Jack Mytton Way
Now I wouldn’t call myself a fair weather rider, but to start off a 70 mile ride in the Welsh border country, in September, with the weather forecasters predicting a day of heavy showers interspersed with periods of prolonged rain – well people start to think you’re a bit silly. Still, as Steph said, we could always turn round, take the horses in the trailers to the first B&B and go to the pub early! As it turned out, we hardly had more than a couple of showers all day.
Steph with Mabel and Beth with Hattie.
The last time I rode the Jack Mytton Way was in 1998, but I had hardly even heard of barefoot horses at that time and my arab mare Lizzie did the trip in shoes. This time 20 year old Lizzie was barefoot and 9 year old Danny (packhorse) wore boots in front because of a slight footy problem but was bare behind (so to speak). My friends Steph and her daughter, Beth, also rode barefoot horses. Little black cob, Mabel and larger, black and white cob, Hattie have both been without shoes for about a year.
Another change since 1998 was where to park to start the route. Ray’s Farm no longer allow parking, so you have to use the purpose-built, but very small, car park right at the start of the trail. There was just room for two cars and trailers, so we were glad that no-one else had thought of setting off on the same day.
Lizzie & Danny
When you plan what you’re going to take, you always think you can make do with very little. It’s only when you come to cram your belongings into your saddlebags that things get a bit tight. Of course coping with the British weather makes life more difficult. You need waterproof coats and leggings, possibly a thicker coat to keep out any cold winds, sun cream (there’s always hope), lip balm, insect repellent and sting relief for when the repellent doesn’t do its job. Then how many sets of clothing are required for a 4 day ride? Change of undies and socks each day of course, but can you get away with two pairs of jods, and how many combinations of t-shirts and fleeces would be wise? Not forgetting that you need something non-horsey to go for dinner at night, money, first aid kit, maps and phone.
Going barefoot means you need space for a whole new set of equipment too. There’s a rasp, a knife, spare boots and, of course, that special nail that’s just the right size for getting little bits of gravel out. Good job I had a spare horse.
By the time we had our horses tacked up, our bags secured and had decided whether to risk setting off without waterproofs on, it was gone 11am. We had about 18miles to cover on the first day, so off we went. The first part of the route takes you through pretty woods and quite soon over a narrow, arched packhorse bridge. I would imagine this could be a stumbling point for some horses, and it wouldn’t be easy to ford the river there instead, as the banks are quite steep. After a few miles of quite lanes and country tracks, we reached a grassy bridleway section passing Chelmarsh reservoir. We had a short lunch stop here and then carried on.
The route cards for the Jack Mytton Way are generally easy to follow, but sometimes you do need to refer to an OS map to keep on track. On some points you are not quite sure how quickly you should come upon the next milestone, and knowing whether or not you have done 200 yards when you are nattering can be a bit tricky. Hence we did a slight diversion up the wrong track at point 22 on the route, but were re-directed by a friendly local.
Just after crossing the busy A458 we met our B&B landlady, who very kindly had driven out to check we were in the vicinity. Following her directions, we reached our accommodation at about 4pm and turned the horses out into their field. They had a good few acres and access to a barn for shelter. Since they don’t normally all live together, they stayed in their two pairs and did plenty of cantering round and showing off to the local horses over the fence. Within 10 minutes of our arrival the heavens opened, and it rained for most of the night.
Our accommodation was very comfortable and spacious, as we had been put in one of our host’s holiday cottages rather than her B&B rooms. We just had time for a relaxing cuppa before getting a lift back to our trailers to move them to the second night’s B&B. How to cope with accessing your transport is probably the most difficult thing about this linear route. We wanted our trailers in easy reach because I wasn’t sure how well Danny would cope in his boots, and Steph thought Mabel might get sore if there was too much stoney going. We also thought that if we could move them part-way down the route we wouldn’t have such a long way to go back for them at the end, as this had been hard work at the end of the last trip.
By the time we had moved our trailers and got a lift back, there was no time to change and shower, so we went to the pub in our boots and jods. The couple at the next table did get up and leave quite quickly, but I think they had finished their meal. We had a tasty, good value meal and then returned to our spacious cottage for a shower and a bit of telly before bed. Only then did Steph realise she had left her pyjamas in the car.
Day two dawned bright and fresh, if a little chilly. I went to check the horses before breakfast and was pleased to see they were all fine, albeit still cantering around and not resting. We had a good breakfast, as we had opted to make do without lunch to save too much hassle. We had about 20 miles to cover over the day. Now that doesn’t seem much, and on endurance rides we cover 20 miles in about 3 hours, but this was a different kettle of fish. First of all we had Hattie. Now Hattie is a lovely mare and a very friendly personality, but what she definitely doesn’t do is move very fast. Lizzie is a bit of a power walker, so we found it easiest to go ahead with Danny and wait at strategic points for Hattie and Mabel to catch up. Secondly we had our bags and no matter how securely you think you have attached them, too much bouncing around at trot and canter, and you just find you have to re-trace your steps to retrieve your toothbrush and deodorant from a muddy puddle. Thirdly, we were on our holidays. There is something incredibly relaxing about ambling through the countryside on your horse and taking life at an easy pace. Giving yourself too far to ride between stops just puts on unnecessary pressure.
The first part of day two was very pleasant riding across farmland and tracks towards Much Wenlock. When the Jack Mytton Way was first opened, there was a permissive path around this small town, but unfortunately permission was withdrawn for some reason and now you have to negotiate the town centre. Our horses are all fine in traffic, and seemed to enjoy the admiring comments from the shoppers as we passed by, but this could be serious problem if your horse was of a more nervous disposition. The route takes you up a busy A road for a few yards too, and although there is a wide verge, there is a lot of noisy, heavy traffic.
The next section is along Wenlock Edge, over woodland tracks and a dis-used railway line. As you can imagine, it gets a bit boring after a few miles, especially since you can’t see much because of the trees. You could really do with being somewhere off the Edge, and having better views. We left the marked route before it dropped down to Church Stretton, as our B&B was a bit off to the west. We found it easily, but Hattie didn’t appreciate the last mile being rather steeply uphill.
Along Wenlock Edge
we found we had reached another very nice B&B, and the horses were pleased to find there was plenty of grass. We took a few minutes to groom the horses and check them out for any sores. Then I rasped a couple of rough edges, while Steph dug out rather a lot of gravel from one of Mabel’s hooves. Nothing too serious luckily. There wasn’t any cantering around or fooling about this time when we let them go, just straight to the important task of filling their tums.
We had tea, coffee and homemade biscuits with our hosts before showering and getting ready for the walk to the pub. Thankfully all down hill. The pub in Cardington is well known for its food and we were glad we had reserved a table as the place was soon packed. There was plenty of choice on the menu (even for a veggie like me) and the drinks went down well too. Our host picked us up, which was just as well, as I’m not sure we would have made it up the hill and we were soon off to the land of Nod. Steph even had her pyjamas that night.
Day three was the one we were all looking forward to, as the route takes you up over the Long Mynd, with fantastic views and good riding. We made our own way up to the Long Mynd via All Stretton and didn’t use Carding Mill Valley as the route cards direct. This valley has been re-surfaced with a gravel path and we thought it would be awful for barefoot horses. Our route was an excellent alternative though. It started off on a stoney track but we soon branched half left up a grassy bridleway which took us up, very steeply, to a golf course. We skirted around the edge of this and found a gate which took us up a hill to the north of Carding Mill Valley.
From there it was just straight across the top towards the Gliding club. We probably added a bit of distance to our route, but it was a lot easier underfoot. There are wild ponies to contend with up on the Long Mynd, not to mention the gliders and hang gliders, but the views are fantastic and it is well worth the climb. Up to the Long Mynd
The route down off the Long Mynd is also very pleasant. Long grassy stretches for a canter and wonderful views. Finally we got down to the road and negotiated a car parked right up to the bridleway gate, so we could only just squeeze through. Our B&B was not far off the route and we found it without problems. The host announced on our arrival that they were all going out, and asked if would we be okay on our own. Luckily we had fellow committee member, Gill Nash, coming out to advise on Danny’s feet, but if not we would have been a bit stuck, as we were miles from anywhere and had little hope of getting a taxi. We were shown to our rooms, which were disappointing, but in keeping with the rest of the rambling old house. The kettle and tea was pointed out to us, Steph was given a door key and then they were off, leaving us with the house and two dogs. Kindly Gill and husband David gave us a lift to Cardington, and we walked up the hill to collect our trailers. After dropping the trailers at the B&B, we went into Bishops Castle to find some dinner. The first pub we saw was noisy and packed out (it was Saturday night), the Indian restaurant said we would have to wait an hour and a half for a table and so we finally ended up in a little bistro style restaurant. We all agreed that there wasn’t much chance of getting a hearty breakfast at this B&B, so we pushed the boat out and had a dessert each – Beth and I shared one the night before. After getting slightly lost on the way back to the B&B we were alarmed to find we couldn’t get the back door open. The key just seemed to stick half way round. It took a good few minutes of fiddling, and we were contemplating a night in the car. Finally it opened, but no sooner had we got in when both the dogs rushed out into the pitch darkness. It was a relief to eventually round them up and have a sit down.
After consultation, we decided that we would call it quits at that stage of the ride, and not finish the route. Much of the final stage seemed to be hardcore tracks and roads. Mabel’s feet were a bit sore, and I had the chance of getting my trailer back home in time to get it picked up by the service people, thereby saving myself a lot of petrol money. Next time we do the ride (we also agreed that once every seven years is about the right frequency) we plan to start from the end and go the other way around.
I would thoroughly recommend taking your horse on holiday. There are plenty of opportunities to trail ride or stay in one place and ride out each day.
Perhaps you have to be more careful with a barefoot horse, but if you have boots as a back up, you should cope with most things. I am proud to say that Lizzie coped with around 55 miles of all sorts of terrain, without the slightest hint of soreness, and Danny was fine in his boots. Hattie and Mabel stopped off to do a funride en route home! Now we are planning a trip next spring to do part of the Pennine Bridleway.
Happy to be home