Friday, May 20, 2011

First lesson

When I signed up for the horse riding trek, I told the organiser I was a beginner. Only later did he realise what I meant by that.

"Uh...  you better get some lessons," he said.

So, Sunday was my first ride. It was just around the ring, but the instructor said she was very impressed. Years of correct posture and yoga paid dividends and I was trotting comfortably in no time at all. Next week I'll get up to cantering, and in a few weeks' time I'm planning a weekend trail ride and camp.

But for now, I'm getting very well acquainted with some new muscles.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Relief

A few years ago I read about a charity organisation called Relief Riders, which transports medical supplies and expertise into rural areas of India on horseback.  It's funded as a horse riding trek for adventurous travellers looking for something different.  Paying guests volunteer to assist setting up the medical tents and register the villagers, and the medical supplies are subsidised by the cost of the tour.  I didn't have plans to visit India, but always thought if I did I would do the relief ride.

This year Relief Riders announced they will for the first time be riding in Turkey.  General medical care is much better in Turkey than it is in rural India but dental services are lacking.  The relief ride will provide dental treatment in villages in the dramatic region of Cappadocia where, as luck would have it, I was already heading.  Kismet?  So I've signed on.  The ride is from 17-30 June and visits the spectacular volcanic landscape of "fairy chimneys" (known in the US as hoodoos), tall spires of stone into which the Turkish locals fashioned houses from carved caves centuries ago.

I probably should mention that I don't know how to ride a horse.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Europe 2011

The Lead Line is stirring from slumber below deck as Europe returns on the horizon.

This year, beginning in mid-June, the feature country and starting point will be Turkey. After three weeks of horseback trekking, Roman ruins and dental surgery, I'll move onto finding Atlantis in the Greek islands, whitewater rafting in one of the world's deepest canyons in Montenegro, and discovering what there is to discover in Romania and Bulgaria.