Namaste!

Some days I feel like life cannot get any better than it is and today was one of those days. Today I rode a horse for the first time :-) :-)




I have wanted to ride a horse for a long time but due to various reasons I never had the opportunity and besides I have loved riding two wheels for so long and had no space or time to swap this for four legs.

K and I caught a rick(ety)shaw to the ranch which was about 7 kms from the outskirts of Udaipur, we rode on rickety roads which were so bad I thought they would rattle the vehicle to pieces. When we arrived at the ranch we encountered the horses which were being saddled up and we met our guide. We took a seat and awaited the other member of our trip to arrive. There was one horse who I really took a liking to, which is unusual for me because I have a really pathetic fear of animals that are bigger than me and this includes horses. I was pleasantly surprised that this was to be the horse that I was going to ride, her name was Rama too which made me even happier because I have been reading a lot about the Ramayana :-) We were told that we had to ride the horse English style as opposed to Western style (something else that I have learned about - I really was ignorant of such terminology) and had a little lesson on how to sit etc. Naturally K having grown up in Wyoming and having a cowboy for a father had no problem. When it came to mounting the horse I was not afraid, I was not afraid at all, in fact I was so excited, I could not believe that after all these years I was doing this. I patted Rama on the neck and stroked her between her eyes to say hello, this was under the good guidance of K. I had the assistance of a staired platform from which to mount Rama. When I was seated on the horse I grinned like an idiot, this did not stop for the rest of the day, in fact I am still grinning like an idiot now :-)

We left the ranch, Rama and I were at the back of the group of four horses, K was just ahead of me, then there was the guide, then a woman from Kent who was very experienced with horses too, she lead the pack.



It took me a little time to get used to the horses movements, I was not sure how to move myself but I soon relaxed and enjoyed it. I patted Ramas neck every now and then and spoke to her a little, maybe it was to reassure myself more than her. When we got out onto the tarmacked road (single lane) and motorbikes and cars passed by us I was a little concerned that the horse would take fright, in fact she was great and had no problem at all, she did a great job in keeping me calm! The horse at the front however was jumpy and would take fright at anything that we passed be it donkeys, cows, mopeds etc. We rode on for the next three hours or so. We passed through various farming villages and rural communities, it was incredibly ideallic, people were waving to us shouting "namaste", children were smiling, it was amazing. We rode on small farm tracks, the kind that I would normally love to mountain bike on, the trails were steep and rocky in sections but Rama had no problem with this and I got used to adjusting my postion in the saddle to try and make it easier for her.

We went to a village that was a middle class farming village although in reality you would not think this because it still looked incredibly basic and not at all what I would expect. We were lucky enough to be invited to an animal hospital that was set up for street animals, it was a charity founded by an American. They are doing great work there, treating animals that have been brought in that would otherwise get no care. We met a monkey that was blind and had a disfigured face from having been electrocuted by a powerline. There were many dogs with incredibly bad mange as well as broken limbs and missing paws. I also made friends with a young calf who had a terribly wound to it's rear leg, the calf kept nudging me with it's head and wanted to be petted. We were shown the operating theatre, everything was very basic but obviously enough to keep animals alive and nurse them back to health. K and I were so pleased to see that something was being done about the stray animals, we have seen so many dead dogs etc throughout our trip, nobody seems to care for the strays, it is a very sad state of affairs. In a few years the charity is hoping to branch out into other areas in Rajasthan and eventually throughout India.

On our trip we also saw some bulls that were turning a mangle to create sugar cane juice which was being made into molasses, we saw more instances of animals being used in such a way.



I saw a bull pulling a wooden plough with the farmer balancing on the back of the plough. We saw the old hunting towers from the days of the Raj high up on the hillside where they would have had a great advantage for taking an aim, I thought these to be a cowardly way to shoot wild animals. There was dung being dried everywhere in little patties, these are used as fuel when the wood is no longer available during the monsoon. We walked on through the hills and upon the rock. It was quite appropriate that my horse seemed to suffer from the same appreciativeness as I do and we were both quite happy to plod along behind the rest of the pack occasionally putting some distance between us. K's horse liked to get close to the butt of the horse in front and she did not like to respond to the reins either, she was also 8 months pregnant.



One of the handlers who was assisting our group would make that clicking sound with his mouth to get Rama to move a little faster and catch up with the others. When Rama and I had fallen back some way I thought it wise to repeat the sound, I did not expect her to break into a trot though and I found myself bouncing up and down quite high on her back!! It was quite hilarious really, especially when you do not expect this to happen, I did manage to pull her reins and say "boosh" to get her to slow down again, I was surprised in myself that I managed to do this.

We eventually headed back to the ranch. The horses were hot and after their saddles had been removed they got to roll around in the dust to cool off. I had never seen this before and found it to be so fascinating. We were then fed some food whilst the horses ate their hay and rested.



I have had an amazing day. To have ridden a horse now, (albeit not fast and admittedly a very calm horse) I feel very lucky and my eyes have been opened. I have great respect for all the people out there who love horses and have had them as a part of their lives. I never realised so much how man and beast can work together. It was an experience that I shall never forget and I hope to ride again some day.

Tomorrow we leave Udaipur and head to Chittor :-)