Danielle Rowles hones her ride and lead skills
Danielle Rowles finds that her mare Lady much prefers canine company on hacks, with new companion Shetland Thor left firmly at home
THANKS TO ALL the rain, I haven’t managed to get out hacking as much as I would have liked lately, but with Tracy Clark, my hacking partner in crime, I’ve managed some decent outings and have had some interesting encounters along the way.
I can’t believe the change in Lady since we started the #Hack1000Miles challenge back in 2018 when she was just five. I hadn’t long backed her; she’d had the winter off to take everything in; and I was quite unsure of riding her.
She never did anything naughty, but she was very on her toes, so I’m proud of how far we’ve come together. Tracy and I have been hacking together since September 2018. We met through the challenge, but who knew then that we would become such good friends, go on horsey holidays together and spend nearly every weekend hacking. I’ve seen a massive change in Tracy’s horse Diesel, too, and he and
Lady encourage each other to be brave.
This bravery is tested to the limit on a hack in a country park where, as we follow the byway, a large, buzzing model aeroplane suddenly appears high above us. It vanishes and then reappears, at which point Lady spots it, putting her on high alert. We carry on, but then a second plane appears. There’s no sign of the people operating them, so with both hands firmly on the reins we steer two very wound-up horses down the muddy, slippery hill. By the time we reach the bottom, the planes are out of sight and the whizzing noises have stopped, allowing Lady and Diesel to relax again.
All goes well until the water crossing towards the end of our ride. Both horses have no end of experience with water, even splashing around in Lake Windermere, so it shouldn’t be an issue, but this time they’re having none of it and refuse to go in. After much gentle persuasion, Diesel eventually finds his brave pants and enters, followed by Lady. It’s at this point that she remembers she actually likes water and is so busy splashing around that she won’t get out. In the end, we exit with a double leap up the embankment. Tracy, not liking this idea, decides to dismount. She just manages to get off onto dry land, but very nearly falls face first into the water. I tell her that I would have died laughing if she had!
Over the winter I buy Thor, a Shetland companion for Lady, and he gets to clock up some miles of his own. With my ever-helpful hubby Martin joining us on foot, I ride and lead, although Lady isn’t too sure about a Shetland being in such close proximity. “How dare he try to touch me!” On another occasion we take Phoebe the pooch with us, but Martin is less happy this time as he ends up leading Thor home while I ride and lead Phoebe. It turns out that Lady is quite happy to walk with the dog and this leads to lots more lovely hacks: just me, my horse and my dog — something I’ve always dreamed of doing. Gates with a horse and a dog prove tricky, but we don’t let that put us off and Phoebe now has her own
Mercury hi-vis dog coat and a profile on my tracker so I can check her miles too.
“Gates with a horse and a dog prove tricky, but we don’t let that put us off and Phoebe now has a hi-vis dog coat and profile on my tracker”