Équirando 2021

[Keith_Beef]

Dates have been published for Équirando 2021: 30 July to 1 August 2021.

The basic rule is that you do a trek of at least 100lm to arrive at the gathering point, which this year is at Haras du Lion d’Angers.

If it works like the previous Équirando, in 2019, there will be a big field at the gathering point, where groups are allotted plots; it's up to the group to decide to tether their horses to a high line, or to bring electric fencing and battery powered energisers to stake out paddocks. On site catering provides three (fairly basic, but certainly palatable) meals per day, showers and toilet facilities, water, straw and hay for the horses.

There was also a market place with about fifteen or twenty merchants selling a variety of horsey-type goods, a beer tent, a bar in the catering hall, activities and evening discos.

Notes for riders from outside France:

Foreign horse riders
The Equirando is an event of the Fédération Française d'Equitation (FFE) which is organized under the aegis of the Fédération internationale de tourisme équestre (FITE).

If you have a license within one of the members of the FITE, you can benefit from the "FFE Licensee" rate.

Find the list of members of the FITE

As foreign riders, the first step in your registration is to send an email to the Organizing Committee. Depending on your situation, the appropriate procedure will be explained to you.

Page on the FFE's site, in French, is here.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Thinking about this year's Equirando, hoping it will be held without too many problems, I dug into some of the photos from 2019.

Here we are on the morning of day 1, just about to set out from the yard. The bloke in the orange T shirt is the dad of the youngest person in the group, an 18 year old girl from Ireland in the black T shirt and on the grey horse just behind her dad; the woman talking to him in the pale T shirt and sunglasses is the oldest in the group, a 72 year old from Scotland. In front on the left is a Russian, to the right a Chinese retired orthopedist, I'm in the black shirt just behind him.




And this is the morning of day four, the morning after we had arrived at the gathering point and used electric fencing to stake out our enclosure with a paddock for each horse. My tent is the green one nearest the camera.

 

[Tarragon]

i like the way the horses have free rein, and the tents are corralled in! That looks fun

 

[Keith_Beef]

w00t!

I got an email from Anna on Friday 23 April to give me advanced warning that she would be taking bookings for this year's Équirando from the Monday (today) morning; since 06h30 I've been refreshing my view of her website, hoping to bag one of the seven places in her group.

I didn't see it appear, sent her an email, and she sent me a direct link and I've booked my place!

We'll be transporting the horses in a lorry to Moulins, we riders and our luggage in a minibus, to Moulins on the first morning, then in the afternoon we'll ride the first stage to Saumur where the horses will be stabled for the night at the Cadre Noir.

Day two is from Saumur to Gennes, day three is Gennes to Brissac.

Day four is a bit of a rest day: visiting the Château de Brissac in the morning, then loading the horses into the lorry and ourselves into the minibus to drive for an hour up to Ranch Thomas at Contigné, a quarter-horse stud and western riding centre. Party in the evening, apparently, with around a hundred other riders, organised by the CREIF (Comité Régionald’Equitation d’Ile de Franc). I'll have had my second jab before then.

Day five takes us and the hundred others to Daon where we camp in our own tents for the night, then day six takes us to our destination at the Lion d'Angers where we'll camp overnight with other groups from around France and further afield.

On day seven there will be the Grand Parade of all the participants, then various displays of horsemanship (not many details of this, yet) and then big, big party in the evening.

Day eight is breaking camp, packing up, loading the horses on the lorry and travelling back home.

To say I'm excited about it would be an understatement!

 

[planete]

I hope you have the time of your life. Pics please! And a blow by blow account too of course.

 

[PurBee]

That looks like a great adventure - so pleased its going ahead this year.

Look forward to pics and commentary ?
Hey, is it possible for you to do live streams of it?

 

[Keith_Beef]

That looks like a great adventure - so pleased its going ahead this year.

Look forward to pics and commentary ?
Hey, is it possible for you to do live streams of it?

Ha ha ha!

NO! I already have a hard time taking photos from horseback, and I won't pay for a big data plan... So no live streams.

I also find my phone to clunky for the kind of cropping, resizing, resampling and other processing that I do to almost every picture I upload.

While I might post the occasional update during the trip, there will not be many pictures until a few days after I get back home.