Man rides elderly horses 10,000 miles!! RANT! Long, but has photos

HumBugsey

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I have an first printing of "A tale of Two Horses" and I've read it so much the pages are falling out!

Esp love the bit where they go on about the posh horses who are too good to eat their straw, perfectly good food! lol
 

jodie3

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Thank you PF, once I got over the shock of not a single bit of matchy matchy I enjoyed that.

If you can't face Black Beauty what about War Horse? I'm sure they could have done with a banana stick or two.
 

skewby

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What an amazing story and one of which I was not aware! Very interesting. Shame you had to put such an odd slant on it, but at least we got the link.
 

PingPongPony

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up to the palcing pole bit i seriously thought you were being serious :eek: i'm having a dumb day today. but when i realised that you weren't serious, i just burst out laughing :) thank you for this story! :D
 

brighteyes

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I spy a gadget* in that last picture and am truly uphauled by the contraption that poor pony has in its mouth. :( Please tell me they didn't go all that way without brushing boots on and hi-viz. Whatever was he thinking of?

*looks like an incorrectly fitted and incomplete Pessoa - and NP is even in that neck of the woods so could have helped him. Shocking.
 
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*hic*

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Ah, that was one of my favourite books as well. I was also fascinated by Barbara Woodhouse's exploits in Argentina, especially her description of the maggots allowed to clean out the horrific face wound.
 

PapaFrita

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What an amazing story and one of which I was not aware! Very interesting. Shame you had to put such an odd slant on it, but at least we got the link.
Well, I'm delighted you're now aware. It really is an amazing story. Can't think why it would be a shame to put an ironic modern slant to it, but hey ho, not all of us find the same things entertaining.
 

Cinnamontoast

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La chica con el caballo muy grande y marron y blanco no sabe nada, la pobrecita!

Excellent, thank you for this, but I am seriosly uphauled at him not bothering to join up first: disgusting. :mad: What was he thinking and why did he not give them a cuff round the face with a heavy clip and wave a lead rope at them for hours? God, he really was a novice! :mad:
 

PapaFrita

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La chica con el caballo muy grande y marron y blanco no sabe nada, la pobrecita!

Excellent, thank you for this, but I am seriosly uphauled at him not bothering to join up first: disgusting. :mad: What was he thinking and why did he not give them a cuff round the face with a heavy clip and wave a lead rope at them for hours? God, he really was a novice! :mad:
Surely you mean 'discusting'? :p
Y si, lo demás tambien es cierto.
 

somethingorother

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Can't imagine that being done nowadays can you?! :eek:

Maybe not so dramatic as going over rope bridges but a few years ago a couple from britain took 2.5 (and .5 welsh) arabians from wales to jordan. However over the course of it one horse died from colic and another came very close. They struggled to feed them which seemed to be a large contributing factor to the colic. Otherwise apart from some silly accidents they seemed to cope well though.

it's maybe not as good a story as this one ;) but it's pretty good. I was hooked anyway.

http://www.rideopenspaces.co.uk/the fairly big ride.htm
 

rubysmum

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funny - thanks for this:)
an young woman based in ireland has re-created the ride - her book is fab [ she didnt have many gadgets either & couldnt really ride when she started - she could by the end lol] - unhelpfully, i cannot remember whole title - its something & cockroaches - does ANYONE KNOW IT?
 

hollyandivy123

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funny - thanks for this:)
an young woman based in ireland has re-created the ride - her book is fab [ she didnt have many gadgets either & couldnt really ride when she started - she could by the end lol] - unhelpfully, i cannot remember whole title - its something & cockroaches - does ANYONE KNOW IT?

here we go

Crying with Cockroaches: Argentina to New York with Two Horses [Paperback]
Marianne Du Toit (Author)

its on amazon
 

AmyMay

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That's a pretty amazing story - not least of all because of the horrendous levels of abuse experienced by the horses:eek:

Seriously though - how inspirational. The photos are wonderful (the bridge one is particularly :eek:), and the last one of the horse being honoured (by all appearances) is just wonderful.

Thanks for sharing the story PF.
 

Ranyhyn

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I read the story of Mancha and Gato when I was in my early teens and always loved the tale and the photos :) amazing story, people and horses.
 

lexiedhb

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Ummm has no one noticed that this chap not only did no join-up but probably weighs more than 8 stone?

A horse carrying more than 8 stone? for that long? I do hope the RSPCA were informed
 

Sooty

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What an amazing and inspirational story...that has the potential to be. But really, have you seen what is on his feet? Spurs. That just about says it all. The reason the horses did not run away at night was nothing to do with bond between horse and rider; no, it was sheer terror. Or as George Dubya would have it, terrrrr. And in all fairness, can we be absolutely certain that the horses did not have their backs, teeth etc checked at regular intervals? I think there is room for doubt. However I suspect those horses were chosen initially for their feet. Either that, or there was a farrier in the 4x4 following them with the film crew. What do you mean, there wasn't one? You mean those brave Top Gear boys really do have some competition? Sheesh... :rolleyes:
 
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