And here we are, sitting at the breakfast table on day seven, writing up the events of the penultimate day. As always, and certainly in retrospect, everything has passed very quickly; and nothing more so than the last day in the saddle.
Our departure from Puivert at 09:15 was accompanied by rain, initially light but the higher we climbed, the harder it got! Fortunately, not constant but we were all pretty wet by lunchtime.
The morning was marked by two small incidents: first a GPS failure meant we missed a turning and had to double back; a short while later, half the herd charged through an electric fence belonging to a horse owner! Repairs were rather hampered by the fence being live…
Day four is pretty long so lunch was not extended; which meant fighting to don wet jackets and saddle the horses with wet saddles. The atmosphere changes slightly too – everyone realises that this is the last afternoon and the end is in sight. Nevertheless, everyone is still in a good mood and a number of long gallops and horses taking short cuts kept us all awake.
And suddenly, there before us, was the last corner and the last gallop to the highest point of this wonderful herd’s winter domicile. TransHu d’automne 2013 was at an end.
In the evening we reflected over the traditional glass of champagne followed by a “raclette” supper. Bed was a necessary evil with everyone turning in by around 1 in the morning!00!
