scarlets' blog

Great you got out, one of our few dry days, I think tomorrow is due good aswell

None of the route here have ever been cut, they cut up the fallen trees but that can take years if they are not doing a bike race even on the proper long distance ride routes I have got myself a battery power chainsaw so I clear some of the smaller stuff myself, it doesn't help that I am about the only person in Glomel to ride.

Glad you had a good ride scarlet, we must have just missed each other we didn't get out till later on. We never seem to get bothered by flies over there, (except on one stretch) maybe due to the lack of bracken, which seems to be the razor fly's favourite hiding place
pen

here in middle manche they GENERALLY fauchage twice a year. may and august i think . leaving neat tidy passable chemins!!! altho some never seem to get done - probably arent "official" ones. one in cerisy has had a log down over it for 6 yrs (despite me mentioning it to the mairie). it's probably still there - i dont bother retrying anymore as its very narrow and turning round isnt easy! such a shame as there would be many more miles of tracks if they would just cut them open again. there is a chemin association in the canton but they dont seem to do much .i had quite a chat in the mairie about it, but its low on their priorities. it just seems a shame that the french dont take advantage of their wonderful countryside more. i rarely ever meet anyone walking round here, there is a guy across who rides regulalrly but doesnt talk to anyone - french included! even the Parc des Rochers near clecy - very popular scenic walk up the cliffs, has no benches to sit and admire the view - if you sit on the ground you're more than likely to sit on an ants nest!!! .great shame. but its their country and its obviously the way they like it. i'm just glad of the opportunity to share it

You should try calling your maire's bluff scarlet tell him that the path is blocked by a tree down and that you will cut it up as long as you can keep the wood we couldn't pass a tree that was down on a track near a friends, so he went to the mairie, with a map showing where the offending tree was down, offering just that the maire said he would inform the owner of the tree, needless to say, the next time we went down there (only a mattter of a week or so) the tree was gone
Found a great new ride today, I'll share it with you next time I see you
pen

Love reading this.

Quote 'the joggers never bother him, its whats CHASING them that Oscar worries about!'

The chemins here appear quite clear - I say appear as my horse is off work at the mo and so only the bi-ped 'walking' distances have been investigated.

I used to love long rides, I'd do half dayers, take a picnic (for us both) in my saddle bag and go off over the downs.

I'd stop somewhere nice, pop the horse on a lead line and sit holding him whilst he grazed and munched on his treats and I ate my sarnies.

sounds idyllic !

Yeah nice times - even when the little s*d decided to turn and head for home at the fastest gallop he could muster - except he forgot he had already gone through a gate and had to come to a sliding halt at the barbed wire fence which divided the field on the other side - dumping me over his head firmly into the wire.

Could have been worse, I got away with a few scratches but managed to keep hold of him so carried on our way. Little so n so.

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Bad pony. naughty pony. its the glue factory for oscar!!! went for a ride this am and decided to ride from home for a change. oscar was, to put it mildly...a #$%^! pain!!! walk wasnt in his vocabulary at all today . at least he was fine with traffic and didnt spook - just constantly pulled/jogged and generally unpleasant. the only bit he did actually settle was the last mile home when he walked on a long rein!!! which is where most ponies want to go faster!!
am completely knackered !!! i got far more excercise than he did. when i got back home i think i have discovered the possible cause......across the road has got a new horse - hadnt noticed it before - he tends to change them every year or so (maybe eats them - i dont know!) The second i let oscar go in the paddock he hared for the far side and has spent the day there with thomas looking across the lane into next doors field. i suspect a bromance brewing.
we're trailering out tomorrow.........

, I'm sure you don't really mean it, as I'm sure oscar didn't, makes you realise what a good boy he usually is
Hope you manage to get out on some good rides this trip, how long are you here for?
pen

hi azaria, due to go back 30th july for 4 wks. so am making most of time here. really want to hear about your new rides so will give you a call at some stage.
just spent an hour repairing his pagony rug. (the old one) which has been comprehensively trashed. am quite impressed i actually managed to put it back together again as it was a jigsaw puzzle!!!
WHEN are we ever going to get enough fine weather to cut hay??????????
i forsee a very long expensive winter ahead of us.

well just got in from a 2 1/2 hr ride - around 15-17km . its actually one thats on line as a randonee equestre of the vire valley. some bits i have done previously but some were new. oscar was in a really good mood so we fairly bounced along. started by crossing the river at chapelle and trotting up the hill on the far side which settled him nicely then a cracking little gallop up a short hill with metal gutters every 50yds or so which were fun to leap over. then a left turn down a steep slope and another short gallop up the hill. then along some chemins till we turned right at a big farmyard (which being lunchtime was deserted) and along more chemins and through an orchard.
left turn at the pigmy goats on top of their shelter then some road work (rural lane so only 1 car) then downhill to a junction along a bit more road then left turn up a farm track which went for quite a way . some had been mildly fauchaged , but still have 3 small rips in my new shirt from brambles
another trot up a lane and then down past 2 dogs and onto the chemin again
lots of turns round corn fields and some quite rutted paths. quite a bit of standing water (the kind filled with great white sharks:roll: ) got to the top of one section and i could see the cows in the field galloping towards us but oscar couldnt till we got to the field gate and of course he saw them and spooked:affraid:
but as i was ready for it , it wasnt a problem . and on we merrily went.
through a small hamlet and down into brectouville . up by the church . was tempted by the rando halt that is on the lane for riders /walkers etc - but it was blocked by a car so carried on at a nice steady trot. downhill on slippery tarmac but he was like a mountain goat - no probs! hello to the 4 horses on the left and then down the chemin to the water splash that georgie posted yesterday. we stepped over your triffid georgie!!!!!
last bit of chemin up the hill and past guy having lunch in his garden, past the 2 kids on bikes that shot out onto the lane behind us yelling but again had heard them so was ready for the shoot forward!! steady trot up the lane past all the scary rubbish in the farmyard and ended up at the roche du ham car park. back down the hill along the river bank and back to car park. last mile we were plagued with horse flies. when i jumped off there were 5 of the buggers. managed to swat 4 of them . suspect we brought the fifth home in the trailer.
washed him down loaded up and back we came. he had a good 20 km left in him i am sure !!
however as i did a 3 hr walk yesterday ....i didnt!!!!!
what a good pony . sun was out for the last 1/2 hr but still quite high winds

Sounds like you had a great ride, glad you saw 'the triffid' . I actually felt very bad about that as it was a lovely dangly piece of wild honeysuckle!

thought i'd try something different today... with husbands help. this time he dropped us off at candol (on the river near st lo) and then headed home with the trailer. we then set off to follow the tow path as far as we fancied. it was really windy to start off , so glad was on tow path and not roads , as not a chance of hearing anything behind you. luckily most cyclists were coming towards us and only 1 from behind that caused a forward spook. he was very good when we discovered the velorail - i had kittens when i suddenly saw there was a train track appeared next to the path and the steep drop to the river on the other side. started wondering how often trains came along and hurried the pace up to find refuge if needed! after spanking along for a few minutes started hearing screaming and laughing and an odd sound and suddenly realised it was the velorail - not a true train track. phew!!!
its one of those hand powered carts that travel up and down the railway lines - generally for maintainance but these are for tourists!
listened VERY carefully before we limboed under the very low iron railway bridge to ensure none were imminent -that would have been fun underneath when one went over !!!! the top of the bridge was only just above oscars ears!!
saw lots of minis - pony kind! who carried on a screaming conversation with oscar long after he was out of sight.
coming into Conde , azaria had warned me about the canoe centre. she DIDNT warn me about the large flapping flag at horse head height. not a problem. the running screaming kids ( WHATS chasing them?????) or my personal favourite the kid trying to fly a large rustly kite that he kept crashing into the grass in front of us , then jerking up into the air again.
never mind the mountain of brightly coloured canoes or the tents. we got through it all but oscar grew 2 feet taller like a ballerina on point!!!!!
lovely peaceful part of the towpath after that - even the artwork was soothing!! however my energiser bunny kept going at the fastest possible walk without being a jog, so may have missed more artwork!! over the stone bridge and past a really lovely pretty little cottage and gardens, then on familiar ground to chappelle. all in all about 15km in under 2 hrs . oscar would have been quite happy to continue but my knee was feeling it a bit so called husband and he met us at chapelle with the trailer for the ride home. good day out. oh....and sun came out for around 10mins:=))):

How wierd is that we were parked up at that village, and went under that same iron bridge today georgie may even have a photo of us going under it, we did the stretch of river from there down to just above the ponies ,on the river, the rest of our ride was on the tracks on the hills, which would have been on your right. We had sun all of our ride what time were you there? We've got to bump in to each other at this rate
pen

left candol at around 11.45 - i always like to ride at lunch time as theres less traffic and less people about!!!

sun!!!! fine day!!!! no rain!!!!!(yet) no wind!!!! perfect day for a hack!
tried a new area today courtesy of azaria who let me copy some maps. this one was only 15m from home by trailer. great parking at Carantilly lovely big empty carpark with a nice handy stone bench for hauling myself aboard . only slight problem was it was surrounded by nice roses..... there are a few less now and a trail of rose petals down the lane. its only a 5min ride down small lane to join the ride. azaria did warn me about the railway line so approached with great caution as we havent met trains yet. its an automated crossing so listened carefully then hi-tailed it over the lines. then down some lovely chemins until quel surprise! we came to a stream crossed by a narrow ricketty old bridge and a very steep drop down the river bank to the ford. oscar stopped, turned his head to look at me as if to say "you ARE joking, right?" meaning the bridge(either that or he was asking about the possibility of trolls under the bridge) .
but i pushed on to the drop down the river bank. bless him he was very good and did a lovely drop jump down splash thru and leap up the other side. i even stayed on !! tho my eventing days are long long gone.
many of the chemins were very overgrown which is such a shame as they could be so nice. i spent quite a bit of the ride with most of my body forward and down his shoulder - great training for horseball i expect - not far to reach to pick stuff of the ground!!! no trees down but loads of low branches and brambles. he's generally very good as a lot of the time you cant see ahead as you have your eyes closed avoiding herbage so you need to trust your horse to stop if theres a problem!!
there was also a lot of very muddy areas - 1 was just knee high slurry which we waded through.
there was also standing water in several places. didnt realize great white sharks also infested carantilly. oscar tried several approaches - the walking on the 1 inch strip of dry ground to the side of the puddle, the close your eyes and leap over the puddle, and the charge through quickly approach. not to mention the stand on the edge and dither approach. which is rather silly as he crosses streams no problem - maybe it is just standing water that is shark infested???
they were out hay making today so lots of tractors and he was very good with them which was pleasing.
despite the overgrown tracks and mud, it was actually a really good 2 plus hours. he was in a lovely calm frame of mind and the scenery was very nice.
will do that one again - only in reverse, as theres a good gallop the other way around near the end of the ride.
dont you just love days like these.

Glad you had fun scarlet, I guess they will get round to cutting back .... eventually if the shark infested bit is where I think you are talking about, you can actually get into the field and walk along side it saves getting your feet wet, as for the stream.... good eh! Tzar does the bridge aswell sometimes (in the winter, that water really moves)
I had to work today so no riding for me. But tomorrow
pen

well another new ride courtesy of azaria! finally got to pont farcy. decided to do the circuit of around 16km. parking good next to a picnic spot then short ride down lane to chemin that goes up above a quarry onto a ridge with great views
very steep scramble up tho!
it goes for several km then a downhill to the bridge at pont bellenger and then along the river bank towards pont farcy. very pretty , tho very stony in places. got slightly lost in a small hamlet , not realising the continuation of the path was at the back of someones garden! luckily it was too hot for the dogs azaria warned me of, to be bothered. they just lay flat out on the roadside. back down the side of the cliff to the bottom again and a nice water splash to go through. tried to encourage oscar to stop and have a drink , but he was all for pressing on!!! last bit was along small lane into pont farcy then back out to the trailer.
fab day - no wind, sunny and altho flies were about they didnt bother us till the last little bit (expect he sweated the deet off by then!!!)
really nice ride. thanks azaria!!!!

rest day today, tho got followed all round paddock when poo picked this am, by a hopeful oscar . joined -up i'd say!!! he follows right behind me from poo to poo, waiting till i've picked it up then follows me to the next one...... or it may not be join up, maybe he's just hoping the flies will move on to me!!!! altho theres so little of him exposed as he's wrapped in a pagony and hood, that all the flies do is buzz around him. its as sure as i can be that he enjoys our outings!!
thomas remained dozing under the tree. exercise has never been his thing!
caught them both up for a bit of an mot later on in the morning as the first bot eggs have arrived:evil:
a bit late this year. normally its early july ...not complaining tho.
both got a good groom , de bot, hoof check - had to hammer the clenches down on one of oscars' shoes after yesterday trail ride.
tail detangle (thomas is au naturel but his tail was getting out of hand!) sheath clean (thomas' FAVOURITE;)) He gets it out within a minute of getting into the stable yard in the hope i'll handle it!! pervert!
oscars' a little bit shyer and takes a bit of coaxing .
pared thomas' chestnuts - they are like mens eyebrows - the older they get the bigger they get!!
oiled hooves, sunburn lotion for thomas' face and a steroid spray for the only 2 small sweet itch patches that oscar has on his face.
had just put them back in paddock when farmer rolled up and said didnt want our field this year for hay , but introduced his friend who farms across the valley and said he will perhaps do it for us - but its too late this week as rain forcast for thurs/fri. so a walk to back field ensued with lots of voluble farming remarks .well at least i HOPE we'll get some hay . i THINK i understood what they said (patois) altho took 5mins to realize they were trying to prounounce Bradely Wiggins name (very funny!!!) to discuss the Tour de France . so who knows - i may have agreed to him putting his cattle in, or plowing it for maize!!!!!

Glad you're enjoying the rides scarlet which one next? Which one's your favourite so far? We are SO lucky having all this amazing country to ride around I reckon that I could ride somewhere different every day for a month.... Fan.. dabby...doozie!!
pen

well i did barre du semilly on wednesday .bench was a little low (prefer picnic tables!) , but managed to scramble up! there was a treasure hunt going on from the leisure centre so lots of shouty excited kids popping out from the hedgerows.
by golly thats a big equestrian complex that you go past - lovely arenas. the track round Barre are quite good - decent width and footing. liked the etang, tho oscar not as keen on the sculpture as tzar was !!! he got a bit boggle eyed:shock: so i made him stand and "appreciate" the art!
got followed by a teeny jack russell - was terrified we'd tread on him as he virtually trotted underneath us! not at all nasty just wanted to go for a walk with us! the next chemin was past a house with at least 5 very loud and agressive dogs who kept throwing themselves at the fence and gate. oscar kept a close eye on them but walked past quite ok. quite a bit overgrown tho this one and spent a lot of this part hanging like a cossack off the off side shoulder! lots of more posh houses lots of ponies and actually passed a girl out riding a big bay - she even wore a helmet! very very hot day. oscar was dripping by the time we got back so he got a good rinse off and home we came.
was planning to ride this am but woke up with a bit of a tummy bug so stayed close to home this am!
had an appt pm for their vaccines - its silly that i cant vaccinate my own horses - but no vet can self certify! so took oscar first - decided to do 2 journeys as its only a short way, and as thomas is quite stiff i wanted him to have the trailer to himself. M le vet was waiting outside for us and oscar never even felt it - he'd jabbed him before i was even aware he was doing it! so back we went for thomas. thomas hasnt loaded for about 18m and even then it was just to help oscar load when i first got the trailer.
bless him tho, straight in . this time i asked if i could do the jab as i know thomas can be very "strong" (ok bargy is the correct term) so vet very happy to be nowhere near such big feet. i stabbed him in record time whilst he was busy looking around. so got my passports signed paid up and back we came .
got back and the trailer was like a river with sweat!!!! not pee, sweat - never seen so much!!! he was dripping!!! sides of trailer white with foam.
how completely silly as he wasnt playing up and we drove really slowly - unless he was thinking he was going on a very long journey again ie uk!!!
offloaded and he wandered off for a good roll and some grass. nothing wrong there then!
azaria had rung in the midst of this asking if i wanted some small bale hay - well normally the answers no, as we have our own . however my hay still not cut and rain forcast for next week. so decided to go get a trailer load to be safe. so got that and unloaded and cleaned trailer all ready for a ride tomorrow - my last i think before i go back to the uk.
now, where to go.........

I the barre de semilly ride, great tracks, lovely country side and all those lovely big houses to 'oggle' at The last time we rode there, they were having a competition at that equestrian centre.. made it quite interesting
pen

I wonder who it was that discovered it first

can I help it if I'm' OCD ' when it comes to lanes and tracks

both ponies fine today so no effects from vaccines. oscars coat is just glorious- golden copper. another advantage to the pagony - he's always clean and not sunbleached! after spending a while just admiring the gorgeousness of my horse, we loaded up and went for our final ride for awhile. decided to do one of my favourites - chapelle but the south side which gives 3 gallops if done the right way round! really lovely ride, perfect pony, we both enjoyed the gallops and there was no jiggery either before or after - just walk to gallop and virtually back to walk again at the top.
its always frustrating to just get him settled and working well when i have to leave and he has several weeks off.
lovely day with a cool breeze rather than hurricane force . back at base a young couple with 2 very small kids came up for an admire - she spoke very good english - i kept using my french but she wanted to practice her english. they have horses and the husband showjumps. rugrats had no fear so kept a very close eye, as tho oscar is a lamb , he is 500kg of prey animal ! mum quite sensible and managed to divert rugrat from swinging on oscars protruding appendage!!
oh well. back to the grindstone monday. going out for day tomorrow with husband (he does expect some of my time occaisionally!!!)