Caithness Pony Club member saddles up for The Climate Ride
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Nine-year-old Ella Budge was delighted to get the chance to tackle her longest hack to date when she joined Elsa Kent on part of the Caithness stage of her ride to raise awareness of environmental education.
Mum Anne said Ella, of Knockglass Farm, was delighted to join Elsa (22) on The Climate Ride – an adventure on horseback set to cover 1000 miles between John O'Groats and Land's End.
Elsa transported her two horses – Rosie and Summer – from Devon up to Caithness in a small lorry along with her father Andrew Kent, arriving on Monday, June 28. After giving her mounts a rest overnight in a field provided by Alan Polson at Westerloch Farm, she set out from John O'Groats on the Tuesday afternoon around 2pm, riding Rosie while leading Summer.
She followed the quieter single track roads to Lyth where she was able to find a paddock for the evening from Liz Alexander before heading towards Knockglass Farm and Stables on the Wednesday.
Young Ella set off with Elsa on the Thursday morning riding her pony Fancy as far as the bridge at Westerdale, completing around three miles, the longest hack she has done from her home so far.
Elsa comes from a family of adventurers, she said: "My brother cycled this route a couple of weeks ago the other way round." Laurie Kent completed his challenge for Mind over Mountains in 14 days, raising over £4000 in the process.
Before setting of from John O'Groat, Elsa was keen to enjoy her last glimpse of the sea for some time as she is having to follow many quieter inland routes with her horses.
She said: "I think the first few days will be a learning curve."
This was never so true than on Saturday (July 3), the fifth day of the ride when Elsa wrote on her Facebook page that she had experienced her hardest day ever.
She stated: "I love peat for its incredible carbon sequestering abilities, but I truly began to hate it yesterday. Seeing your beautiful, trusting horse plummeting down through a completely concealed bog, and subsequently hurling herself forward on her knees in a desperate attempt to escape its grasp, is one of the most terrifying things to witness."
While on an ancient drovers' route along by Loch Choire she said the track became her worse enemy with broken bridges and peat bog either side. She had to walk ahead of the horses who had to put their trust in her completely.
All three of them were utterly exhausted when they eventually arrived safely at the Crask Inn, near Lairg, at 9.30pm. After covering a total of 96 miles since setting out they took a rest day on the Sunday.
Elsa has just returned from Kenya where she was working as head of environmental education at the Kivukoni School, one of the projects she is raising funds for.
She expects her journey to Land's End to take at least two and a half months and you can follow her exploits on The Climate Ride Facebook page.
Donations can be made at GoFundMe.
Related article: Elsa Kent saddle's up for Climate Ride from John O'Groats to Land's End
