I'm now hoping to do it for the new year as I have a week off work.
I'm very lucky to be right on the edge of thetford forest (56,000 acres) so we can easily do many day rides with very little road work which is great for training, if you could get here you'd be very welcome :) More than happy to talk lists and 'the things I can't do without' too :D
Click to expand...

WOW some others have the same interests I have wanted t do this for years but had to conqouer fears first.... this next spring I am going too plan something for me and Evas and going too beg borrow and steal the equipment I need to carry everything I need for an over night stop in the wild camping :) any help and advice would be most welcome :) saves me making basic mistakes ..... I am at a time in my life when I can do this... my children are grown and now I am getting the confidence t ride even busier roads on a good pony.... so the time is now..I don't have loads of money due to keeping my herd going but I am sure I can do this n a shoe string budget and sell stuff to fund my trips :)
 
It's not too expensive to do, I don't have transport so that's the expensive bit for me. I've struggled finding info on permission for wild camping, lots of routes (in England) don't permit it but I've found on major routes generally have farmers and yards along the way willing to let you set up camp for a few quid.
I have to admit I brought quite a bit of gear, but most of it was cheap off ebay, I just got little bits at a time over 6 months so it wasn't too painful.
 
No_Angel said:
I had about 2 A4 pages of stuff I took with me, granted I didn't use half of it, but it was there 'just in case'.

We had 2 saddle bags each (pommel and cantle bags) and shared the stuff between us. Main things I took were first aid kit, hoof picks, clothes for me, feed for him and lots of water bottles. I planned my routes so we would go past streams and fords so horses could drink on route.

This is the boy and me ready to set off :D
Click to expand...


First off you both look great

I wuld have to keep carry stuff too a minimum till I lose a few more stones...but maybe my OH would take stuff in the car this first year...with the aim of completely doing it on my own the following year :D I have lost 2 1/2 stone but need too lose more yet but working on it...... I am going to see what I can find out that I need minimum for a small trip away :D ... excited now :)
 
One added bonus of all the training we did in prep for our 130 miler (that was the planned distance sadly we couldn't finish) was that I lost weight and got much fitter :D
My basic carry list is;
Bridle
Saddle & sheepskin pad
Girth & sheepskin sleeve
Cavallo boots
GPS watch
Map
Camera (can't forget to get pics for NR)
Snacks and drinks
First aid
Survival bracelet (as an emergency bridle, rein, stirrup leather etc)
Hoof pick
Mobile
Waterproofs
Fold up Bucket (I'm sure we can scrounge water if we need to)
 
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ebay,prelooved and online bargains will serve me well..... I am hoping me and Eva will have an even better relationship than we aleady do.... I doont mine roughing it fr a few days says the ex biker/rock chick from days away camping at bike meets lol I can now plan to do the same on horseback :) I am going to aim to do my first ride in May should be a bit warmer by them and gives me months to organise and get us both fitter :) and start collecting the gear I need :)

Thank you ladies I will be picking booth your brains along the way :D
 
Jess and I had a good relationship but I've learnt to trust her so much more and she really learnt to conserve energy and her focus on the job is amazing and she's overcome things that used to make her anxious too.
I have already done a solo/wild camp list as I'm excited to get out and do it, I've also been researching lightweight camping gear and backpacking gear as weight is pretty key. I go on some endurance groups on fb as find there is good discussions about feeding, training etc on those, I adapt the info as I'm not aiming for speed but it's all useful.
Keep us posted on how you get on :D
 
this will keep me busy all winter planning my trip I don't have horse transport ...heck I cannot even drive ( epilepsy) But during the winter night I can plan routes and save for equipment I need :) See if I can trace any good stuff for sale and in the mean while keep on getting us both fitter and more prepared.

Thanks No Angel and Jessy I will be back her with photos of of our first camp out :) next spring :d
 
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Anyone fancy Man v Horse in Wales in June? About 24 miles. Very rough, muddy, hilly terrain. I am planning on running it so I can race your horses!!
 
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