No pain, no gain...

... or one lesson learned the (saddle) hard way during my recent trail ride.

Next after good rain gear, the number two most important piece of equipment to bring or borrow for my next long ride will be a seat saver.

The saddle type used on my horse Ethos and also on other horses on this ride was of the old Polish army model  - very good for horses but hard for riders. A seat saver's job is to cushion the rider, but it can also provide warmth on chilly days. A seat saver is usually made of lamb skin or gel and is placed on top of the saddle seat in order to protect the end part of the rider.

The impact on my rear end on this last ride was quite impressive and painful, especially when trotting. Consequently every canter and galopp, when I could use a field seat position, was a great relief.

Word of thanks - Lithuanian Trail 2018

Dear all,

Andreas, Christiane, Claudia, Jurgen, Margot, Noemi, Paul, Susanne, Ursula
and of course
Tadeusz, our great leader on horse back and from the car seat:

Now that our adventure week together has come to an end, I would like to thank you all for a great time, both in the saddle (35 hours) and on the ground in both countries.

On behalf of the Swedish delegation
I wish you all many happy trails in the future      - with or without a seat saver.

Cheers until next time!
       Staffan

Homeward bound

Yesterday morning (Oct 5th), our last riding day, started as usual by collecting our horses in the overnight field. Our four legged friends know by now that we are pointing their noses towards their home. They all wait patiently at the gate for us riders to finish breakfast.

After saying goodbye to our kind hostess Magdalena (graphic designer and horse lover/rider at Dwor Szwalk manor) we started on our last leg of the trail ride. It actually became two (2) legs since it was decided to continue nonstop directly to the home of Tadeusz. Four hours now suddenly became six in the saddle.

On our return ride we kept a fast pace, at times very fast. Long gallops and a lot of trotting in order to cover the day's total of 50 km. On this ride my preference was galopping - I will explain the reason why in a follow up blog.

After a brief technical stop at our starting point in Zabie Oko, we continued on today's second leg to the village of Sulimy, home of horses and Tadeusz. During this last part of the ride we took a long lake walk to cool off our horse's feet. Arriving safely at Sulimy, two taxis brought us back to Zabie Oko for our farewell dinner, exchange of home addresses and goodbyes.