It only takes a few weeks to become fully fledged Outies, you can feel it in your skin at first, it feels rugged, not to the touch, it just feels different. After being out doors through all kinds of weather, you lose the need for being in doors, in doors seem strange, confined & unnecessary, and then, more profoundly you see how crazy it is that we've shut ourselves in with concrete, we've concereted out all sign of nature (visualise the film 'Inception' !) In the extreme, we've actually hidden the real earth from our city dwellers! Even driving from one to another by car, you only see what's beside the road, which is next to nothing as it flashes by.
These days we set off as early as possible in the morning, getting up with a cold coffee - bought as a take away the night before - we just can't use the cooker anymore, it's so dry now & the risk of fire is too high.
One morning we stopped in a tiny bar at the top of a hill after our first leg of the day, it was about 9.30 am, we had a coffee & a copa each, enjoyed an argument over which was the highest town in Spain with the old boys having 'breakfast' around their cluster of empty glasses - apparently it's not Trevelez?? They insisted on getting us both another very large copa, which they poured themselves from a bottle on the bar - then the barman joined in & wouldn't let us go without another 'Chupito para la carretera' !!
The ongoing ride was super pleasant if not slightly over emotional as we were both gushing drunks.
We arrived in the next town before 2, first stop always water, then for grass & shade. While the horses ate & rested we snacked on anything we had left, dozed on benches under the trees & waited for the shops to open..
That evening, we had the treat of quite a large supermarket with actual food in it (sadly, most small town shops only stock cakes & pop!), then on towards the river end of town, via a bar where we met a throng of people..The ice was broken by Enrique, though he couldn't speak for a tracheotomy, he breathed & gestured that he'd like to hold the horses for us while we ordered drinks..There was silence for just a moment, my brain ticking, desperate to understand him, then I handed Rayo over with a smile and everybody started talking again, clearly all friends of Enrique & that was it, we were in the gang.
Leaving it late again because of all assurances of grass by the river, we fell into a similar nightmare I wrote about before. There was hardly any grass by the river !
Eventually we found an overgrown terrace with standing hay, just enough, but we desperately needed to rest a day and here wouldn't do.
But after a somewhat tragic night, in the morning, Rosa drove by, complimenting the horses, she mentioned she had her own if there's anything we needed? I nearly cried.
That evening while the horses munched contentedly on alfalfa we dined in luxury on Rosa & Paco's terrace! Such a lovely couple! We chatted about everything - I know I've said exactly that before - but the Spanish are so open, they will easily divulge into quite intimate subjects, feelings, fears & experiences.. There's nothing to hide, it's comforting.. It opens you up to talk about anything too and you quickly become friends.
We spent 2 days there, the horses nestled in the shade of the pine woods with plenty of fodder, lots of locals stopped to visit, other horse owners, a farrier popped by to check the horses feet, this being the third farrier to have shown an interest in their shoe-less-ness! One lad even brought his entire donkey along to see us! (not just some of it 😂), which was very well behaved.
The next day we moved on refreshed & jolly, which was good because it was a long stretch to the next town, but we're a fine tuned machine now and bouyed by the fact that we were approaching the Valencia/Cataluña border! - This was a big thing for me because that meant our horses would be on legal territory! (Our local horse official couldn't get the computor to accept a journey of more than 10 days - so we were overdue!).
The border towns were so picturesque! Approaching on horseback you get time to soak up the views & a chance to see the layout -The river splits the two regions and the two towns, we were in Cataluña - Valencia - Cataluña - Valencia, looking for our grassy watery shady spot. We struck lucky, under the shade of a wooden pedestrian bridge, just next to the river was a perfect area with long green grass.
- And the choice of provinces.
It was another naturally closed in space and we were able to pop out, soon alerted to the local fiesta in Valencia, we popped into Cataluña for shopping, Valencia for drinks, then home just in time for a mammoth firework display infront of the horses eyes!!
They were swinging on the end of their tethers as we arrived & though they did calm, stare & deal with it themselves, we were so glad to have arrived at that moment - Tio had nieghed with relief for Mark as we approached..Then in the last spectacular moments of the display, we were all in a line watching together in awe and I think the horses actually enjoyed it!
So we rested there, it was getting terribly hot & we found 3 days on deserved 2 days off.
The grass was especially good too, so why not..
The town on the Cataluña side was pretty big & it took us a while to find our way out of it! It was early Sunday morning, post fiesta, so nobody out bar late party goers who stared at us in the town centre with disbelief.
There's a saying that horses must be allowed to be horses and ours haven't had much time for that! When we can, we still put them both free inside a pretend electric fence, but only when we're there watching them, as we were, one day in a lovely abandoned farm just outside Mas de Barberosa.. Lounging in the shade eating apricots and plums from 'our' trees.. Tio was being very suspicious, we spied him trying to push Rayo towards the fence and he'd been teasing us by pinging the tape with his nose..they were both restless..
Then he swung his head in his frustrated kind of way & just as we ran to stop them at the gate area, Tio galloped at the fence & jumped it, swiftly followed by Rayo!
Mark ran after them! I ran! (kindof) inspite of my leg, towards the road. Then watched them, ready to head them off if they came my way.. Bucking & farting, galloping and jumping dry stone walls into ploughed areas, rolling, jumping up with another twisty buck, to & fro until they couldn't figure out where to run to & ran out of steam, where Mark finally got hold of Tio's halter.
Oooops!
But thankfully niether were hurt and nobody witnessed it but us!
And the horses had some horsey time!
As some of you know, the plan this 2nd attempt was to ride as far as pleasantly possible - hopefully into France, and then my brother would come with our lorry to take us the rest of the way to Sussex..It was about now that we got the news that the lorry had deteriorated in the year sitting in a wet field in sussex.. It wasn't going to make it to pick us up! This was a big blow, but having come this far, we weren't going back home now!
I've sent a few horses on transport to the Uk in the past so I made some enquiries & got a reasonable quote.. Thankfully I know something of the rules & regulations for moving horses in Spain & though at first it was all No! In the end it was accepted that we could legally travel from anywhere within the Cataluña region. The official vet here bent over backwards to help, unlike our local man in Orgiva who doesn't bend atall.
Fortunately our friends Robin & Lisa, were expecting us to visit their finca in Rasquera & this seemed like the ideal base for us and the horses to plan & execute our departure.
We were all ready for it to be honest, Mark & I were exhausted, the horses were fine because we made sure they were, but the heat changes everything.
So began our last few days trekking on this leg of our adventure.
The river Ebro was looming, we predicted swimming & grass, and we found it. It was glorious! It's a massive river, wide and dreamy.. Banks lush! We swam, they grazed, we unpacked, started putting the tent up, then noticed the horses we're agitated, it was dusk & the flies had come, tiny little black ones, thousands of them. We found we couldn't stay still, they flew direct into your eyes & mouth, up your nose too, so we were all snorting! The horses were going bonkers, all we could think of was to load up again and carry on, not easy, but absolutely necessary.
It was no wonder we had this beautiful place to ourselves!
So at 9pm we set off again, riding beside the canal, it was lovely actually, cool & pleasantly darkening, a beautiful sunset - and we knew we would be able to follow the Via Verda where no cars were allowed.
The Via Verda is the old railway track and some of the old stations still exist, now used as cafe's for walkers, cyclists etc..
Earlier in the day we had stopped for lunch at such a Station, it was so welcome! We'd met a lovely couple cycling the route & joined them for a natter, she American, he Italian, all of us had broken some part of our left legs in the past year and we compared scars & recuperation times! Haha!
So continuing on in the dark, quite spooky, with many tunnels, some illuminated from a few metres inside which startled the horses when they suddenly lit up, but were welcome of course.
The next Station was shut. It was 2am now so quite understandable, but lights were on and we set about finding water for the horses.. We weren't greeted well, the horses weren't welcomed and no sympathy to our plight, but we did get water.
That night we found some grass on a track off the road, but though the horses could eat & relax, me & mark couldn't manage the tent & slept (badly) cowboy style with saddles as pillows.
We maybe got an hour before daylight & immediately packed & tacked as the dawn flies grew in number.
We knew the next bit would be on a big main road as the bridge was the only way to get over the Ebro.
We donned our Hi Viz's and set off, it was about 6am.
Arriving safely in Benefallet, the village before Rasquera, we noticed that rather than bottles of booze on their bar tables, they had Revlon honey flavour skin softener & a couple of lads on seeing the horses fidgeting went straight over & smothered them with it, and Wow! They were still, they relaxed, not a fly landed on them while we had coffee & toast.
Later in the local shop we tried to buy the stuff but they'd sold out! - and one can't help but notice the soft clear and spot less complexion on the locals!
The next 6 k's to Rasquera were very difficult because we were so tired, the horses too now, & they were hungry, you can't tell them we're nearly there, but you can say 'come along now, lets get it done'. I was drip feeding Rayo carobs! Leaning forward, popping one in every now & then, which cheered him.
It's hard to describe how we felt on arrival at the land in Rasquera, it was a massive relief on one hand, to unload the saddlebags for perhaps the last time, not to have to put the tent up, to be able to cook & wash up, standing up, to sit about in chairs, lounge on loungers, sleep in a bed!
But on the other hand, this was the end of the simple life - not easy - but simple. A daily goal that is met and renewed. The road that constantly changes, igniting all your senses. This was end of the road of freedom, the freedom that comes from being self contained & nomadic.
It's amazing that you can get to know each other better, even after 20+ years together!
Do I recommend this kind of thing as a pre-marital compatability test? Not generally, no! Alot of couples would shelf it.
But after 20 years you know what to ignore about each other and there's always more to learn - I would say one of the most important things to nurture in a relationship is comradeship. I guess it can help if you're both facing something difficult together, but don't we often we blame the other for something going wrong? for their mistake, we argue over who's fault it is, we want our beloved to feel incompetent? to suffer the guilt? Crazy huh?! We are all human & we will all inevitably make mistakes! Far better to move on, just resolve it in a practical way and move onwards & upwards!
I do however recommend it as a 'Live in the now' therapy - as a journey of self discovery and as a fast fitness regime!
My betrothed has been my constant hero - he did everything he could possibly do to help me, to help us, because he doesn't want me to break again. He walked quite alot, even though his foot isn't 100 percent. I couldn't walk any distance at horse pace, so I'd sometimes ride Tio, then Rayo could get a break and Rayo carried less pack wieght too as he would inevitably be ridden more.
So like I say we were a fine tuned machine & we got it right, the horses look wonderful tonight relaxing in their wooded paddock here in Rasquera. After generously giving us 750 kilometres without ever complaining it's no less than they deserve.
