CHARITY TREK ON A HORSE
Karen hopes to help save local RDA branch
A Perthishire woman is hoping much-needed proceeds from a quirky charity trek will help keep a vital service used by disabled people afloat.
Karen Inkster plans to saddle up her horse Connie and – joined by her dog Pip – ride from Vatersay near Barra up to Stornoway in August.
The unusual 270-kilometre adventure will take place over 16 days and will see Caputh resident Karen aim to boost the coffers of Blairgowrie’s Riding Karen Inkster with Connie and dog Pip
for the Disabled group, which needs the money to fund crucial facilities.
The east Perthshire group was in danger of closure until
a new committee of volunteers recently took over the reins.
Karen has named her journey ‘The Deaf, The Daft and The Ditsy’, partly owing to Pip being hard of hearing. She explained: “We were using stables with toilets and a classroom for the kids but the people who owned the land took it back for their own business.
“Now we have fields to keep the horses in but not any facilities. We are desperately trying to fundraise to put the facilities for the school in.
“We have the space for it because we have a number of acres of fields but we don’t have anything here to hold classroom sessions in or for the kids to get changed.
“At the moment the riders
are just walking around the field, they can’t do anything more than that. We want to build a multi-purpose arena which is better because if you fall off, it is a softer surface to land on than grass.
“We are also hoping to give our first lessons this month, which will be Blairgowrie’s first lesson in over 18 months.”
The trio will visit 11 islands during the summer trip, with Karen hoping to reach a fundraising target of £2500, having already received £800-worth of support.
Explaining the inspiration for the trek, Karen said: “Connie is a rescue horse and I do endurance riding with her, so I wanted to do something myself to raise funds and I have always wanted to go to the Outer Hebrides.
“I am a qualified mountain leader so I have done 20 expeditions all over the world, so I am used to roughing it – but I have never taken a horse with me!
“The dog has been looking at me as if to say ‘what mad thing are we doing now, mum?’
“The horse and dog are quite fit so we should manage it.”
Despite the current shortage of facilities, Blairgowrie RDA has just managed to purchase a portable toilet and the group eventually hope to create an all-purpose riding school.
Karen says the horses have been out of lessons for so long now they need to be retrained to get used to being around people again, and to being groomed and ridden.
Karen added: “I have had Connie about a year and it has been a huge learning curve because she is a rescue horse who had bad behaviour issue but now she is a lovely well-mannered mare. A year ago you couldn’t even ride her, never mind take her on a 16-day trip.”
●You can support Blairgowrie RDA by visiting www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ Thedeafthedaftandtheditsy.