Lakes and Dales Horseback Rambler

  Two years in a row I have had the pleasure of staying at Scales Farm, Helton for a few days of amazing riding. Last year we did a multi day trek to get there (see past blog), but this time we took it easy and drove there! This gave us the opportunity to explore new areas and rediscover old. When I first got Ryan my orange horse a friend kindly gave me the opportunity to join her on one of Rawfoot Farm Rides and this really gave me the spark to want to explore the fells more on horseback. With this ride fixed in my mind we all set off from Scale Farm to find the bridleway and fell from this amazing ride I had done some years ago. This ride can also be done from Askham village (parking in the free village car park) or ride in from Shap,  Helton or Bampton.  From Scales Farm go out the back and follow the bridleway through the fields to the fell gate. Once you have winded your way up the hill go across the common and head toward the gated road down to Bampton village. This...

  Sometimes crazy ideas work and it helps when the weather gods are on your side. My friends had their annual horse holiday booked at Scales Farm and invited a few of us to join them. When venturing into the Lakes I do try and leave the car behind and with that thought in mind the plan started to come together to ride to our holiday cottage. In the Lakes if your traveling by foot, hoof or wheel it is quicker to use the old packhorse routes through the fells than travel on the valley roads. In the lakes there are over 20 fell or mountain passes, which all have a history of being packhorse or drovers roads and are mostly now classified as bridleways or byways  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hill_passes_of_the_Lake_District ). Starting fr om Longsleddale we rode over Gatescarth Pass to Scales Farm, Helton ( http://www.scalesfarmcottage.co.uk/ ) for three nights and then rode back via High Street. Altogether we rode for five days and covered nearly 50 miles. For this ad...