Everyone is very welcome to come along, members & non-members & £5 is asked from each pony/horse.

Money raised from the Easter Ride will go towards Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary.

From left bree rutledge horse week, terry steele, seamus rodgers, santa, barney jones, joan cunningham

National Trust at Rowallane Garden Saintfield hosted The Launch of this years Saintfield Christmas Charity Ride on Saturday 7th.December and The Yuletide Market at Rowallane Garden on Saturday 7th.and Sunday 8th.December.

We’ll take these…

Bienvenue, Welcome, Come on in! After a long but very pleasant flight from JFK to Milan and only a minor delay collecting our baggage we headed for customs and the exit with our luggage piled on two carts. I walked with my head held high, managed my best 10,000 watt smile and walked right past the custom agent and out the door. I secretly prayed under my breath Liv would just follow but there was no way I was turning around to look. As we went through the giant door marked “Nothing to Declare” Olivia’s cart hit me from behind and I knew all was well. It was official, Journey Europe was in Europe, saddles, pack, tack and supplies were all present and accounted for. The journey of 1,700 miles had made its first step. Our second step involved getting ourselves and our luggage to the hotel, or at least that’s what I thought was next. As we waited for our ride in the cool morning fog I tried to tune my mind to the sounds of Italy. The overhead announcements were in both Italian and English and I understood enough that I thought after a few days I would have enough vocabulary to manage some rudimentary communications. By the time the horses were ready, Liv and I should be able to ask for directions and get a meal I reassured myself. Until then, “Our contacts spoke English and we would be in good hands,” was the pleasant thought going through my mind as two Italian men drove up with big smiles in a very small car.
Adventure, this is an adventure not a vacation. I have a feeling this may become the catch phrase for Journey Europe because I caught myself repeating it a lot yesterday. Not surprisingly the two men with big smiles did not speak English and the car was not the agreed upon truck but in a feat of packing that was nearly magical they managed to stuff all our luggage into their car and leave one seat available for Liv and I to share. As the nice Italian man stood pointing at the open door, encouraging us in Italian and broken English to wedge ourselves like sorority sisters into a VW bug, I muttered to Livi, “it’s an adventure” and we proceeded to fold ourselves into cowgirl origami that culminated with both of us sharing a single seat in the back of a European sedan. We left the airport and headed into the Italian countryside with the window fogging, making it was hard to see anything but how precariously small the roads were and how dangerously close the trucks were. Thanks to the protection of a gaggle of guardian angels we arrived safely at the farm where the horses were kept. Somewhere along the way there had been several phone calls and it was decided that we should go to the farm first to store our saddles then to our hotel, another change in plans and the beginning of another adventure.

We’ll take these…
Since we were at the farm it seemed that picking the horses was the most logical step. Apparently the word jet lag doesn’t translate into Italian. After spending several hours looking over the available horses I narrowed the field to three and we called someone to translate the business part of the deal. The horses must have passports, microchips, Coggins, and farrier work and that was all supposed to be included in the deal. After several phone handoffs I was informed I had exceeded my budget by almost double. As the jet lag reached a crescendo and my sprained ankle became nearly unbearable I asked to be taken to our hotel and we would decide on horses tomorrow. Our host Walter was happy to take us to the hotel but first we must go have lunch with his Mother. My sense of adventure was waning and I could feel the urge to whine rising as I tried to explain that we really weren’t hungry we just really wanted to go to our hotel. Walter called his Mama and I didn’t need a translator to understand that she was not accepting no for an answer so off we headed to have a quick lunch with Mom. If you’ve ever been to Italy or know an Italian family you know there is no such thing as a quick meal. As time marched on and Olivia and I began to wilt like flowers in the sun another decision was made on our behalf. We would stay with Walters Mother Amelia and we could decide on horses tomorrow. Without any energy left to protest we graciously accepted the warm and generous offer from our host. Without delay we were tucked in soft comfortable beds to get some much needed sleep.

Our adoptive family

Our adoptive family
Traveling across Europe on horseback is only part of the adventure. Meeting people, sharing in their lives, staying in their homes and enjoying their company is the other part.We’ve only just arrived and already the kindness and generosity we’ve been shown has touched our hearts, lifted our spirits and, thanks to Amelia, filled our bellies. I’m beginning to think the hardest part of the Journey will not be the riding but rather the leaving. Tomorrow we are planning to move to a B&B where we will train the horses and get them ready. I wouldn’t bet on things going according to plan but I would bet that whatever happens it will be an adventure.