Lakes and Dales Horseback Rambler

  Starting from the main car park in Clapham, turn right and ride through the village to the tunnels. These tunnels were constructed in Victorian times by the Farrar family to provide a route underneath the Ingleborough Hall Estate connecting the village of Clapham with Thwaite Lane. This is a popular route so expect to see other people in the tunnels. I often get asked can horses do tunnels? The simple answer is yes! Taking these two tunnels in Clapham as an example.  The two tunnels are dark and quiet rocky under hoof, but as horses have great night vison it was really second nature for them going through the tunnels. Horse eyes are large, they have a large pupil, and this allows ample amount of light to enter even in dark situations. On a night lit by a partial moon or stars, horses can see just as well as people can in full daylight. On the way back I decided to lead my horse Ryan through the tunnels as its quite steep, I tripped up several times, but he just picked h...

Buttermere is a iconic Lake District area, but getting there on the narrow roads and parking can be challenging. The solution I believe is to park and ride into the area. Starting from the National Trust car park in Loweswater take the bridleway straight from the car park and go up through the woods. This brings you out on the main lane to Buttermere. Once you get past Rannerdale Farm I would recommend staying on the road, this is narrow and you really need your wits about you as you go around the narrow bend, but it is I think better than going over the bridleway over Low Bank. We took this bridleway and now I have done it I am not sure if I would do it again, the view from the top is amazing, but to get there you need to get up some stone pitching and you need a horse that will wait and listen to you from the ground as this is very much a leading route and I would not recommend coming down it. When I have the time I will be going back on foot to investigate if we took the correct lin...

  Askham Fell Intro Ride – Nearly 7 miles Parking – If your not able to ride into the area you can park in the Lowther Estate Car park by the river or you can park in the free village car park at Askham Hall, which is a lovely big car park. Things to note – route takes in open fell which has sheep, a herd of longhorn cattle and fell ponies. There are gates and also a bridge to cross, which some may like to lead across. Since March 2025 the bridge at Whale now has mounting blocks and horse friendly gates, which is massive improvement to how it use to be. You may like to take a long lead rope so it is easier to manoeuvre your horse across the bridge. Some of Askham Fell is open access land for horses so you don’t have to stick to the path and can follow the many other routes across the fell (These extra open access rights for horses are under Section 15 of the CROW Act, which are explained more here http://www.rombalds-riding.org.uk/rights-of-way/current-issues/ ). From Askham Hall c...

  Length of ride – 10 to 12 miles (depending on where you start from) Parking – We did this from our lovely B & B accommodation (Swinside End Farm, Lorton B & B with a field for the horses https://www.swinsideendfarm.co.uk/ ) , but you could also do the this from National Trust car park at Scalehill Bridge, Loweswater (£8 per day). This is a very busy car park so if at the weekend get there early. The other place you could park is the layby off A5086 at Mockerkin Tarn. Lunch, hot and cold drinks could be taken at the Kirkstile Inn at Loweswater, but you may like to book for food as it does get busy. Things to note – many of the tracks are stoney and can be slippy after rain so if your horse is barefoot you may like to use hoof boots. There are gates and you may like to get off to do some of them. I would recommend taking a long lead rope so you can give yourself extra space to manoeuvre through some of these gates. This ride takes in quiet lanes, lonnings (local name for gr...

Whinlatter Forest – Nearly 6 miles #GruffaloRideChallenge #RideCumbriaChallenge Parking – If your not able to ride into Whinlatter Forest you can parked in Revelin Moss Car Park, the main car park next to the visitor centre or you could ride in from the bottom via Powterhow Wood car park off Braithwaite road. They have one of those clever pay as you go machines that takes card payments or cash once you have entered your registration number. It cost £8.50 for the day. Things to note – This ride has no gates, surface is forest track so if your horse is barefoot you may like to use some hoof boots. This ride is mostly off road, but you may see other users (walkers and cyclists) when you get closer to the visitor centre. Most of the route is not on advertised forest trails so we did not see many people. Forest tracks can all look the same so you do need to check your going in the right direction and if you have a smart phone I would recommend the OS app. This ride can be made longer or s...