Feasibility of organizing 4 day 100 mile ride for charity?

[RachelFerd]

I have, for a long time, had an odd desire to ride all the way from where I keep my horses (north surrey - Epsom way) down to Brighton... having recently watched a DVD of the cumbrian heavy horses riding all the way from the isle of skye to the lake district (408 miles!) it brought the idea back to the forefront of my mind!

Brighton is 37 miles away by road, the bridleway network is very good all the way there, but obviously sticking to bridleways, byways and quiet roads will make the journey a little lengthier (but a lot more pleasant!). We would have somewhere to keep the horse's once we get to just outside of brighton as my boyfriend's uncle has a yard there on the south downs. We would however need to find somewhere for the horses and ourselves to stay as a stop-off point on the way there and on the way back - possibly the same one, or two different places and make it a more circular route. The stop off point would probably be in the Hayward's Heath area if anyone has any ideas?

Since the horses we would do the ride on are all ex racehorses I was thinking that doing the ride to raise money for the ROR or even more specifically for Moorcroft would be a good idea and perhaps be able to raise a little bit of awareness as to how versatile these horses can be. Between the riding schools and racing yards that myself and boyfriend work at we could probably raise a large amount of sponsorship - nevermind that the epsom racing yards open days are coming up soon, and this would probably also be a good opportunity to attract extra donations - two of the three horses were trained in and won races out of epsom yards so the cause is very much close to home.

So has anyone here organised something similar? Do you think it is a feasible thing to do? Where on earth would I start organising and arranging it?!

 

[orionstar]

Go for it! Look at a map and circle an area a few miles in circumference of where your half way mark is and then start contacting farms/B&B's for livery and bed close together, or another option is to carry small tent in a rug sack and ask for a field. There are also several web sites out there for places that do both but you'll probably be very lucky to find on in the area you need. Good luck!

 

[tazzle]

Takes a LOT of planning

Depends actually whether you actually know for sure about the current state of the bridleways between you and the destination.......planning it on an ordanance survey map it might look ok but the reality might be different ! Even the BHS guides are not always bang up to date ..... although tbh if you get in touch with local BHS bridleways officers they can usually give a good status report.

If you are not familiar with the local lanes the whole way then it might be a good idea to get feedback to as to horrid areas of road to avoid.

When I did my last fundraiser of only 40 miles I still found needed to walk parts of the bridleway route myself beforehand as I could get no feedback on one midway point that if blocked would have scuppered it all ,,,,, it turned out to be very overgrown and looked unused by horses but it was passable with care ( several deep rabbit holes right in the middle of very narow path).





http://www.equineramblersuk.co.uk/

they can also put you in touch with other locals who might have done distance rides as well or who will know the area and can give advice.


they also have horsey bed and breakfst info .... as I believe bhs booklet has .... or you can ask on here I suppose .. someone might volunteer.



as to the trek itself ...

while its possible in theory to do 25 miles each day that might be pushing it a wee bit as even if you average five miles an hour thats five hours without meal / grazing breaks, hold ups, steep gradients etc .......... and horses would need to be fairly fit. Having said that we did 20 in a day comfortably last year with not that much trotting but it was over known ground and with no delays. ( and over great tracks we could do 20 miles in 2 1/2 hours but not reccomended that speed on roads ).


you would need "on call" transport for horses or riders in case of lameness, lost shoes etc


I also had saddlebags with emergency stuff in case we got lost / injured / help couldn't reach us or we were late and it got dark etc ...... have been lost in dark before and its not very nice


och there is more I am sure , just too tired to think of it atm ........... but yes its feasable and great fun

 

[RachelFerd]

thanks Tazzle, really useful information!

Between me and OH we know the first third of the way and the last third of the journey - the bit in the middle we don't know at all, but a chunk of this is covered by the downslink path which is a cycle and bridleway on an old disused railway line, which should provide fairly level and well maintained going for us. I know the north downs section of the ride very well having kept the horses slightly further south before... OH knows the south downs well and we would be using the south downs way again which is a major route... Going to check the route in places may well be possible as its not like we are that far from home!

on call transport would be fine - in fact we can quite easily arrange on call farrier too...

i'm hoping we can manage 25 miles a day as the horses are TBs and regularly do 10-15 mile rides just out hacking. My mare needs to be got fitter (only in light work atm) but september is a while away and she gets very fit very quickly (and is impossible to tire out...) the gelding is already very fit, although it may test him a little, he loves to hack and covers the ground very well in trot and canter. I am hoping since its well populated and very horsey areas all the way that finding accomodation isn't too difficult and the routes should be quite open... we shall see!!

Any more info would be great on what gear to take etc.

 

[debbielinder]

Yer 2 people i know are currently doing this, a 100 mile sponsered ride they are due back tomorrow i kno their route has been carefully planned and some 1 is travelling with them in the horsebox incase of emergency and they have organised B and B and stabling for each night some of which was offered free as its for charity

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

Did a similar ride with a friend a few years ago, Bath to the South Downs Way.

How to start. Buy the right set of OS maps. Spread them out on the floor and plan your route. Mark off your mileage, for example 'day one, 20 miles, takes us to HERE'.

When you've done that, drive as much of the route as possible to make sure the bridleways, lanes etc are accessable. Where you've marked 'HERE' on your map, go and find the local yards and farms, explain to the nice owners what you are doing for charity and ask if there is any way they could put you up for the night. Say you'd be happy to camp etc....we did say that but were always offered a comfy bed for the night and lovely paddocks for the horses. And breakfast!!

Travel light. Take water and energy snacks, hoof pick, baler, sunblock and fly repellent. Make sure your phones are charged. Take a small camera. Have fun !!!

 

[tazzle]

but a chunk of this is covered by the downslink path which is a cycle and bridleway on an old disused railway line, which should provide fairly level and well maintained going for us.

that sounds really hopefull for a smooth passage then


If your horses reg do 12 - 15 miles then the time to sept should get them fit enough to do this ride




I would add to gala's suggestions ....

*first aid kit ( I always carry one even out hacking anyway)

* I always have attached to me, and to horse, a tag with names and contact nos in case we part company ( especially useful in strange areas where horse does not know way home and anyone catching it wont know who to contact. I put on relevant medical info too .... (like Bonney is susceptable to sedatives and full dose could kill her)

* whistle ..... attracts attention at longer distances than a shout

* money ...... for ice cream cos if course it will be great sunny weather for you

whether you take wet weather mac or not is up to you .... but I hope you dont do what someone I saw do ...... put it on for the first time in the saddle without introducing it to hoss beforehand


looking forward to the pics