Lakes and Dales Horseback Rambler

  The Lake District is good at any time of year and often your can get four seasons in a day! Spring though has the added benefit of it being a bit quieter and a good time to go on a bluebell ride. After spending several years working in Grasmere I have become very fond of Loughrigg Fell and in a past work life this was my morning dog walk before work. I remember the bluebells being good, but the day of this ride they really were spectacular! There are a couple of car parks in Elterwater, but this time we tried Silverthwaite Car Park between Elterwater and Skelwith Bridge. Once you have worked out how the machine works this is a great car park to start a ride. From Silverthwaite car park cross the road and take the path directly opposite the car park entrance. This leads you through a small wood and links onto the bridleway. Some people may like to dismount and lead their horse along this path. Once you have done this, the bridleways around here are well signed, but you still need...

  Every since I moved to Cumbria in 2005 I have wanted to take a horse on the Windermere Ferry! The sign for the ferry charges in my mind was a invitation, but it's only now that I have managed to complete this challenge, mainly due to fact it taken me a while to get my own horse and second the opportunity just has not really presented itself. For some time Bridget and I had booked our other half's to be our Horse Ubers so we could ride High Street from Troutbeck and get picked up near Pooley Bridge. Of course the day came and the weather was typical Cumbrian, very very wet with zero visibility. So we came up with a Plan B ride, which turned out to a very good day despite the weather.  Getting horses ready in the rain is never much fun and Bridget's over half Adam asked us very seriously 'are you sure you want to ride today?!' We of course said yes we will be fine and off we went in all our water proofs! Was so wet my green gloves turned by hands green! Tro...

  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...