Day 1 on the road

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Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

Day 2

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Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

From Pushkar

Sorry for being slow in updating, I spent a day gathering myself together and since then have been helping out at TOLFA.I last saw the hospital three years ago when it was just opening and under construction and now it's really impressive. Loads of dogs, quite a few cows, only two donkeys and a goat. I was surprised to find out that often in Ajmer people throw hydrocholric acid on cows and bulls to deter them from going in their neighbourhood! They end up with acid burns that are both painful and slow to heal. There isn't as much use of petrol on wounds here although abuse of phenyl as a wound cleaner is as rampant here as in Udaipur. Phenyl is a disinfectant, often used as a floor cleaner and highly toxic to cats. Another use for it is killing maggots which can begin establishing themselves in a wound from as little as 6 hours after the flies lay their eggs. While it kills the maggots it also burns the inside of the wound making it much larger and more irritated. Not really a good wound ointment then....

Anyways back to the ride. Well I'll work in reverse, day 10: Raipur to Bothaliya and back to Bar. Bar is 6 kms from Raipur, although it turns out that that is via a highway, now Chandra has developed some courage and no longer sees all vehicles as scary lions that will kill him but riding for an hour wihle being overtaken by heavy goods vehicles honking their horns isn't really my idea of a good time. Whenever I asked people where there was a quiet road to Bar they looked at me as if I was insane: "but there is a highway, and it goes straight to Bar, if you go another way the road is longer and there won't be people". Em yes that's the point, my horse is not a vehicle and is afraid of trucks weighing a couple of tonnes bearing down on him. "Madam, you do one thing, you get rid of this stupid horse"..... So I saw a dirt track and thought "fuck it it's going north-east so it's the general direction I'm heading in" and it was, nice sandy planes, flat, no people, no village, just two kms of cantering happily along with the highway within hearing distance acting as a guide. Then a village started, "no road here! Only jungle! Go on the Highway! You can't go there, there's no paved road" but I managed for a few kms of a winding route before I had to get off and walk Chandra in hand for the last 2 kms to Bar which was almost enough to induce a nervous breakdown in the pair of us, that and while riding on an infected leg is painful at the best of times, walking on my legs was much more painful.

Once in Bar I managed to buy myself iodine, bandages and amoxicillin. In all my fussing my first aid kit only contained animal medicines and I foolishly left the rider part of the equation out of my plans. The road from Bur to Babra, where I planned to stay the night was quieter and again quite barren meaning I was able to ride in the area by the road, keeping it in sight as a guide. After 6kms I arrived in Bhotaliya and after talking with John realised that my stubborn wish to ride on wasn't worth risking losing a leg over if the infection spread. So I arranged for a truck from Ajmer to come pick us up and waited by a chai shop.

Arrived.....

Chandra is fine but I developed an abscess on my right leg. At first I ignored it mistaking it for the pain I get from the arthritis in my knees but in Raipur it opened up in the shower with lots of puss and the whole leg was red, swollen and throbbing. I tried to ride to Babra, one day from Pushkar but gave up in a village half way where various other dramas occured which I lack the clear-headedness to describe now. The main thing is we managed 300kms in 10 days (one day of which was a rest day) and Chandra suffered no weight loss, no saddle sores, no cuts (save some over-reaching) and his legs are fine and free from windgalls or splints. He is now happy in TOLFA and I'm in a hotel, although I feel like I'm missing a limb and completely lost without him nearby. I'll write up more later.

85kms in

I am now writing from Khelwara, I was one day delayed due to the international problem of farriers being late but what to do? The first day we covered about 45kms to Maruvas by back roads, the last two days I've been taking it easy doing 20kms today and Yesterday. The internet is slow here but I'm just updating that all is going well and Chandra is loving the bitless bridle!

Chandra having a rest during a ride

Chandra having a rest during a ride
Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

Relaxing

Relaxing
Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

Isn't he the most handsome horse in the world? :)

Chandra in the nurtural bitless bridle

Chandra in the nurtural bitless bridle
Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

Chandra and I

Chandra and I
Originally uploaded by caitrionaoleary

Here is the man himself in his bitless bridle!

Back to Basics

For those readers who are not horsey I suggest skipping the first paragraph!

Poor old Chandra picked up some bad habits in the last year, as he is only ridden with the tourist rides he's forgotten how to trot! So if I ask for a step up from walk he thinks gallop. We're making a lot of progress now as I've been doing groundwork with him and lunging him to try get him to bend right rather than go in a straight line all the time. The brushing boots have paid for themselves now with the number of knocks they've protected his legs from, even if there are a few nicks from over-reaching. His bucking is almost under control too now, as before he thought it was a fun way to let out his excess energy but now he's learning that this is only appropriate when mummy is on the ground. If I feel him tensing I do some bends and half-halts which gets his attention back on me. It's so different riding a stallion, I have to be a much more active rider in giving him the reassurance he needs to be able to trust me. If he can trust me he's fine, it's if the rider doesn't give the horse sound leadership they get anxious and troublesome. The bitless bridle works a treat, even when we had a buffalo try to pick a fight with us last week! I'm very very impressed.

Our route is planned now, with some more contacts on the way. I'll be covering much the same route as three years ago, with some detours as the tarmac encroaches on the dirt tracks of Rajasthani villages. My first day will be a ride to a village near Qatar where my old friend Daloo has a farm. I met him on my first trip to India in 2003 when he was one of 5 people working at Animal Aid. He's a fascinating character, from a poor low caste illiterate family he spends his free time reading political philosophy, classic novels and books on communism. Sadly as he can only read hindi his choice is somewhat limited and so I had to explain to him that yes, communism is a lovely idea but Stalin was not a good guy. Not much mention of World War 2 or concentration camps out here I guess. Daloo's wife just recently gave birth to their 3rd daughter-much to his mother's dismay. What kind of woman can't give her husband a male child?! Well Daloo doesn't care and he thinks it's nonsense to think like that so I'm sure his daughters will grow up to be well educated and loved every bit as much as any son would have been.

I've been taking photos on my camera, just need to use up my roll and I'll post them on here next week. For the ride I splashed out on a roll of Professional slide film which will be developed in Delhi in December.