The Horse Riding Tourist
Near and Far
Published on 11. January 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-9995802-1-6 (ISBN)
Description
‘The outside of my ski jacket is saturated. As the pit-a-pat of raindrops increase, I’m sure the water will come through to the inside any second. Thankfully, thoughts of this impending soaking are magically blown away because right now I have the sensation of gliding above the ground. Bringing up the rear of a lengthened procession of horses, Gjáska is bowling down the hill in tölt. The tölt is a smooth easy to sit gait, and I relish every stride. Because the rain obscures everything apart from the road and track, I use this period to delight in my Icelandic horse and the gait she is giving me to experience on this ultimate ride.’
So, ends the final ride on a riding holiday in Iceland. Where Northern Lights dance across the night sky, and geysers erupt. It may be the end of the trip, but it’s the start of a journey. A journey that takes Rachel Lofthouse to the pyramid fields outside Cairo; an industrial past in the UK, and to a Mediterranean retreat on the island of Mallorca. Against these backdrops, Rachel faces her fear of jumping, experiences the exhilaration of galloping in the Sahara and the sensation of swimming with her horse. There is an unintentional canter on the road, a reluctant equine partner on a beach ride and another who performs a circus trick. With each experience, a more confident and skilled rider emerges, who knows her limitations. By sharing these exceptional experiences, Rachel hopes to inspire the reader to have a horse-riding adventure of their own. Rachel’s remarkable equestrian travel journey has begun, maybe it’s time to start yours.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
446 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-9995802-1-6 (9781999580216)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Rachel Lofthouse lives in a large town on the south coast of Cornwall, the most southwestern peninsula of Great Britain. As a child, Rachel had regularly ridden at a local riding school where she spent many weekends and school holidays taking part in gymkhanas, cared for the ponies and enjoyed canters at the local beach.
Rachel left Cornwall in her early twenties and spent two years studying equestrian and business studies at the Berkshire College of Agriculture. But an equestrian career was not meant to be and the subsequent eight years were spent away from horses when she worked and lived in and around London.
In 2006, Rachel returned to Cornwall and was soon back attending weekly horse riding lessons at Lanjeth Riding School, a small equestrian centre close to her home.
Five years later and as fortieth birthday presents to herself, Rachel booked two horse riding holidays. It was the perfect combination: horseback riding and travel. At the beginning of autumn 2012, Rachel travelled to Iceland and then to Cairo in Egypt. Both horse riding holidays were fun, memorable and so interesting that when she returned home she wrote about them. The Horse Riding Tourist was born.