On Horseback In The Highlands
Scottish Pony Power
Perhaps sightseeing by horseback is something that is more easily equated with a visit to a more “Americana” locale, but it’s a unique way to view the rugged terrain of the Scottish Highlands as well!
Finding an outfit that offered pony trekking in the area that would make sense for our itinerary was a bit of a challenge and while it still required us to drive an hour into the middle of nowhere to a place called “Cougie,” the experience at “Highland Trekking & Trail Riding” was well worth the trouble. We learned more about the modern culture of the Highlands from our guide than from any other resource on our trip. Information such as that in the northeastern part of the highlands often gets several feet of snow at a time during the winter months, which I never would have guessed.
Our trail guide and one of the owners, Ian.
But There’s More…
We also learned just how seriously the Scotts take climate change, which might sound like an odd subject for a trail ride, but we saw it first hand and were fortunate to have someone there that could explain it to us.
As our merry band of pony riders entered a large treeless meadow (and when I say “treeless,” I mean full on Fern Gully land rape status), I had to ask what had happened to all of the foliage. Ian explained that before starting the pony trekking business just a few years earlier, he had worked as a second-generation logger in that very area. He went on to say that while the landscape appeared to be in a bleak state, it was done for a very good reason because over many decades as timber had been cut down and replanted, the natural ecosystem had been heavily impacted by the introduction of non-native tree varieties and wildlife. To combat the shift in the Scottish ecosystem, the Scottish government decided to rip off the band-aide (so to speak) and remove everything non-native at all at once and allow only native plants and wildlife to return to the area.
‘There’s History In Them There Hills’
Another amazing story we heard as we crisscrossed the hills, was that our guide (Ian) had stumbled across an old sword in the peat moss, a claymore to be more precise. Doing some detective work, he discovered that a skirmish during the Jacobite uprising had fought in that area and was most likely left hidden in the spot where it had fallen sometime around 1745. He donated to the local historical society, but I would have had difficulty not keeping such an amazing artifact.
“Whoa Nelly…”
An unplanned excitement during our ride occurred while riding through a moor (for an explanation of this please follow the link), which was very uneven land pocked full of shallow holes and piles of peat. Toward the front of pony pack was my mother in-law, a very accomplished western style horsewoman. Unbeknownst to her, one of these shallow but wide holes suprised both her and her pony (Spyder was his name), but Spyder rose to the occasion (literally) and decided to leap over it. Sadly my mother in-law was not as prepared as Spyder was and she breathlessly toppled right off! You might think that such an event would raise a ruccus, but Ian, our faithful but seemingly unconcerned trail guide, simply shouted from the back of the group in his thick scottish accent, “ya’ll right there girlie?”
The good news is that yes, she was just fine, and had landed on a soft and spongy mound of peat moss… natures cushion.
Home Is Where The Barn Is
Bumped pride and all, we greatly enjoyed our ride in the Highlands and our time with Ian. I can’t speak for what image comes to mind when you think of Scottish Highlander, but for me, Ian was very much it. Loud, hilarious, full of stories, and a beard that still holds a wee bit of a grudge against England.
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