A Fine Horse in New Country

In July 2009 I am setting off to ride from my home in Perthshire round Scotland, using hill tracks, former drove routes, forestry tracks and old military roads to raise funds for the international training arm of World Horse Welfare (formerly the International League for the Protection of Horses.) I'm taking two ponies, one to ride and one to pack all the gear, as we will often be camping.

Roughly speaking, we cover up to about 20 miles per day, which may not sound like a lot to a car driver, but allows time for dealing with camp routines, getting lost or having to divert round obstructions (it happens!), and also enables us to take our time when chatting to people we meet or looking at points of interest. Also, don't forget that the ponies will be covering this day after day, over all sorts of terrain (although they do get two days' rest out of every seven.)

The journey, which will take almost four months to complete, begins near Blairgowrie. For Stage 1 we will head to Bridge of Cally, Butterstone, Caputh, Amulree, Glen Lyon, Killin and through the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park towards Aberfoyle and Buchlyvie. We intend to pay our respects to Gartmore en route - home of inspiring intrepid horse traveller RB Cunninghame Graham, the 'Gaucho Laird' (who also founded the Scottish Labour Party and later, the Scottish National Party. He died in 1936).
This stage (about 130 miles) covers quite a variety of terrain, from lonely hill tracks to farming areas. I still have to find a way to cross the traffic-heavy central belt corridor - a 4 am start seems likely!
Stage 2: We pick up the trail again in the Pentlands. From Mid Calder we ride to Traquair, Ettrickbridge,Hawick and Jedburgh, before heading east for a large loop through the Cheviots and Kielder (dipping into England), before coming back almost to Hawick again. This section includes some excellent horse-friendly tracks through stunning border scenery - we have explored some of them before - and covers approximately 200 miles. All being well, we should be well into our stride by now.

Stage 3: From Hawick we head south west to Dumfries and Galloway, through Eskdalemuir, (where we hope to visit the Samye Ling Buddhist monastery), Moffat, the Forest of Ae (shortest place name in the UK) New Galloway, Clatteringshaws and Glentrool - the land of the forests. From Glentrool we make a broad sweep down to the Isle of Whithorn and the Machars and the Fells before starting to head north, through Balloch and to Maybole to eventually land on Arran -190 miles or so (and we will pass the half way point!) Yes, we intend to take the ferry to Arran (the ponies are good swimmers, but I'm rather feeble...)

Stage 4: is a wee daunder round Arran, the Kintyre peninsula and Knapdale, through Achnamara and Cairnbaan to Ford (at the south end of Loch Awe) and on to Taynuilt - about 180 miles For those who have read this far and are thinking 'poor horses' I perhaps should explain that I have a couple of backup ponies - if either of the original two are needing some time off at any point, we can substitute. Their welfare is absolutely paramount - and it's one of the reasons that their daily total is not pushed to the limit. (Sadly there is no substitute for ME...)

Stage 5: From Taynuilt we head into somewhat wilder country, through Glen Kinglass to Bridge of Orchy, and then hop on and off the West Highland Way to Kinlochleven, where we head east to Corrour, Loch Laggan, Glen Pattack and up Loch Ericht to Kingussie and Newtonmore (about 120 miles). For this part of the trip we will have to be pretty self-sufficient (although there are 'escape routes' if the need arises).

Stage 6: From Newtonmore we head north east into Morayshire, using some sections of the Speyside Way and Dava Way up to the Moray Coast which will we follow along as far as Buckie before starting to head south again, following the River Deveron and through the Correen Hills near Rhynie, then down to Aboyne. This stage is about 160 miles, but we'll be starting to get a sniff of home!

Final Stage: From Aboyne, we intend to head south through Glen Tanar and Mount Keen to Tarfside in Glen Esk, then hop home over some familiar territory via Glen Clova, Glen Prosen and Glen Isla. This section is only (only!) about 80 miles. After crossing Alyth Hill, we're only three miles from home. It seems only fair to promise the ponies that I will carry them on that final stretch! To read more about our planning, click here.

"HOW far did you say it was????"