Previous riders on the Dorset Downs
The photo on the left is of Eili's three friends Suzanne, Leanne and Jenny enjoying a canter on (from left to right) Charlie, Walli and Merlyn ... and below left taking a break in a stunning field full of poppies. The one on the right is of three happy horses at the end of a long day. Eili's horse, Kevin, is in the foreground with his friends Walli and Merlyn, who is enjoying a good roll!
Eili and her three friends did a 4 day ride which combined the more open, rolling chalk downs near the coast with the more wooded country to the north of Dorchester. The following anecdote shows that she is also quite an intrepid rider! "I bought a new saddle 2 months ago and had it checked twice, but it still caused a bruise on Kevin's back - so I did some saddle cloth riding, which was good fun as well, although painful for me after a while!"
"Plush is a delightful place" was Terry's comment after boxing there with Rachel to start their ride. The shot on the left shows their horses relaxing in the field after the long journey from Warwickshire.
The picture below shows Rachel and the horses having a cream tea at the Tea Clipper Tearoom at Milton Abbas, their chosen lunch stop on their second day.
"Just to let you know that we had a splendid time in magnificent scenery in Dorset on the Bridle Ride....We were surprised and delighted by the variation in scenery from woodland with carpets of bluebells and wild garlic to the rolling pastures and crops of the Downs. The Dorset Gap was impressive along with Furzy Down Road and the countryside just before Ibberton. The B&Bs were brilliant and the pubs were good value. The horses were well behaved and made us appreciate that their main strength is, after all, getting you from A to B".
On the left, Jenny is riding Peter through a Maize field in the southern part of the Dorset Downs network. The photo on the right is of Sue and Indie taking a lunch break - and the one below is of Jenny and Peter on the village green at Chaldon Herring.
Sue and Jenny tried a 2 day place to place ride between Higher Bockhampton and West Lulworth on the Dorset Coast. They commented that " . . . the route was fantastic, especially the return journey from Higher Bockhampton to Daggers Gate (Lulworth). Unfortunately thick fog descended when we were near the coast and we had to do the bad weather alternative, so we missed out Burning Cliff and The Warren".
NB - Our hosts at Higher Bockhampton retired at the end of 2006 after 10 years of looking after bridle riders, so this ride now goes from Tolpuddle to West Lulworth and back).
We usually only get a handful of hardy souls riding at the end of the season in October because the nights are drawing in and it can be wet and windy! 2003 was the driest autumn for many years - and this was the very last Bridle Ride of the season. . . . Bobbie
Editor's Note : The Dorset Downs covers a huge area. The northern half of the network between Sturminster Newton and Dorchester, where Terry and Rachel Gasper and Frances Rogers rode is smaller scale and more wooded - very different from the chalk downs further south near the Coast, which Sue Houghton and Jenny Hutchison tried.
