A Fine Horse in New Country

For a journey of this length and complexity, some serious prior planning is essential. Even without emergencies (of which there will, undoubtedly, be some), in four months the horses will need re-shod or at least the clenches tightened (probably every two to three weeks); there needs to be places to re-supply provisions for us all; the horses may need veterinary attention and it would also be nice to have the (occasional) bath!

Although we take 'for living' and can pretty well stop anywhere there is suitable grazing, it's obviously not possible to take everything we need for the entire journey at one go. Apart from anything else, I hardly need the maps for Dumfriess and Galloway when I'm in Glen Lyon. Plus, horse feed weighs heavy! Thus, the journey is split into stages, with supply drops from willing (or at least co-operative) friends en route. I also need to be certain that the meeting places, dates and times are clear to everybody - nothing worse than chasing around minor roads in unfamiliar places with no mobile signal just as it's getting dark...

Route Planning
Maps, maps and more maps...luckily I love looking at maps, (though after the painful 'elbow in the eye disaster' I have now been banned from unfolding them in bed.) I started to plan a rough route using a road atlas. Hopefully we won't be using too many roads, but the road atlas is the right sort of scale to see, for example, how far towns are apart, where I would be looking to avoid (built up busy areas or complicated road crossings, for example) and, particularly for the west coast section, where it's possible to cross (or avoid) those verrrry long lochs. I can also get a (very rough) idea of distances, and the road atlas shows all sorts of promising hill or forest areas where there are few roads... now if I can only find a way across there...

Once I have the rough outline, I map out a possible route using the OS Explorer or Landranger maps. For a horse rider, the larger scale (1:25 000) maps are the best, as they show fence lines (which aren't always correct, but at least it's a start.) Only problem is - you need so many to cover a journey of this length - especially if you're just crossing a little corner of it. It gets expensive, even though I usually try and buy them second hand on the internet. It also means you have to carry more maps. But I do like them, especially as they are large scale and you feel as though you're positively zipping across the countryside.

So- a compromise: I decided to use the Explorer maps if I already had them (and I do have quite a few...) - if I had to buy, I bought the 1:50 000 Landranger maps (which are also pretty good, if not quite as detailed). The OS maps both have a most useful feature - they are overlaid with a grid lines which in real life are 1km apart, which makes calculating distance (roughly) very easy. Obviously, ELEMENTARY geometry, if the track goes diagonally across a square then it's not 1km but 1.4km. Are you paying attention, you at the back?

Some of my more technically-minded friends have suggested a GPS with mapping software, to save carrying all those maps. A good idea, until Doogs steps on it or I drop it in the burn or the batteries run out...
I don't find them as handy if you have to do a major re-route as there's lots of plastering about to see where the new track actually does come out. I also like to write on the paper maps - where a keeper has given me a warning about bogs, for example.

Once I'm fairly certain of the route, I mark it on the map with highlighter pen - makes following it much easier 'on the hoof' (or hooves).

To find out more about our planning, click here.

Other useful planning resources:

It's definitely worth investigating guide books for walkers and mountain bikers, as there is a sad dearth of guides for the dedicated horse rider. Obviously, not all tracks are suitable (and some we're not permitted to go on anyway) but they give some good ideas to follow up.
Here are some I've found useful:


Scottish Hill Tracks
published by Scottish Rights of Way Society
the tracks 'bible' in Scotland - though naturally not written with horses in mind

The 'Scottish Glens' series by Peter D Koch-Osborne published by Cicerone Press. Written for walkers and mountain bikers, they also include lots of horse-useful information too, like the state of the track, presence of locked gates, stiles etc, as well as pointing out inaccuracies on OS maps

Exploring Scottish Hill Tracks Ralph Storer (Warner Books) Beautifully written, lots of background information

Heading for the Scottish Hills Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the Scottish Landowners' Federation - a little dated now in terms of contacts etc, but still usefully shows estate boundaries. Aimed at hillwalkers and mountaineers, useful for the more intrepid horse!

101 Bike Routes in Scotland Harry Henniker (Mainstream Publishing) Most of these routes are on quiet secondary roads, some off road options

Map Reading Skills (Pathfinder Guide) Terry Marsh (Jarrold Publishing) A really good introduction to map and compass - even if you've never done it before

Mountainbike Scotland (The Highlands) Kenny Wilson (www.mountainbikescotland.com) Lots of useful info and some great inspiring photos. Hmm, a bike? No feeding, no shoeing, no ideas of its own...

The Internet is an invaluable tool:

I especially like:
Geograph.org.uk
(photos of every grid square in the uk - very useful for getting an idea of the type of ground, plus kind contributors often photograph bridges, fords and tracks, so you've an inkling of what you're in for

earth.google.com Google Earth is a fantastic (free!) program which enables you to get lots of information on your chosen location, plus lets you fly Peter Pan style from one place to another...you can also map tracks, measure distances (and also waste quite a lot of time having fun...)

www.bhs.org.uk The British Horse Society has some useful info about riding off road, as well as the ride-uk website (under construction) which aims eventually to map a national bridleway network

www.southofscotlandcountrysidetrails.co.uk has 350 kms of off-road hill riding routes. Yummy!

Lots more useful websites on the Where to Ride in Scotland pages!