For the love of a horse.
Traigh Mhor Pony trekking opened its doors on Thursday 30th August 2018. It has been quite a journey to get here and it stems from a lifelong passion of horses. Horse mad people of a certain vintage will remember reading the books about the adventures of Jinny and Shantih., by Patricia Leitch and think how their own passion and love of these hooved gentle giants resonates through the authors own writing.
Yet, the journey did not stop there, and as a young adult, I held my dream close to my heart, even when the skies were grey. I painted my dream for my parents to hold in safe keeping for later in my life. I look back on that painting now and wondered how I have managed to get so close to my dreams. We have a motto in our family - "little steps" - and I guess that is exactly what it has been and how it all just fell into place. Setting up the business was the easiest part in some respects after all that has gone before; starting teaching; getting married; bringing up children and moving to the Isle of Lewis.
When we went to view the house and croft, it was the first of many that we were due to view. Like my choice of wedding dress, I saw it and it fitted and then I chose it, a bit like our house, I saw the house and from the window upstairs I saw all four of my children walking down the croft together and I knew it was meant to be. Our first horses, Ginti and Oakie, soon followed. I quickly realised that North Tolsta was a fantastic area to pony trek around; that Traigh Mhor was the ultimate beach experience for any rider and that I wanted to share this with other people.
So fast forward two years and we are at the end of the business start up
/ planning stage with everything in place. The plan is to offer lessons and treks from 10am to dusk, Monday to Saturday. Sundays are put aside as our days of rest as I am still working four days in the school. We can offer a wide variety of different treks to suit all abilities and ages together with lessons down in the beautiful and peaceful school area.
We have adult saddle club on a Wednesday morning with places still available. If ever you wanted to own a horse or pony and then give it back at the end, then this is a perfect idea. 3hrs of horsing around in the company of likeminded adults.
We will build on this firm standing over the next few months and years.
I still have dreams… stables, all weather schooling area and track and a small cross country course…
Maybe one day.