Brown trouser hacking in Jaipur.

[Paddy Irish]

My friend , a travel photojournalist , travels and rides regularly around gujarat (sp?) she rides these Kathawari horses - the ones with the curly ears - they are all bonkers i.e the horses , the traffic , the people everyones going round in a sort of mad panic at a frantic rate of knots ...not for the faint-hearted!

 

[Vindaloo]

I thoughely {sp} enjoyed reading your post, and seeing your pictures, i gather you mostly do school work, is there any saddlery shops there?

Up to now, yes it's been a lot of school work but I decided enough was enough a month or so ago and forced myself (with the help of an american dresage instructor, sadly no longer teaching me since her visa ran out) to get on my brave pants (not the recent brown ones) and get out and about. I vary his work as much as I can, little bit of jumping, schooling and now hacking. Fingers crossed, he seems to like it and is enthusiastic about his work. I think it's his attitude which has made the YO decide to hack also.

No saddlery shops, in fact last time I was home I had to bring my saddle back for flocking and then travel home again with an additional jumping saddle and lots of other goodies. It was a pain in the wotsit but sooo worth it.

There is a horse shop of sorts in Delhi apparently but I just couldn't bring myself to go with an Indian saddle after one snapped girth and two snapped stirrup leathers!!!! Scary stuff.

 

[Karran]

I wouldn't dare go out on the roads in India! I went backpacking around there last Jan-Feb and I convinced myself each time I got in a taxi or rickshaw that I would die. In fact my taxi driver taking me from Goa to Gokarna nearly hit two school children crossing the road and I'll never forget the fear on their face as we slammed to a halt just yards from them.

I rode the Marwei horses in Udapur although that was completely off road, they were lovely beasts.

 

[Vindaloo]

My friend , a travel photojournalist , travels and rides regularly around gujarat (sp?) she rides these Kathawari horses - the ones with the curly ears - they are all bonkers i.e the horses , the traffic , the people everyones going round in a sort of mad panic at a frantic rate of knots ...not for the faint-hearted!

Oh yes, those horses are incredible, i'll try to get a picture of them in full wedding regalia. Theses horses are expected to proceed at a snails pace with a non rider on board, in the dark with a full on brass band, elephants, crazy dancing people and of course all the traffic.

They do it too, lord knows if they drug them but i've not seen a single one of them do anything naughty and absolutely no one wears hats (unless you count a turban as a hat that is).

Some of them have their hooves painted a startling pink colour.

 

[ecrozier]

Amazing! Are you there for good OP? If you come back would you be able to bring your horse?

 

[Vindaloo]

Amazing! Are you there for good OP? If you come back would you be able to bring your horse?

We're out here for at least one more year, possibly two if Hubbys job needs it, after that we could be in Manilla, Jacksonville, New York or Singapore.

We aim to finally come back to the Uk though and I will do my utmost to bring home our two street dogs (now very much lay on the sofa/bed dogs) and Casper.

I've already been in touch with a polo club in Manilla and I can take him there no problem. Bloods came back last week neg to all which is a weight off of my mind.

Can't imagine how hard it will be to fly a horse but I will travel the whole way with him as and when the time comes.

If I cannot take him to our next destination (I think the States will be just too much of a journey for him to be fair) I will have to face the heartbreak of finding him a home. Can't think of that right now. It would break my heart.

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

We're out here for at least one more year, possibly two if Hubbys job needs it, after that we could be in Manilla, Jacksonville, New York or Singapore.

Can't imagine how hard it will be to fly a horse but I will travel the whole way with him as and when the time comes.

If I cannot take him to our next destination (I think the States will be just too much of a journey for him to be fair) I will have to face the heartbreak of finding him a home. Can't think of that right now. It would break my heart.

Racehorses fly all round the world, very regularly! Event horses travel from Australia, Europe and China to Lexington! I'm sure you could very easily travel your horse to the states! It would be a shame to leave him behind when he seems to honnest!

 

[Vindaloo]

Tinsel Trouble, that's very true. Well if it's good enough for race horses it can be good enough for an ex racehorse.

I can't even bear the thought of leaving him behind. He is SUCH a genuine lad and I just love him to distraction. Hubby is a bit umming and ahhing over the potential cost but he's an accountant and is to be forgiven (apologies to accountants). He did buy him for me in the first place (as I often point out) so I think his protestations are a bit half hearted to be honest.

Watch this space, no doubt i'll be posting a 'have you ever transported a horse by air' thread at some point.

 

[JustMe22]

Just like trying to hack over here! Ridiculous, but well done to your boy for staying so calm!

 

[Vindaloo]

Whereabouts are you JM22?

 

[Hippona]

OMG

I shall never moan about the odd random off road bike in the woods again...how pathetic am I

Casper is gorgeous BTW

 

[Vindaloo]

OMG

I shall never moan about the odd random off road bike in the woods again...how pathetic am I

Casper is gorgeous BTW

Oh gawd, pathetic? No way, I used to have a melt down a pigeons flying out of the blooming hedge (last horse actually fell over at the shock of it!), actually, he also fell over when a fan started up outside a pub too. Over 17hh and feet were clearly too far from brain, he ran off shrieking to all his friends leaving me to stomp after him.

Thank you very much for the gorgeous comment, himself will be most pleased. He is the biggest tarthorse in the world. Have I just dreamed up a new breed?

 

[Ibblebibble]

lol Tarthorse, love it think i'd have needed double pants for that kind of hack!! after seeing the ice road truckers do a stint in India on TV i can well imagine how chaotic and mad your hack was!! i used to work for an indian family in london and even she used to say that driving in India was taking you life in your own hands, made london traffic look tame

 

[ecrozier]

Oh definately they can go all over the world, the only issue is cost but I'd say as you are being good enough to traipse all over the place your horse should come too worst case send him straight back to uk for when you eventually get here?!

 

[indie999]

No, no elephants or snakes (we did have a cobra in the stable and Casper did his best to melt into the wall, good job too, if it bit him that would have been one very dead horse) but who knows what will happen next time out.

Good on you for riding the camel, not the most comfortable are they? Elephants are worse, that rolling gait makes you feel a bit sick.

Where in India were you? The countryside here is not all that nice to be honest since it's a desert state and is hugely developed. In the hills it's gorgeous, green and full of trees.

We don't get vultures here in Jaipur, the municipality poisoned all the street dogs years back, the vultures ate the bodies and were then poisoned themselves. Animal welfare at it's worst.

Thank you all so much for your interest and replies. I'll definitely post again, we have the Delhi horse show coming up in April. We have to transport the horses there and stay for the duration. The lorries will be open topped and they have to jump in off a ramp! I'll have the camera ready for that one. Then again, I might be having a nervous breakdown...

I have done the tourist Delhi/Jaip/Agra triangle twice(they dont look after their marble very well...shame)! ..Rathambore(we saw a tiger went for kids) and Udaipur(fab fab stayed at Oberoi best hotel in world)..my hubbie is from India! Not got to his home area yet. But out of the cities into the countryside absolutely fabulous. stunning (passage to India springs to mind & slum dog too)!You either love it or hate it. Amazing place you are very lucky to live in such a wonderful but incredibly mad beautiful place!.