Features editor Stephanie Anthony:
As if 1,000 miles in one year isn’t challenging enough, sisters Meg and Lauren White from Hesteyri Horses completed the distance in a mere 44 days, hacking the length of Britain, from John O’Groats to Land’s End
If you think hacking 1,000 miles in a year is a challenge, Meg and Lauren from Hesteyri Horses completed the distance in a mere 44 days!
MEG AND LAUREN White describe themselves as ‘horse trainers with a difference’ as they work with clients to see the potential in their horse or pony. Based in Gloucestershire, their training business was established in 2012. They work with many rescue and problem horses and pride themselves on never turning any equine away.
They started their Hack1000Miles challenge in June 2018 with the aim of raising money for a variety of charities, including Dogs Trust and The Racehorse Sanctuary, as well as funding their own work rescuing and rehabilitating horses. The inspiration originally came courtesy of their mother, who had the idea to hack the length of Europe. They thought this might be a bit extensive, so they scaled it back to the length of Britain.
“We’d been talking about doing something like it for years,” says Lauren, as she explains how she and her sibling planned their routes carefully on a map, taking into account the distance they could cover between each evening’s campsite or B&B. In reality, however, they found suitable tracks lacking — some blocked off, others unkempt, or just not horse friendly.
“It wasn’t an easy journey and we had some nightmare experiences — including falling in a bog — and spending days on main roads with cars and lorries flying past,” adds Meg.
“The best part was finding amazing landscapes in areas where horse riders haven’t been very often,” says Lauren. “One moment you’re struggling, the next you come up the hill and see this incredible view. It makes it all worthwhile.”
An epic journey
Starting at Scotland’s most northerly point, Meg and Lauren kicked off their epic journey with Flicker, a 22-year-old, 13.2hh Connemara x Arab; Phoenix, a 17-year-old who was rescued from an abusive owner;
and Amadeus, a 15-year-old, 15hh Morgan horse. All three horses love hacking. The sisters had a support lorry on call for emergencies — something they would find invaluable on more than one occasion.
“On day five we were trying to ride along coastal paths,” says Meg. “But we’d often get cut off by stiles, walls or padlocked gates.” The Scottish Land Reform Act means that horses and riders have freedom to roam, but this can mean a lack of obvious paths to follow.
“At one point we encountered some very boggy ground and both Flicker and Amadeus ended up in a bog up to their bellies,” adds Meg. “After that we stuck to the road, but it proved far too busy to be safe, so we ended up calling the lorry for a lift back to camp.”
Highlights along the route included a glorious ride around Loch Lochy.
“We crossed at Gairlochy and rode the other side of the Caledonian Canal, which was also pretty gorgeous,” recalls Lauren. Day 19 saw the siblings travelling through the Scottish Borders and ascending to 1,300m above sea level, where the countryside and trails were breathtaking. “We felt on top of the world,” smiles Meg. As they progressed to Walton and crossed into England, they were disappointed to miss out on a view of Hadrian’s Wall, but pleased to be in more familiar territory with bridlepaths through woodland and mountains.
Disaster strikes
On day 26, disaster struck; Flicker going lame in a hind leg. Meg and Lauren suspected that it was due to the tricky terrain, as they’d been having to negotiate steep tracks and clamber around boulders. But after juggling the horses’ rest days and letting Flicker ride in the lorry to the next stop-over, he recovered well. Then came the Pennine Bridleway, where they rode along the edge of Saddleworth Moor shortly after the fires. “We met firefighters who told us we were safe to carry on,” says Meg. “The moor was still smouldering. The hills were ablaze in some places and fire engines were pumping water straight from the reservoirs.” The sisters’ favourite paths included the Tissington Trail and the beautiful Wyre Forest, which provided some much-needed shade and fantastic tracks. Meg and Lauren admit that they struggled on particularly hot days, especially on open tracks, during what would become the joint hottest summer on record. The sometimes stifling heat had a further knock-on effect. “Horses walk at an average 5-8kmph and trot at 12-16kmph, so if we couldn’t trot much, it almost doubled our day.”
Baptism by fire
On day 32, Amadeus went lame, bringing an early finish to the day’s
ride. Fortunately, Meg and Lauren were close enough to home at this point, so the next day Cassie, a green five-year-old with only limited hacking experience, had to step into the breach. “She was quite flighty when we first got her,” says Lauren. “We weren’t sure how she would cope, but she was amazing with the cars, bikes and lorries. She even crossed a stream, which she had never done before.” Unfortunately, two days after falling lame, Amadeus still wasn’t quite right and it was decided he would have to stay at home.
The last push
Crossing Dartmoor with Flicker and Phoenix proved to be more difficult than Meg and Lauren had anticipated as they encountered several bridlepaths that weren’t accessible. “Not far from the end, we had to make the decision to turn back,” says Meg. “The section was going to take too long, although we did have a bit of fun jumping gorse bushes before the lorry came to pick us up.” Riding towards Bodmin, the pair tackled some steep roads and ascended a total of 1,500m, giving Flicker and Phoenix a massive workout. They also had to take yet another detour when their path didn’t lead to the moor. “By this point we’d lost our marbles so much that it didn’t make much difference to us!” laughs Lauren. “All of the days were really blurring together towards the end,” agrees Meg. “We were barely noticing our surroundings.” However, the end was in sight. “After what felt like the longest six weeks of our lives, we made it to Land’s End,” smiles Lauren. “Throughout the whole ride, what struck us most was the trust our horses had in us.” “We couldn’t have attempted such an adventure without the support we received from our friends and family,” adds Meg. “And, even more so, the complete strangers who gave us places to stay and fed and watered us and our horses.” After 44 days the sisters had ridden more than 1,000 miles across mountains and beaches, through forests and moorland, up hill and down dale. “We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved,” says Lauren.