#horse hacking

[whywishesarehorses]

Pensioner sets off on 600-mile pony trek with pet dog in saddlebag

Jane Dotchin, 80, has been making the unusual journey from Northumberland to the Highlands since 1972. (Story from STV News)

An 80-year-old woman who wears an eyepatch is on an annual trek with her pony from England to the Highlands – on a seven-week adventure which began in 1972.

Jane Dotchin packs her saddlebags onto her trusty pony’s back every year, and heads to the hills from her home near Hexham, Northumberland, on an epic 600-mile trek to Inverness, covering between 15 and 20 miles a day.

She set off on August 31 with her steed, Diamond, aged 13, and her disabled Jack Russell named Dinky for company, from the off-grid smallholding where she lives.

She carries everything she needs including her tent, food and just a few belongings – and despite wearing an eyepatch is determined to continue as long as she can.

Ms Dotchin said: “My mother would look after my other ponies but she wasn’t that keen on looking after my Halfinger stallion, so I rode him down to Somerset to see a friend, which is about 300 miles.

“It was a bit of a hard slog, but it was good.”

After that initial journey, she caught the taste for the open road and travelled to visit friends near Fort Augustus, near Loch Ness, every autumn since.

The journey takes around seven weeks depending on weather and Ms Dotchin tries to stop off to see people she has met over the years.

She said: “I refuse to go slogging on through pouring wet rain.

“There are a few different routes I can take depending on the weather.

“I don’t want to go over hilltops in foul weather, but I work it out on the way.

“I don’t bother with maps, I just keep to the routes I know.

“It is nice to go and see [people] again – I ring them up in the morning to say I’m going to be there in the evening.

“I don’t warn them too far in advance, because if the weather suddenly changes or I decide to stop early then they can be left wondering where I’ve got to.”

Disabled Jack Russell Dinky, who has deformed front legs, travels in a saddle bag.

Ms Dotchin said: “She manages fine, when there is a nice grassy track she gets out and has a run, but she doesn’t like stoney ground but she is a nice hot water bottle for me in the tent.”

She said: “I asked for something good and solid in my old age and he got me a cob from Ireland. I struggle to get on her half the time, but otherwise I manage fine.”

Her diet consists of porridge oats, oatcakes and cheese which is bought at local shops.

She prefers to make porridge with milk, but water will suffice.

Ms Dotchin added: “You can always boil it from a stream.”

Her bathroom habits are equally DIY, and she said: “I dig a hole.”

Ms Dotchin is devastated by the littering she has seen over the years and said Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, is somewhere she finds “shameful” due to the amount of rubbish.

She said: “It’s appalling, in particular single used barbecues which are left lying all over the place.

“Cumbernauld is the fly-tipping capital of Britain.

“There are some lovely people there who let me camp, but some of it is so disgusting and shameful.”

Campervans on single track roads have also become a more persistent problem.

She said: “Drivers just didn’t seem to know how wide they were, I was forever just about getting swept off the roads by them.”

The right to roam has helped with countryside access, but she said: “There are still some locked gates or little side gates that you can’t get a horse with packs on through.”

For emergencies she carries an old mobile phone as the battery lasts six weeks.

Ms Dotchin said: “I keep it switched off and just ring out to ring up landowners to get gates unlocked or to warn people when I’m coming but sometimes the trouble is getting a signal.”

During the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 she went on bicycle instead.

She said: “I covered many more miles with the dog in a pannier but it was not the same, I missed my horse.”

In recognition of her independent spirit, and many years of long distance trekking, she received The British Horse Society lifetime achievement award last year, which she said was “a bit of a surprise.”

During her travels she witnesses rutting deer and stags fighting in the autumn, and foxes.

She said: “There is always something interesting happening and there is never a dull moment.

“I will probably be stopped one of these days.”

#horse #news #irish cob #draught horse #trail riding #hacking #horseback riding #equestrian #horseblr #horse riding #draft horse #equine

[thatsbelievable]

#How to Tell if the Horses are Conspiring #tips #tricks #life hacks #helpful hints #advice #horse #horses #unreality

[wastedskins]

Alice: Madness Returns, 2011

#2000s video games #playstation #video games #2000s #action #hack and slash #2000s games #2010s video games #horror #survival #surreal horror #american mcgee #american mcgees alice #alice madness returns #alice asylum #alice liddell #wonderland #ea #ea games #spicy horse

[griffinequestrian]

Scenes from our off-property hack day last weekend.

#equestrian #horse #horses #horse back riding #thoroughbred #ottb #equine #eventing #hack day #rehab journal #heart horse

[akascow]

i forgot how reliant i was on stardew mods until yesterday when they all needed to be fixed after the update and i logged on and my farmer started walking at a normal speed and i couldnt handle it so i logged back off HAHA

#i was like damn bitch yall play like this ?? #even on my horse (that looks like a moped) i felt slow #anyway cjb hacks my beloved 🫶🏻 #stardew valley

[regallibellbright]

Pokemon ScarVi opening up the world and setting up the paths is really just three people fighting that obviously THEY are the PC’s BEST friend and are gonna have the most fun on this independent study program.

And then Dragon Bike shows up and is like “lol you thought. No. Best friend is me.”

Dragon Bike is correct.

#pokemon #pokemon spoilers #pokemon scarvi #so far I really like Arven’s enthusiasm #but also ‘Cassiopeia’ who is totally not Penny being like ‘hi I hacked your phone help me’ #with the exact same vibes as the others #ScarVi is a Horse Girl Movie and I will not elaborate #it seems self-evident

[nocturnalequestrian]

What we’ve been up to lately 🤍

#equestrian #horse #horse riding #horseblr #trail ride #hacks

[mrsterlingeverything]

Two winners

#they killed it at the show #jasmine on the left kept winning the hacks which is like part of the competition where they walk and run around trying to look like #nice happy and cute #and she literally learned how to steer 3 months ago so shes fresh as fuck and winning easily #kind of awesome #and emmy is my boss's horse and it was a small local show so it was kinda like michael phelps competing against the local swim team #emmy #jasmine #horses

[equinesandeducation]

Welcome Ála! A lovely and super sweet little mare has come to join our little herd 🥰 I’ll be riding her for her owners, in between them breeding her every other year or so. We’re glad to have her and we’ll have a lot of fun together I’m sure!!

#Ála #ala #icelandic horses #icelandic horse #horses #equines #riding #field #dunes #Netherlands #horse back riding #horse riding #nature #hacking out #training #tolt #trot #canter

[nuderobotbeach]

More .hack but little horse people this time

#I don't think I've ever shared these publicly before because I was simply too shy #But I'm getting over that #.hack #honse #honsies #Kite #Tokio #tokio kuryuu #Haseo #.hack//g.u. #Dedicated to my friend who is the biggest Tokio fan alive #these horse pecs are just for you

[monkiinart]

also the romance chart for arne because these r really fun to flesh out your oc

#arne trevelyan #he's just a big softie #i think it'd be funny if he's doing heavy work like chopping wood or idk lifting stuff he'd show off a little to impress u #imagine.. having a picnic on a heath on a spring evening with him.. comfy... #if you show interest in his horse he's immediatly in love w u. arne hack

[thatsbelievable]

#How to Tell if the Horse is With You or Against You #tips #tricks #life hacks #helpful hints #advice #horse #horses #unreailty

[track2hack]

29.06.2023

That time of year again!! ✂️

#I was VERY controlled and only did a low irish this year be proud I didn’t hack it all off #horseblr #horsblr #equiblr #equine #equestrian #horses #horses of tumblr #standardbred #standardbred pacer #retired racehorse #ex racehorse #bay horse #bay gelding #my ponies

[griffinequestrian]

Just looking like a hunk today for our day of hacking hills! 😍

#equestrian #horse #horses #horse back riding #thoroughbred #ottb #dressage #heart horse #hack day

[rawliverandgoronspice]

did some messing around with sound design, do you know how difficult it is to 1) find soundbits of a horse that is upset and 2) find soundbits of men speaking loudly in a group

#thoughts #animatic project #I have browsed many a video with less than a 100 views featuring old american men trying to explain how to handle an angy horse #+ tried to hack off sounds from a group of russian-speaking footballers from freesound #I *hope* I blurred it enough so what they say isn't recognizable to russian-speaking people otherwise it's gonna sound really dumb!!!!! #I'd actually record people saying meaningful and relevant things instead of football-related conversation #but alas #still not sure what to do with any of that #because I think it lacks both context and payoff #but

[whywishesarehorses]

We rode in the arena for almost an hour before abandoning folks to their gaming practice and going out for a sunset loop of the trails

#I took her up the biggest hill and got us both puffing. it’s nearly 60* in slope and rocky #number 50 was a group ride and then a hack alone #watched a kid get dumped after her horse bucked reared and then bucked again. she impaled a thigh on the horn #blm mustang #mustang horse #horse #thea #equestrian #horseblr #mustang